Lamentations 2:8 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 2:1-9

It is a very sad representation which is here made of the state of God's church, of Jacob and Israel, of Zion and Jerusalem; but the emphasis in these verses seems to be laid all along upon the hand of God in the calamities which they were groaning under. The grief is not so much that such and such things are done as that God has done them, that he appears angry with them; it is he that chastens them, and chastens them in wrath and in his hot displeasure; he has become their enemy, and fights... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 2:8

The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion ,.... Either the wall of the city, as Aben Ezra; or the wall that encompassed the temple, and all the outward courts of it, as Dr. Lightfoot F19 Prospect of the Temple, c. 17. p. 1089. thinks; this the Lord had determined to destroy, and according to his purposes did destroy it, or suffer it to be demolished; and so all were laid open for the enemy to enter: he hath stretched out a line ; a line of destruction, to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 2:8

He hath stretched out a line - The line of devastation; marking what was to be pulled down and demolished. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 2:8

Verse 8 The verb to think, has more force than what is commonly assigned to it; for it would be very flat to say, that God thought to destroy; but to think here means to resolve or to decree. (153) This is one thing. And then we must bear in mind the contrast between this and those false imaginations, by which men are wont to be drawn away, so as not to believe that God is present in adversities as well as prosperity. As, therefore, men go willfully astray through various false thoughts, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 2:8

He hath stretched out a line. It is the "line of desolation" mentioned in Isaiah ( Isaiah 34:11 ; comp. Amos 7:7 ; 2 Kings 21:13 ). Such is the unsparing rigour of Jehovah's judgments. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Lamentations 2:8

A line - Compare Isaiah 34:11. The destruction is systematic and thorough. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Lamentations 2:8-9

Lamentations 2:8-9. The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of Zion The word wall is here to be taken in a metaphorical sense, for the strength and security of the city. He hath stretched out a line, &c. Called emphatically, Isaiah 34:11, קו תהו , the line of confusion or devastation, being designed to mark out the extent of what was to be pulled down. For the instruments designed for building are in some places applied to destroying, because men sometimes mark out those... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Lamentations 2:1-22

Sufferings sent by God (2:1-22)In this poem the main theme is that the calamity that has befallen Judah has been the work of God. He has humbled the exalted nation; he has turned her glory into darkness (2:1). City and field, temple and fortress have been destroyed by him. They expected God to be the defender of his people, but he has been the attacker. Far from showing pity towards them, he has been angry with them (2-5).God has destroyed the temple and left it looking like an old broken-down... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Lamentations 2:8

destroying = swallowing up. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Lamentations 2:8

8. stretched . . . a line—The Easterns used a measuring-line not merely in building, but in destroying edifices (2 Kings 21:13; Isaiah 34:11); implying here the unsparing rigidness with which He would exact punishment. Teth. read more