Bible Strands
Lamentations 2:17
The LORD has done what He planned; He has accomplished His decree, which He ordained in days of old; He has overthrown you without pity. He has let the enemy gloat over you and exalted the horn of your foes.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator declares Yahweh’s decisive action toward Jerusalem after the enemy’s public mockery in Lamentations 2:16. This statement occurs within a prophetic lament over the city’s complete ruin.
The words — זָמָם (za.Mam) means "he purposed," and בִּצַּע (bi.Tza') translates "he has fulfilled." These verbs establish that the overthrow was a deliberate execution of a long-standing command rather than a contingent event.
The thread — The pattern of God carrying out a pre-ordained judgment against covenant failure appears in Leviticus 26:14 and Ezekiel 5:11. The motif of God elevating the strength of adversaries aligns with Psalm 89:42.
Why it lands — The text first records that Yahweh actively overthrew the city and allowed enemies to gloat without pity. It requires readers to accept sovereign judgment as the direct cause of historical collapse before seeking any theological resolution.
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
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 5:11 Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon you with pity, nor will I spare you.
- Psalms 89:42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes; You have made all his enemies rejoice.
- Leviticus 26:14 If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments,
- Deuteronomy 28:15 If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
- Deuteronomy 31:16 And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them.
- Lamentations 1:5 Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. For the LORD has brought her grief because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the enemy.
- Lamentations 2:1 How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the cloud of His anger! He has cast the glory of Israel from heaven to earth. He has abandoned His footstool in the day of His anger.
- Ezekiel 7:8 Very soon I will pour out My wrath upon you and vent My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and repay you for all your abominations.
- Ezekiel 8:18 Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”
- Deuteronomy 29:18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,