Lamentations 1:2
What does Lamentations 1:2 mean?
A plain-English look at Lamentations 1:2 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Lamentations 1:2 means
Jerusalem’s grief is relentless and intimate—she weeps through the night, with no private relief. Those once counted as “lovers” and “friends,” likely the alliances and neighboring powers she trusted, have betrayed her. Spiritual adultery—trusting in others rather than Jehovah—yields abandonment when help is most needed. The verse exposes the emptiness of false confidences: human allies turn hostile, and comforters vanish. Isolation in sorrow amplifies the pain, suggesting that the city’s wounds are not just physical but relational and spiritual. The absence of comfort anticipates a repeated theme in the chapter: there is no human hand to wipe her tears, and divine aid seems withheld under judgment.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are become her enemies.
KJV
King James Version · 1611She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they are become her enemies.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949She is sorrowing bitterly in the night, and her face is wet with weeping; among all her lovers she has no comforter: all her friends have been false to her, they have become her haters.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862She weepeth sore in the night, And her tear <FI>is<Fi> on her cheeks, There is no comforter for her out of all her lovers, All her friends dealt treacherously by her, They have been to her for enemies.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Beth. Weeping, she hath wept in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: there is none to comfort her among all them that were dear to her: all her friends have despised her, and are become her enemies.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; among all her lovers she hath no comforter; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.
Context
Having announced Jerusalem’s fall, the poem now shows her inner life—unceasing tears and relational betrayal. This deepens the emotional realism and heightens the sense of helplessness. The focus on failed “lovers” prepares for the broader national catastrophe in verse 3—captivity and pursuit. The sequence moves from personal grief to public consequences. It also lays groundwork for the theological explanation that appears soon: the Lord’s affliction for transgressions (verse 5) and the confession of grievous sin (verse 8), while the lack of comfort becomes a refrain (verses 2, 9, 16, 17).
v.1How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! She is become as a widow, that was great among the nations! She that was a princess among the provinces is become tributary!
v.2This passage
v.3Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude; She dwelleth among the nations, she findeth no rest: All her persecutors overtook her within the straits.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Job 6:15
My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, As the channel of brooks that pass away;
- Jeremiah 3:1
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, will he return unto her again? will not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith Jehovah.
- Micah 7:5
Trust ye not in a neighbor; put ye not confidence in a friend; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
- Lamentations 2:18
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 respite; let not the apple of thine eye cease.
- Jeremiah 9:1
Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
- Revelation 17:13
These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast.
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