Lamentations 2:5
What does Lamentations 2:5 mean?
A plain-English look at Lamentations 2:5 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Lamentations 2:5 means
“The Lord is become as an enemy” states what the images have implied. He swallows up palaces and strongholds and multiplies mourning in Judah. The reversal is complete: the God who gave them land and security now acts against them, fulfilling covenant warnings they long ignored. The losses are not only military but deeply social and emotional—mourning and lament reach a crescendo. The destruction of fortifications signals the end of pride and self-reliance. When God is against a people, no structure stands. The verse presses the grievous truth: their chief problem is not Babylon’s might but God’s opposition because of persistent sin.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000The Lord is become as an enemy, he hath swallowed up Israel; He hath swallowed up all her palaces, he hath destroyed his strongholds; And he hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
KJV
King James Version · 1611The 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.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901The Lord is become as an enemy, he hath swallowed up Israel; He hath swallowed up all her palaces, he hath destroyed his strongholds; And he hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949The Lord has become like one fighting against her, sending destruction on Israel; he has sent destruction on all her great houses, making waste his strong places: increasing the grief and the sorrow of the daughter of Judah.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862The Lord hath been as an enemy, He hath swallowed up Israel, He hath swallowed up all her palaces, He hath destroyed His fortresses, And He multiplieth in the daughter of Judah Mourning and moaning.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752He. The Lord is become as an enemy: he hath cast down Israel headlong, he hath overthrown all the walls thereof: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath multiplied in the daughter of Juda the afflicted, both men and women.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890The Lord is become as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel; he hath swallowed up all her palaces; he hath destroyed his strongholds, and hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
Context
Verse 5 functions as a thematic summary of the first section: God has taken the role of an enemy to His own people. This lays groundwork for the next movement (vv. 6–9) where the collapse reaches into the center of worship and the seat of authority. The line between sacred and secular blurs in judgment: sanctuary, palace, and wall all fall alike. Understanding this pivot helps the reader see why the coming verses fix on the tabernacle, altar, and priests—signs that the rupture is spiritual at its core, not merely political.
v.4He 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.
v.5This passage
v.6And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden; he hath destroyed his place of assembly: Jehovah hath caused solemn assembly and sabbath to be forgotten in Zion, And hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Jeremiah 52:13
And he burned the house of Jehovah, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned he with fire.
- Jeremiah 30:14
All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not: for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of thine iniquity, because thy sins were increased.
- Jeremiah 9:17
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the skilful women, that they may come:
- 2 Chronicles 36:16
but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of Jehovah arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
- Ezekiel 2:10
and he spread it before me: and it was written within and without; and there were written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
- Lamentations 2:4
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.
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