Lamentations 2:4

4 Like an enemy he has strung his bow; his right hand is ready. Like a foe he has slain all who were pleasing to the eye; he has poured out his wrath like fire on the tent of Daughter Zion.

Lamentations 2:4 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
4 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.
English Standard Version (ESV)
4 He has bent his bow like an enemy, with his right hand set like a foe; and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes in the tent of the daughter of Zion; he has poured out his fury like fire.
New Living Translation (NLT)
4 He bends his bow against his people, as though he were their enemy. His strength is used against them to kill their finest youth. His fury is poured out like fire on beautiful Jerusalem.
The Message Bible (MSG)
4 Like an enemy, he aimed his bow, bared his sword, and killed our young men, our pride and joy. His anger, like fire, burned down the homes in Zion.
American Standard Version (ASV)
4 He hath bent his bow like an enemy, he hath stood with his right hand as an adversary, And hath slain all that were pleasant to the eye: In the tent of the daughter of Zion he hath poured out his wrath like fire.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
4 Like an enemy he bent his bow. Like an opponent his right hand held the arrow steady. He killed all the beautiful people. He poured out his fury like fire on the tent of Zion's people.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
4 Like an enemy He has bent His bow; His right hand is positioned like an adversary. He has killed everyone who was loved, pouring out His wrath like fire on the tent of Daughter Zion.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
4 Like an enemy the Lord got his bow ready to use. He had a sword in his right hand. Like an enemy he destroyed everything that used to be pleasing to him. His anger blazed out like fire. It burned up the homes in the city of Zion.

Lamentations 2:4 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 2:4

He hath bent his bow like an enemy
God sometimes appears as if he was an enemy to his people, when he is not, by his conduct and behaviour; by the dispensations of his providence they take him to be so, as Job did, ( Job 16:9 Job 16:10 Job 16:13 Job 16:14 ) ; he bends his bow, or treads it, for the bending or stretching the bow was done by the foot; and as the Targum,

``and threw his arrows at me:''
he stood with his right hand as an adversary;
with arrows in it, to put into his bow or with his sword drawn, as an adversary does. The Targum is,
``he stood at the right hand of Nebuchadnezzar and helped him, when he distressed his people Israel:''
and slew all [that were] pleasant to the eye;
princes and priests, husbands and wives, parents and children, young men and maids; desirable to their friends and relations, and to the commonwealth: in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion he poured out his fury like
fire;
that is, either in the temple, or in the city of Jerusalem, or both, which were burnt with fire, as the effect of divine wrath and fury; and which itself is comparable to fire; like a burning lamp of fire, as the Targum; or rather like a burning furnace or mountain; see ( Nahum 1:6 ) .

Lamentations 2:4 In-Context

2 Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob; in his wrath he has torn down the strongholds of Daughter Judah. He has brought her kingdom and its princes down to the ground in dishonor.
3 In fierce anger he has cut off every horn of Israel. He has withdrawn his right hand at the approach of the enemy. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it.
4 Like an enemy he has strung his bow; his right hand is ready. Like a foe he has slain all who were pleasing to the eye; he has poured out his wrath like fire on the tent of Daughter Zion.
5 The Lord is like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for Daughter Judah.
6 He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden; he has destroyed his place of meeting. The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths; in his fierce anger he has spurned both king and priest.

Cross References 5

  • 1. S Job 3:23; Job 16:13; Lamentations 3:12-13
  • 2. S Psalms 48:2; Ezekiel 24:16,25
  • 3. S 2 Chronicles 34:21; Ezekiel 20:34
  • 4. Isaiah 42:25; S Jeremiah 7:20
  • 5. S Jeremiah 4:20
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