Lamentations 2:15

Jerusalem

¹³ 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?

¹⁴ 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.

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?

¹⁶ 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.

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.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”
KJV: 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?
WEB: All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men called ‘The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’?”
ASV: 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 called The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
DARBY: All that pass by clap [their] hands at thee; they hiss and shake their head at the daughter of Jerusalem: Is this the city which they called, The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
BLB: They clap the hands at you all those passing by [on] the way; they hiss and shake their heads over the daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that they called the fullness of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”

ÅB: De slår hendene sammen over deg alle de som går forbi på veien; de spotter og rister på hodet over Jerusalems datter: Er dette den stad de kalte skjønnhetens krone, all jordens glede?
OTB: Alle som går forbi klapper i hendene mot deg; de håner og rister på hodet mot Datter Jerusalem: "Er dette byen som ble kalt skjønnhetens fullkommenhet, hele jordens glede?"
B1930: De slår hendene sammen over dig alle de som går forbi på veien; de spotter og ryster på hodet over Jerusalems datter: Er dette den stad de kalte skjønnhetens krone, all jordens glede?

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Jeremiah 18:16
To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
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Psalms 48:2
Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
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Psalms 50:2
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
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Jeremiah 19:8
And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
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Ezekiel 25:6
For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel;
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Matthew 27:39
And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
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Isaiah 64:11
Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
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Isaiah 37:22
This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
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