Lamentations 2:11
Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
Original Language Analysis
כָּל֨וּ
do fail
H3615
כָּל֨וּ
do fail
Strong's:
H3615
Word #:
1 of 17
to end, whether intransitive (to cease, be finished, perish) or transitive (to complete, prepare, consume)
עֵינַי֙
Mine eyes
H5869
עֵינַי֙
Mine eyes
Strong's:
H5869
Word #:
3 of 17
an eye (literally or figuratively); by analogy, a fountain (as the eye of the landscape)
חֳמַרְמְר֣וּ
are troubled
H2560
חֳמַרְמְר֣וּ
are troubled
Strong's:
H2560
Word #:
4 of 17
properly, to boil up; hence, to glow (with redness)
מֵעַ֔י
my bowels
H4578
מֵעַ֔י
my bowels
Strong's:
H4578
Word #:
5 of 17
used only in plural the intestines, or (collectively) the abdomen, figuratively, sympathy; by implication, a vest; by extension the stomach, the uteru
נִשְׁפַּ֤ךְ
is poured
H8210
נִשְׁפַּ֤ךְ
is poured
Strong's:
H8210
Word #:
6 of 17
to spill forth (blood, a libation, liquid metal; or even a solid, i.e., to mound up); also (figuratively) to expend (life, soul, complaint, money, etc
עַל
H5921
עַל
Strong's:
H5921
Word #:
9 of 17
above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
שֶׁ֖בֶר
for the destruction
H7667
שֶׁ֖בֶר
for the destruction
Strong's:
H7667
Word #:
10 of 17
a fracture, figuratively, ruin; specifically, a solution (of a dream)
בַּת
of the daughter
H1323
בַּת
of the daughter
Strong's:
H1323
Word #:
11 of 17
a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively)
עַמִּ֑י
of my people
H5971
עַמִּ֑י
of my people
Strong's:
H5971
Word #:
12 of 17
a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock
בֵּֽעָטֵ֤ף
swoon
H5848
בֵּֽעָטֵ֤ף
swoon
Strong's:
H5848
Word #:
13 of 17
to shroud, i.e., clothe (whether transitive or reflexive); hence (from the idea of darkness) to languish
Cross References
Lamentations 1:20Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.Job 16:13His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.Lamentations 1:16For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.Isaiah 22:4Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people.Psalms 6:7Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.Psalms 22:14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.Jeremiah 4:19My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
Historical Context
Eyewitness account of the siege's famine conditions. Archaeological evidence from 586 BC destruction layers confirms mass starvation. Jeremiah himself remained in Jerusalem during the siege (Jeremiah 38-39), witnessing these horrors firsthand before being forcibly taken to Egypt.
Questions for Reflection
- Does your grief over sin—personal or corporate—reach this visceral, consuming level, or have you grown comfortable with spiritual compromise?
- How does Jeremiah's model of suffering *with* his people rather than condemning *from above* reflect Christ's incarnational solidarity with sinners?
Analysis & Commentary
Mine eyes do fail with tears (כָּלוּ בַדְּמָעוֹת עֵינַי, kalu vademot einai)—The Hebrew verb 'kalu' means 'to be finished, spent, consumed'—total emotional and physical exhaustion from weeping. My bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth uses visceral Hebrew idiom: 'bowels' (מֵעַי, meay) represents the seat of emotions, while 'liver' (כָּבֵד, kaved) symbolizes the core of life being drained out. Because the children and sucklings swoon in the streets identifies the cause: covenant curses fulfilled (Deuteronomy 28:53-57). The prophet's grief is not merely empathetic but participatory—he suffers with and for his people.