Yahweh has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out the line. He has not withdrawn his hand from destroying; He has made the rampart and wall lament. They languish together.
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out the line. He has not withdrawn his hand from destroying; He has made the rampart and wall lament. They languish together.
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The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.
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The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; He hath stretched out the line, He hath not withdrawn His hand from destroying; but He hath made the rampart and wall to mourn, they languish together.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Lamentations 2:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Kings 21:13 I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of Ahab’s house; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.
- Isaiah 3:26 Her gates shall lament and mourn. She shall be desolate and sit on the ground.
- Isaiah 34:11 But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness.
- Jeremiah 14:2 “Judah mourns, and its gates languish. They sit in black on the ground. The cry of Jerusalem goes up.
- Jeremiah 5:10 “Go up on her walls, and destroy; but don’t make a full end. Take away her branches, for they are not Yahweh’s.
- Amos 7:7-8 Thus he showed me and behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. Yahweh said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I will set a plumb line in the middle of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.
- 2 Samuel 8:2 He struck Moab, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive. The Moabites became servants to David, and brought tribute.
- Job 13:21 withdraw your hand far from me, and don’t let your terror make me afraid.
- Isaiah 5:5 Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled down.
- Isaiah 28:17 I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place.
- Lamentations 2:2 The Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob without pity. He has thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. He has brought them down to the ground. He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
- Lamentations 2:5 The Lord has become as an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces. He has destroyed his strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation in the daughter of Judah.
- Lamentations 2:17 Yahweh has done that which he planned. He has fulfilled his word that he commanded in the days of old. He has thrown down, and has not pitied. He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you. He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.
- Ezekiel 20:22 Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The verb to think, has more force than what…
The verb to think, has more force than what is commonly assigned to it; for it would be very flat to say, that God thought to destroy; but to think here means to resolve or to decree. This is one thing. And then we must bear in mind the contrast between this and those false imaginations, by which men are wont to be drawn away, so as not to believe that God is present in adversities as well as prosperity. As, therefore, men go willfully astray through various false thoughts, and thus withdraw themselves, as it were, designedly from God, the Prophet says here that the walls of Jerusalem had not fallen by chance, but had been overthrown through a divine decree, because God had so determined, according to what we have seen in many places throughout the book of Jeremiah: “See, these are the thoughts which God has thought respecting Jerusalem, which he has thought respecting Babylon.” The Prophet, then, in these instances, taught what he now confirms in this place, that when the city Jerusalem was destroyed, it was not what happened by chance; but because God had brought there the Chaldeans, and employed them as his instruments in taking and destroying the city: God, then, has thought to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. It is, indeed, true, that the Chaldeans had actively carried on the war, and omitted nothing as to military skill, in order to take the city: but the Prophet calls here the attention of the Jews to a different thought, so that they might acknowledge that they suffered justly for their sins, and that God was the chief author of that war, and that the Chaldeans were to be viewed as hired soldiers.
He afterwards adds, that God had extended a line or a rule, as it is usually done in separating buildings. And then he says, He hath not drawn back his hand from scattering; and so it was, that the ramparts and the walls mourned, and fell down together We now see that what the Prophet had in view was to lead the Jews fully to believe that the destruction was not to be ascribed to the Chaldeans, but, on the contrary, to God. Added at the same time must be another part of what is here taught, that God would not have been so displeased with the holy city which he had chosen, had not the people extremely provoked him with their sins. It now follows, —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain This is a figurative speech, as that was, when…
This is a figurative speech, as that was, when he said, the ways did lament, Lam. 1:4, meaning, that this sorrow was so great, that the insensible things had their part thereof.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lam 2:8 The LORD hath purposed to destroy the…
Lam 2:8 The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying: therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament; they languished together.
Ver. 8. The Lord hath purposed to destroy.] Non casu, non subito, non temere, sed maturo el destinato decreto. God’s providence (which is nothing else but the carrying on of his decree) extendeth to smallest matters, much more to the subversion of states and cities.
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He that stretched out a line,] scil., Of destruction, or a levelling line. See 2Ki 21:13 Isa 34:11. Jerusalem was built by line, and so it was destroyed by him who doeth all things in number, weight, and measure.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The term
The term
wall in this verse seemeth to be taken in a metaphorical sense, for the strength and security of the Jews (the strength and security of a place lying much in ifs walls).
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He hath stretched out a line: artificers use with lines not only to mark out places for building, but also for destruction, to direct them what to cut off; such a line is here meant.
He hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying; God had gone on in destroying them: and had made their walls and ramparts feeble, and to shake like a man under some languishing distemper, that had no strength left.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of…
The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion,.... Either the wall of the city, as Aben Ezra; or the wall that encompassed the temple, and all the outward courts of it, as Dr. Lightfoot (s) thinks; this the Lord had determined to destroy, and according to his purposes did destroy it, or suffer it to be demolished; and so all were laid open for the enemy to enter:
he hath stretched out a line; a line of destruction, to mark out how far the destruction should go, and bow much should be laid in ruins; all being as exactly done, according to the purpose and counsel of God, as if it was done by line and rule; see Isa 34:11;
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he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying; till he made a full end of the city and temple, as he first designed:
therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament: the "chel" and the wall; all that space between the courts of the temple and the wall that surrounded it was called the "chel"; and so the Targum, the circumference or enclosure; and these were laid waste together, and so said to lament: according to others they were two walls, a wall the son of a wall, as Jarchi interprets it; an outward and an inward wall, one higher than another; a low wall over against a high wall; which was as a rampart or bulwark, for the strength and support of it:
they languished together; or fell together, as persons in a fit faint away and full to the ground.
(s) Prospect of the Temple, c. 17. p. 1089.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The wall - The strength and security of the…
The wall - The strength and security of the Jews. A line - Artificers used with lines not only to mark out places for building, but also for destruction, to direct them what to cut off; and such a line is here meant.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. He hath stretched out a line] The…
Verse 8. He hath stretched out a line] The line of devastation; marking what was to be pulled down and demolished.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Lam 2:8-9. The Lord hath purposed to destroy the…
Lam 2:8-9. The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of Zion — The word wall is here to be taken in a metaphorical sense, for the strength and security of the city. He hath stretched out a line, &c. — Called emphatically, Isa 34:11, קו תהו, the line of confusion or devastation, being designed to mark out the extent of what was to be pulled down. For the instruments designed for building are in some places applied to destroying, because men sometimes mark out those buildings they intend to demolish. Thus, 2Ki 21:13, God says, I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: see likewise Amo 7:7-8. Therefore he made the rampart, &c., to lament — Made their walls and ramparts feeble, ready to shake like a man under some languishing distemper, who had no strength left. Her gates are sunk into the ground, &c. — The gates of Jerusalem are destroyed and covered over with rubbish, and the bolts of the gates are broken. Her king and her princes are among the Gentiles — Zedekiah and the nobles of Judah, who were not slain, are in a state of miserable captivity. The law is no more — It is no longer read and expounded; the priests and the Levites, whose office it is to instruct the people, being dispersed among the heathen; and that part of the law which respects the public worship of God, being rendered impracticable by the temple’s being destroyed. Her prophets also find no vision from the Lord — The prophets are either dead, or in a state of captivity, and these latter are not favoured with divine revelations as they were wont to be, and so cannot resolve the doubts of those who come to them for advice.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain A line - Compare Isa 34:11. The destruction is…
A line - Compare Isa 34:11. The destruction is systematic and thorough.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Line, to level it with the ground, (Isaias xxxiv.…
Line, to level it with the ground, (Isaias xxxiv. 11.; Calmet) or to treat it with just severity. (Theodoret) --- Bulwark. Literally, "the first wall," (Haydock) or ditch, lined with palisades. Alexander [the Great] ordered the towers to be levelled, and the horses’ manes to be cut, when Hephæstion died, to denote the general sorrow.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain stretched . . . a line--The Easterns used a…
stretched . . . a line--The Easterns used a measuring-line not merely in building, but in destroying edifices (Kg2 21:13; Isa 34:11); implying here the unsparing rigidness with which He would exact punishment.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Wall of the daughter of Zion — Walls…
8. Wall of the daughter of Zion — Walls of Jerusalem. The line which had been stretched out for the purpose of erection is now used for the purpose of destruction, and thus is suggested the precision and thoroughness of the work.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. stretched out the line] i.e. marked for destruction.…
8. stretched out the line] i.e. marked for destruction. Cp. 2Ki_21:13; Isa_34:2; Amo_7:7 ff.
destroying] lit. as mg. swallowing up.
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they languish together] For the personification of rampart and wall cp. Lam_2:18 and Jer_14:2.
8, 9. The walls were broken down and the gates removed (2Ki_25:10; Jer_52:14) to preclude rebellion. Cp. Ezr_4:12 ff.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) He hath stretched out a line.—The phrase implies…
(8) He hath stretched out a line.—The phrase implies (See Notes on 2Ki_21:13; Isa_34:11; Amo_7:7) the systematic thoroughness of the work of destruction.
He made the rampart.—Even the very stones of the walls of Zion are thought of as “crying out” and wailing over their own downfall. (Comp. Hab_2:11; Luk_19:40.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He hath stretched out a line. It is the…
He hath stretched out a line. It is the "line of desolation" mentioned in Isaiah. (Isa_34:11; comp. Amo_7:7 2Ki_21:13) Such is the unsparing rigour of Jehovah"s judgments.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Yahweh decided to destroy the city wall
Yahweh decided to destroy the city wall
Yahweh chose to have the wall destroyed and caused Jerusalem's enemy to destroy it. He did not destroy it himself. (See: Metonymy)
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daughter of Zion
This is a poetic name for Jerusalem, which is spoken of here as if it were a woman. (See: Personification)
He has stretched out the measuring line
This speaks of preparing to destroy the wall as if he measured it before he destroyed it, so that he knew how much to destroy. AT: "It is as though he has measured the wall" (See: Metaphor)
has not withheld his hand from destroying
This can be stated without the double negatives. Also, here the Lord is referred to by his "hand." AT: "with his hand he has destroyed the wall" or "he has destroyed the wall" (See: Double Negatives and Synecdoche)
He has made the ramparts and wall to lament; together they wasted away
The walls and ramparts are spoken of as if they were people who lamented and died. AT: "Because he has destroyed the ramparts and walls, they are like people who lament and have lost their strength" (See: Personification)
ramparts
Ancient cities had a main "wall" to keep attackers out, and an outer line of "ramparts" to keep attackers from the wall.
translationWords
Yahweh
Zion
hand
lament
gate
king
prince
Gentile
law
prophet
vision
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:8 Ramparts were stone walls or mounds of earth…
2:8 Ramparts were stone walls or mounds of earth built around a city to protect it from assault by an enemy army.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.