Lamentations 2:20

 Lamentations 2:20

Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

a. ASV:See, O Jehovah, and behold to whom thou hast done thus! Shall the women eat their fruit, the children that are dandled in the hands? Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord? [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

b. YLT: See, O Jehovah, and look attentively, To whom Thou hast acted thus, Do women eat their fruit, infants of a handbreadth? Slain in the sanctuary of the Lord are priest and prophet? [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: Behold, O Lord, and consider [carefully] to whom You have done this. Should and shall women eat the fruit of their own bodies, the children whom they have tended and swaddled with their hands? Should and shall priest and prophet be slain in the place set apart [for the worship] of the Lord? [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. NLT: “O LORD, think about this! Should you treat your own people this way? Should mothers eat their own children, those they once bounced on their knees? Should priests and prophets be killed within the Lord’s Temple?[Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

e. NIV: “Look, LORD, and consider: Whom have you ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cared for? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord? [THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.]

 1. “Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long…”

a. Behold [Streong: 7200 râʼâh, raw-aw'; a primitive root; to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative):—advise self, appear, approve, behold, × certainly, consider, discern, (make to) enjoy, have experience, gaze, take heed, × indeed, × joyfully, lo, look (on, one another, one on another, one upon another, out, up, upon), mark, meet, × be near, perceive, present, provide, regard, (have) respect, (fore-, cause to, let) see(-r, -m, one another), shew (self), × sight of others, (e-) spy, stare, × surely, × think, view, visions. 

b. [O] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

c. [and] consider [Strong: 5027 nâbaṭ, naw-bat'; a primitive root; to scan, i.e. look intently at; by implication, to regard with pleasure, favor or care:—(cause to) behold, consider, look (down), regard, have respect, see.]

d. [to] whom [Strong: 4310 mîy, me; an interrogative pronoun of persons, as H4100 is of things, who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things); also (indefinitely) whoever; often used in oblique construction with prefix or suffix:—any (man), × he, × him, O that! what, which, who(-m, -se, -soever), would to God.]

e. [thou hast] done [Strong: 5953 ʻâlal, aw-lal'; a primitive root; to effect thoroughly; specifically, to glean (also figuratively); by implication (in a bad sense) to overdo, i.e. maltreat, be saucy to, pain, impose (also literal):—abuse, affect, × child, defile, do, glean, mock, practise, thoroughly, work (wonderfully).]

f. this [Strong: 3541 kôh, ko; from the prefix k and H1931; properly, like this, i.e. by implication, (of manner) thus (or so); also (of place) here (or hither); or (of time) now:—also, here, hitherto, like, on the other side, so (and much), such, on that manner, (on) this (manner, side, way, way and that way), mean while, yonder.]

g. [Shall the] women [Strong: 802  ʼishshâh, ish-shaw'; feminine of H376 or H582; irregular plural, נָשִׁים nâshîym;(used in the same wide sense as H582) a woman:—(adulter) ess, each, every, female, × many, none, one, together, wife, woman. Often unexpressed in English.]

h. eat [Strong: 398 ʼâkal, aw-kal'; a primitive root; to eat (literally or figuratively):—× at all, burn up, consume, devour(-er, up), dine, eat(-er, up), feed (with), food, × freely, × in...wise(-deed, plenty), (lay) meat, × quite.]

i. [their] fruit [Strong: 6529 pᵉrîy, per-ee'; from H6509; fruit (literally or figuratively):—bough, (first-)fruit(-ful), reward.]

j. [and] children [Strong: 5768 ʻôwlêl, o-lale'; or עֹלָל ʻôlâl; from H5763; a suckling:—babe, (young) child, infant, little one.]

k. [of a] span [Strong: 2949 ṭippuch, tip-pookh'; from H2946; nursing:—span long.]

2. “...shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?”

a. [shall the] priest [Strong: 3548 kôhên, ko-hane'; active participle of H3547; literally one officiating, a priest; also (by courtesy) an acting priest (although a layman):—chief ruler, × own, priest, prince, principal officer.]

b. [and the] prophet [Strong: 5030 nâbîyʼ, naw-bee'; from H5012; a prophet or (generally) inspired man:—prophecy, that prophesy, prophet.]

c. [be] slain [Strong: 2026 hârag, haw-rag'; a primitive root; to smite with deadly intent:—destroy, out of hand, kill, murder(-er), put to (death), make (slaughter), slay(-er), × surely.]

d. [in the] sanctuary [Strong: 4720 miqdâsh, mik-dawsh'; or מִקְּדָשׁ miqqᵉdâsh; (Exodus 15:17), from H6942; a consecrated thing or place, especially, a palace, sanctuary (whether of Jehovah or of idols) or asylum:—chapel, hallowed part, holy place, sanctuary.]

e. [Of the] LORD [Strong: 136 ʼĂdônây, ad-o-noy'; an emphatic form of H113; the Lord (used as a proper name of God only):—(my) Lord.]

1). This happened at least twice to Israel in the Biblical record, when Syria besieged Samaria (2 Kings 6:24-31), and when Babylon besieged Jerusalem. Though not recorded explicitly in the verses of 2 Kings or 2 Chronicles, here Jeremiah mentions it. 

a). Lamentations 4:10  The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

b). 2 Kings 6:24-31 And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria.

6:25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.

6:26 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.

6:27 And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?

6:28 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.

6:29 So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.

6:30 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.

6:31 Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.

2). Moses prophesied right before he died that Israel would experience this because of their disobedience.

a). Deuteronomy 28:52-57  And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.

28:53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:

28:54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:

28:55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.

28:56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,

27:57 And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.

28:58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, The Lord Thy God;

28:59 Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.

3). Troy Edwards, The Permissive Sense: Most people have read this list (Deuteronomy 28:16-68) with the erroneous idea that God will use His divine creative power to bring about these curses. Nevertheless, when we use the principle of interpreting the Bible with the Bible, we learn that these curses will come because God is  forsaking His people and withdrawing His protection. 

a). Deuteronomy 31:16-18 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.

31:17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?