Lamentations 2:13
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The prophet's struggle to find words highlights a devastating truth: Jerusalem's suffering is so immense and unique that the usual comforts of comparison or shared experience are utterly useless. This isn't just deep sorrow; it's a wound so vast, like a sea breach, that it defies any attempt to find a parallel or a solution within human experience.
What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is vast as the sea; who can heal you?
English Standard Version (ESV)
The prophet Jeremiah, overwhelmed by the destruction of Jerusalem, expresses his profound sorrow by searching for a comparison to describe the city's utter ruin. He finds none, as Jerusalem's devastation is immense and beyond any historical precedent, leaving him unable to offer any conventional comfort. This lament underscores the catastrophic nature of the judgment that has befallen God's chosen people.
When disaster strikes, we often try to comfort ourselves and others by pointing to similar experiences. But what happens when the suffering is so immense, it defies comparison?
The prophet Jeremiah begins Lamentations 2:13 by wrestling with how to offer comfort to Jerusalem. He asks, "What can I say for you, to what compare you?" This isn't just a rhetorical question; it highlights a profound reality.
The Standard Comfort Strategy
Normally, when someone is hurting, we might say:
Jerusalem's Unique Calamity
Jerusalem's ruin, however, was so vast and devastating – "vast as the sea" – that these common methods of comfort failed. There was no historical precedent, no comparable example, that could adequately capture the depth of their suffering or offer a clear path to healing. The destruction wasn't just big; it was immeasurable, like an ocean that swallows everything.
This emphasizes the sheer scale of God's judgment and the depth of Jerusalem's sin, pushing the city beyond the bounds of typical human experience.
The image of a 'sea' often evokes vastness and power. In Lamentations 2:13, it's used to describe a disaster so immense, it seems beyond any possible remedy.
Ask a follow-up
The phrase "your ruin is vast as the sea" is a powerful metaphor for the totality and depth of Jerusalem's destruction. It wasn't a small wound or a manageable setback.
What 'Sea Breach' Implies:
The prophet's follow-up question, 'who can heal you?', underscores this final point. The city's breach was not a wound that could be easily bandaged and mended. It was a cataclysm that seemed to defy any earthly or even divine intervention in the immediate sense.
Understand the original words
betulat bath tsiyyon · Hebrew Noun phrase
A title for Jerusalem/Zion highlighting its status as set apart, beloved, and formerly untouched by foreign domination. It underscores the severity of the city's violation during the Babylonian destruction.
The prophet's cry in Lamentations 2:13 reflects the unparalleled devastation of Jerusalem's fall and the subsequent exile. The sheer magnitude of the catastrophe meant that historical precedents offered no comfort, and the people's 'breach' felt as boundless and unhealable as the sea itself.
c. 597 BC
First Deportation to Babylon
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deports thousands of Judeans, including King Jehoiachin and the prophet Ezekiel, to Babylon. This marks a significant blow to Jerusalem's strength and spirit.
c. 588-586 BC— this verse
Siege and Fall of Jerusalem
Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to Jerusalem, leading to starvation and eventual destruction of the city and the First Temple. The remaining population is largely exiled to Babylon.
c. 586 BC onwards
Babylonian Exile
The majority of the Judean population is forced into exile in Babylon, experiencing loss of homeland, temple, and national sovereignty. This period of intense suffering is the backdrop for the book of Lamentations.
c. 539 BC
Persian Conquest of Babylon
Cyrus the Great conquers Babylon, paving the way for the return of exiled peoples, including the Judeans, to their homelands.
c. 538 BC onwards
Return from Exile
Cyrus issues a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. This begins the process of restoration, though many challenges remain.
This passage speaks about an incurable wound and a great number of afflictions, directly echoing the 'vast as the sea' ruin and the question of who can heal in Lamentations 2:13.
Isaiah 40:18The prophet here asks 'To whom then will you liken God?' or 'What image will you compare him to?', mirroring Lamentations' questioning of what can be likened to Jerusalem's suffering, highlighting the uniqueness and immensity of the affliction.
Ezekiel 36:25This later prophetic passage offers a divine promise of cleansing and healing from sin and impurity, providing a stark contrast to the seemingly irremediable state of Jerusalem described in Lamentations 2:13, pointing to God as the ultimate healer.
Job 16:4Job laments his own suffering, stating 'I also could speak as you do; if your soul were in my soul's stead, I could fill you up with words, and shake my head at you.' This echoes the sense of incomparable suffering and the inadequacy of words to comfort, though Job's situation is personal rather than national.
wesleyLamentations 2:13: "What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?"
2:13 Who - There was no people whose condition was in any degree parallel to the misery of the Jews: nor was there any cure for them, their breach was like a sea breach where the waters come in with such a torrent, that there is no makin…
calvinLamentations 2:13: "What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?"
- What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can hea…
The prophet's struggle to find words highlights a devastating truth: Jerusalem's suffering is so immense and unique that the usual comforts of comparison or shared experience are utterly useless. This isn't just deep sorrow; it's a wound so vast, like a sea breach, that it defies any attempt to find a parallel or a solution within human experience.
The prophet Jeremiah, overwhelmed by the destruction of Jerusalem, expresses his profound sorrow by searching for a comparison to describe the city's utter ruin. He finds none, as Jerusalem's devastation is immense and beyond any historical precedent, leaving him unable to offer any conventional comfort. This lament underscores the catastrophic nature of the judgment that has befallen God's chosen people.
The prophet Jeremiah, overwhelmed by the destruction of Jerusalem, expresses his profound sorrow by searching for a comparison to describe the city's utter ruin. He finds none, as Jerusalem's devastation is immense and beyond any historical precedent, leaving him unable to offer any conventional comfort. This lament underscores the catastrophic nature of the judgment that has befallen God's chosen people.
"What can I say for you, to what compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is vast as the sea; who can heal you?" — The prophet's struggle to find words highlights a devastating truth: Jerusalem's suffering is so immense and unique that the usual comforts of comparison or shared experience are utterly useless. Thi…
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Last reviewed October 2026
