Lamentations 2:16

All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see it!”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The enemies address the destroyed city of Jerusalem during the execution of divine judgment, celebrating its fall immediately after the LORD’s decree is fulfilled.

The words — פָּצוּ (pa.Tzu) literally means they have opened, and שָׁרְקוּ (sha.re.Ku) means they have hissed, describing the enemies' physical gestures of mockery and triumph.

The thread — This motif of hostile gaping and mocking appears in Psalms 35:21 and Psalms 37:12, while Lamentations 3:46 repeats the image of enemies opening their mouths against the afflicted.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that historical devastation follows divine planning, requiring the reader to acknowledge that enemy triumph operates within a sovereign decree rather than independent power.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

פָּצ֨וּpa.Tzuthey have opened עָלַ֤יִךְ'a.La.yi/khon/ you פִּיהֶם֙pi./Hemmouth/ their כָּל־kol-all א֣וֹיְבַ֔יִךְ'oy.Va.yi/khenemies/ your שָֽׁרְקוּ֙sha.re.Kuthey have hissed וַיַּֽחַרְקוּ־va/i.ya.char.ku-and/ they have gnashed שֵׁ֔ןShena tooth אָמְר֖וּ'a.me.Ruthey said בִּלָּ֑עְנוּbi.La.'e.nuwe have swallowed up אַ֣ךְ'akhsurely זֶ֥הzehthis הַיּ֛וֹםhai./Yom[is] the/ day שֶׁקִּוִּינֻ֖הוּshe./ki.vi.Nu./huthat/ we have waited for/ it מָצָ֥אנוּma.Tza.nuwe have found רָאִֽינוּ׃ סra.'I.nuwe have seen

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Psalms 35:21 They gape at me and say, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”
Psalms 37:12 The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,
Lamentations 3:46 All our enemies open their mouths against us.
Job 16:9 His anger has torn me and opposed me; He gnashes His teeth at me. My adversary pierces me with His eyes.
Psalms 56:2 My enemies pursue me all day long, for many proudly assail me.
Psalms 22:13 They open their jaws against me like lions that roar and maul.
Psalms 35:16 Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.
Psalms 124:3 when their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed us alive,
Jeremiah 51:34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies and vomited me out.
Psalms 41:8 “A vile disease has been poured into him; he will never get up from where he lies!”