Lamentations 2:6
What does Lamentations 2:6 mean?
A plain-English look at Lamentations 2:6 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Lamentations 2:6 means
God “violently” removes His “tabernacle” as easily as one might clear a garden shelter, and He destroys the assembly place. The solemn assembly and sabbath are “forgotten” in Zion, not because time ceased but because worship life is shattered. Even king and priest—figures God once honored—are despised in His hot anger. This verse shows worship cut off at the source: without God’s favor, the rhythms of feast and sabbath become impossible. The language suggests that the very institutions meant to mediate God’s presence have collapsed, leaving a spiritual vacuum where sacred time and leadership no longer function.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And 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.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And 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.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And 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.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And he has violently taken away his tent, as from a garden; he has made waste his meeting-place: the Lord has taken away the memory of feast and Sabbath in Zion, and in the passion of his wrath he is against king and priest.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And He shaketh as a garden His tabernacle, He hath destroyed His appointed place, Jehovah hath forgotten in Zion the appointed time and sabbath, And despiseth, in the indignation of His anger, king and priest.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Vau. And he hath destroyed his tent as a garden, he hath thrown down his tabernacle: the Lord hath caused feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Sion: and hath delivered up king and priest to reproach, and to the indignation of his wrath.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And he hath violently cast down his enclosure as a garden; he hath destroyed his place of assembly: Jehovah hath caused set feast and sabbath to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger king and priest.
Context
With God set as an adversary (v. 5), verse 6 moves to the heart of Judah’s identity—worship. The imagery of garden removal suggests how swiftly and decisively the sanctuary life was uprooted. This prepares for verse 7, where the altar and sanctuary are explicitly rejected, and enemy noise fills God’s house. Together, these verses demonstrate that the devastation includes liturgical life: God’s people cannot simply keep celebrating as before. The frame is essential for the next laments about altar and sanctuary being cast off, revealing how deeply judgment has penetrated Israel’s spiritual core.
v.5The 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.
v.6This passage
v.7The 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 Jehovah, as in the day of a solemn assembly.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Lamentations 4:20
The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Jehovah, was taken in their pits; Of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.
- Isaiah 5:5
And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
- Ezekiel 17:18
For he hath despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet hath done all these things; he shall not escape.
- Isaiah 1:8
And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
- Jeremiah 52:11
And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.
- Psalms 89:40
Thou hast broken down all his hedges; Thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin.
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