Lamentations Chapter 2
Lamentations 2
Purpose Proposed, Purpose Fulfilled
Lamentations 2:1-5, The Lord as Jerusalem’s Enemy
Lamentations 2:1-5, “How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger! The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about. He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire. The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.”
Lamentations 2 begins again with “How,” the cry of astonishment and grief. The daughter of Zion is covered with a cloud, but this is not the cloud of glory that once filled the temple. This is the cloud of God’s anger. Jerusalem is hidden under judgment.
The beauty of Israel has been cast down from heaven to earth. What once seemed exalted, protected, and glorious has been brought low. The LORD did not remember His footstool in the day of His anger. This likely refers to the temple, the place associated with His presence and worship. The people had treated the temple as if it guaranteed safety no matter how they lived, but God did not spare even His own sanctuary when His people persisted in sin.
The repeated phrase “He hath” places the emphasis where Lamentations continually places it. Babylon acted, but the LORD judged. He swallowed up the habitations of Jacob. He threw down the strongholds of Judah. He polluted the kingdom and princes. He cut off the horn of Israel, meaning the strength and power of the nation. He drew back His right hand from before the enemy, removing His protection.
Then the language becomes even more severe: “He hath bent his bow like an enemy.” The LORD stood with His right hand as an adversary. The God who had fought for Israel now fought against them. This is the terror of covenant rebellion. The people who had the LORD as their defender made themselves the objects of His chastening wrath.
The Lord was “as an enemy.” This does not mean God ceased to be covenantally faithful. It means He acted against Jerusalem in judgment because of her sin. He swallowed up Israel’s palaces and strongholds and increased mourning and lamentation in Judah.
Lamentations 2:6-7, The Lord Destroys His Own Tabernacle
Lamentations 2:6-7, “And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest. The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.”
The LORD violently takes away His tabernacle. The temple is described as His dwelling place, His place of assembly, yet He destroys it under judgment. This is shocking. God’s people had assumed that the presence of the temple made Jerusalem untouchable, but God had warned them not to trust in the temple while continuing in rebellion.
Jeremiah 7:4, “Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.”
The LORD caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion. The religious calendar collapsed because the temple was burned, the priests were scattered, the people were exiled, and the city was ruined. Worship institutions cannot continue in strength when the people have profaned the covenant.
God despised king and priest in the indignation of His anger. Political leadership and religious leadership both fell under judgment. The king could not save. The priest could not save. The altar was cast off. The sanctuary was abhorred. The walls of her palaces were handed to the enemy.
The enemies made noise in the house of the LORD “as in the day of a solemn feast.” The temple once rang with the sounds of worship. Now it rang with the noise of invaders. The sound of holy assembly was replaced by the sound of enemy conquest.
This is one of the deepest sorrows of Lamentations. The devastation was not only national. It was sacred. The house of the LORD had been defiled and destroyed.
Lamentations 2:8-9a, The Defenses of the City React
Lamentations 2:8-9a, “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. Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars:”
The LORD purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. Jerusalem’s wall represented security, boundary, strength, and identity. Once the wall was destroyed, the city was exposed.
God “stretched out a line.” This is the language of measurement. Just as a builder uses a line to construct carefully, God used a line to demolish carefully. Jerusalem’s destruction was not chaotic or accidental. It was measured judgment.
He did not withdraw His hand from destroying. The rampart and wall are poetically described as lamenting and languishing together. Even the city’s defenses seem to mourn their own collapse.
The gates are sunk into the ground. The bars are destroyed and broken. The entrance points of the city, once guarded and strong, are now useless. Jerusalem’s physical defenses are gone because the LORD Himself purposed their destruction.
Lamentations 2:9b-10, The People of the City React
Lamentations 2:9b-10, “her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD. The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.”
The king and princes are among the Gentiles. Judah’s royal and noble leadership has been carried away. The government has collapsed.
“The law is no more.” This does not mean God’s law ceased to exist. It means the public teaching, administration, and covenant life shaped by the law had collapsed in Jerusalem. The institutions that should have instructed the people were broken.
The prophets find no vision from the LORD. False prophets had spoken many visions before the fall, promising peace and safety. Now, after judgment, there is silence. The word they despised is absent, and the silence itself is judgment.
The elders sit on the ground and keep silence. They cast dust on their heads and wear sackcloth. These are signs of mourning, shame, and humiliation. The elders, who should have guided the community, now have no counsel.
The virgins of Jerusalem hang their heads to the ground. The young women, representing future joy, marriage, and family life, are bowed down in sorrow. The old and young, leaders and daughters, all share in the devastation.
Lamentations 2:11-12, The Prophet Reacts
Lamentations 2:11-12, “Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city. They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers' bosom.”
The prophet now speaks personally. His eyes fail with tears. His inward parts are troubled. His liver is poured upon the earth. These expressions communicate physical and emotional collapse under grief.
The reason is the destruction of the daughter of his people, especially the suffering of children and sucklings. The smallest and weakest faint in the streets of the city. They ask their mothers, “Where is corn and wine?” They are starving.
This is one of the most painful scenes in the book. Children collapse like the wounded in the streets. Their life is poured out into their mothers’ bosom. Mothers hold dying children but cannot feed them.
Lamentations forces the reader to face the human cost of sin and judgment. Covenant rebellion is not abstract. It ends in tears, famine, death, and mothers holding their children in helpless grief.
This also contrasts with the promised future restoration, when Jerusalem’s streets will again be full of boys and girls playing.
Zechariah 8:5, “And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.”
In Lamentations 2, the streets are not filled with children playing. They are filled with children fainting.
Lamentations 2:13-14, False Prophets Cannot Comfort Jerusalem
Lamentations 2:13-14, “What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee? Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment.”
Jeremiah asks how he can comfort Jerusalem. What comparison can be made? What can he say? Her breach is great like the sea. The ruin is too wide for human comfort.
“Who can heal thee?” The wound is beyond ordinary healing. The city’s suffering is deep because her sin was deep and her judgment was appointed by God.
Then Jeremiah identifies one of the causes of the disaster: false prophets. “Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee.” They spoke visions, but the visions were empty and deceptive.
They did not uncover Jerusalem’s iniquity. This is crucial. True preaching exposes sin so that sinners may repent and be restored. False preaching hides sin and promises peace.
If the prophets had uncovered iniquity, it could have turned away captivity. But instead they gave false burdens and causes of banishment. Their messages helped lead the people into exile because they gave comfort without repentance, assurance without truth, and peace without holiness.
This is a timeless warning. Religious speech that refuses to deal with sin may sound compassionate, but it is spiritually deadly.
Lamentations 2:15-16, Friends and Foes Cannot Comfort Jerusalem
Lamentations 2:15-16, “All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth? All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.”
Those who pass by clap their hands, hiss, and wag their heads. This is not joyful applause. It is scorn, astonishment, and contempt.
They mock Jerusalem: “Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?” Jerusalem had once been praised for beauty and significance. Now her ruin becomes a public spectacle.
The enemies open their mouths against her. They hiss, gnash their teeth, and say, “We have swallowed her up.” They had long waited for Jerusalem’s fall, and now they rejoice that the day has come.
This adds another layer to Jerusalem’s grief. She is not only wounded. She is mocked. Her enemies are glad that judgment has fallen.
Yet the enemies’ joy does not mean they are innocent. Later, God will judge the nations that rejoiced over Zion’s ruin. God may discipline His people, but He also holds their enemies accountable for cruelty and pride.
Lamentations 2:17, The Judgment of Jerusalem as What God Purposed
Lamentations 2:17, “The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.”
This verse is the theological center of the chapter. “The LORD hath done that which he had devised.” Jerusalem’s fall was not an accident, not a failure of God’s power, and not a victory of Babylon’s gods. It was the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
“He hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old.” God had warned Israel from the beginning that covenant rebellion would bring judgment, exile, and devastation.
Deuteronomy 28:15, “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God... that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:”
Deuteronomy 28:52, “And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst...”
Lamentations 2:17 says that God fulfilled His word. The fall of Jerusalem proves that God’s threats are as true as His promises. The divine word both comforts and warns. It must not be ignored.
The LORD threw down and did not pity. He caused the enemy to rejoice and lifted up the horn of Jerusalem’s adversaries. If Jerusalem had remained faithful, no enemy could have prevailed. But because Judah persisted in rebellion, God gave strength to the adversary.
Lamentations 2:18-19, Crying Out before the Face of the Lord
Lamentations 2:18-19, “Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease. Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.”
The city is called to weep without restraint. Tears are to run like a river day and night. There is to be no rest and no ceasing of the eye.
Jerusalem is told to arise and cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches. Nighttime prayer is fitting because the sorrow is too heavy for sleep. The people are to pour out their heart like water before the face of the Lord.
This is one of the great descriptions of lament prayer in Scripture. It is not polished religious performance. It is the pouring out of the heart before God.
They are to lift their hands toward Him for the life of their young children, who faint for hunger at the top of every street. The children’s suffering becomes the urgent motive for prayer. When no human help remains, the people must stretch their hands toward the Lord.
Even under judgment, prayer is not forbidden. The people who are chastened are still called to cry out to God.
Lamentations 2:20-22, The Agony of the Perishing City
Lamentations 2:20-22, “Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord? The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied. Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD'S anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.”
The chapter ends with an agonized appeal: “Behold, O LORD, and consider.” Jerusalem asks God to look upon what has happened to the people He once favored.
The suffering is horrifying. Women eat their own children. This was one of the covenant curses warned of by Moses.
Deuteronomy 28:56-57, “The tender and delicate woman among you... her eye shall be evil toward... her children which she shall bear: For she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness...”
Priest and prophet are slain in the sanctuary. Young and old lie on the ground in the streets. Virgins and young men fall by the sword. Every category of society suffers.
Jerusalem confesses again that the LORD has done this in the day of His anger. “Thou hast slain them... thou hast killed, and not pitied.” This is not unbelief. It is hard confession. The people know the judgment came from God.
The final image is striking. God has called Jerusalem’s terrors together as though summoning people to a solemn feast. Instead of worshippers gathering for holy celebration, terrors gather around Jerusalem. In the day of the LORD’s anger, none escaped or remained. The children Jerusalem swaddled and brought up have been consumed by the enemy.
Lamentations 2 leaves the reader under the weight of fulfilled judgment. God purposed. God fulfilled His word. Jerusalem suffered. The only possible response is honest lament, confession, and desperate prayer before the Lord.
Doctrinal and Practical Notes
Lamentations 2 teaches that God’s presence can be experienced as judgment when His people persist in rebellion. The cloud over Zion is not glory, but anger.
Lamentations 2 teaches that sacred privilege increases accountability. Zion, the temple, the feasts, the king, and the priest did not shield Judah from judgment.
Lamentations 2 teaches that God may act like an enemy toward His covenant people when they refuse repentance.
Lamentations 2 teaches that God’s judgment is purposeful and precise. He stretched out a line over Jerusalem’s walls.
Lamentations 2 teaches that false prophets destroy by refusing to uncover iniquity. Comfort without repentance leads to captivity.
Lamentations 2 teaches that children suffer under the consequences of national sin. The fainting children in the streets are among the most painful images in the book.
Lamentations 2 teaches that the word of God is always fulfilled. The LORD did what He purposed and fulfilled what He commanded in days of old.
Lamentations 2 teaches that lament should be poured out before the face of the Lord. The afflicted are called to pour out their heart like water.
Lamentations 2 teaches that prayer remains necessary even under discipline. Jerusalem is still told to cry out and lift up her hands.
Lamentations 2 teaches that the day of the LORD’s anger is dreadful. No sinner should treat divine warnings lightly.
Summary
Lamentations 2 presents the fall of Jerusalem as the purposeful work of the LORD in anger. Zion is covered with a cloud, not of glory but of judgment. The beauty of Israel is cast down, and God does not remember His footstool in the day of His anger. He swallows up Jacob’s habitations, throws down Judah’s strongholds, cuts off Israel’s strength, draws back His right hand, burns against Jacob, bends His bow like an enemy, and increases mourning and lamentation in Judah.
The LORD violently removes His tabernacle, destroys His places of assembly, causes feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten, despises king and priest, casts off His altar, abhors His sanctuary, and gives Jerusalem’s walls into enemy hands. The enemy noise in the house of the LORD replaces the sound of solemn feast worship.
The city’s defenses collapse because the LORD purposed to destroy the wall of Zion. He stretches out a line and does not withdraw His hand from destroying. Rampart and wall lament together, gates sink into the ground, and bars are broken. The king and princes are among the Gentiles, the law is no more, prophets find no vision, elders sit in silence with dust and sackcloth, and the virgins of Jerusalem bow their heads.
The prophet weeps until his eyes fail. His inward parts are troubled because children and infants faint in the streets, asking their mothers for corn and wine while their lives pour out in their mothers’ bosom.
Jeremiah cannot find comfort for Jerusalem because her breach is great like the sea. Her prophets had seen vain and foolish things, refusing to uncover her iniquity, and therefore they helped lead her toward captivity. Passersby clap, hiss, and wag their heads at Jerusalem, mocking the city once called the perfection of beauty and joy of the whole earth. Enemies rejoice, saying they have swallowed her up.
The chapter’s central confession is that the LORD has done what He purposed and fulfilled His word commanded in days of old. He threw down, did not pity, caused the enemy to rejoice, and exalted the horn of the adversaries.
Jerusalem is called to let tears run down like a river, to cry out in the night, to pour out her heart like water before the face of the Lord, and to lift her hands for the lives of the young children fainting with hunger. The chapter ends with a desperate plea for the LORD to behold and consider the horror: women eating their children, priest and prophet slain in the sanctuary, young and old lying in the streets, virgins and young men fallen by the sword, and terrors gathered around Jerusalem like a solemn feast in the day of the LORD’s anger.
