This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.
Parallel translations
- WEB This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
- KJV This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
- NKJV This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin, the daughter of Zion, Has despised you, laughed you to scorn; The daughter of Jerusalem Has shaken her head behind your back!
- NASB This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: ‘She, the virgin daughter of Zion, has shown contempt for you and mocked you; She, the daughter of Jerusalem, has shaken her head behind you!
- NLT And the Lord has spoken this word against him: “The virgin daughter of Zion despises you and laughs at you. The daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head in derision as you flee.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God declares that Virgin Zion despises and ridicules Sennacherib, shaking her head at him. The threatened city now mocks her would-be conqueror.
Overview
The LORD's oracle pictures Jerusalem as a 'virgin daughter' who scorns the Assyrian, reversing his arrogant taunts. The imagery conveys that Zion, under God's protection, has nothing to fear. The shaking of the head is a gesture of derision turned back on the proud invader. God's word transforms a city under siege into one secure in his defense.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Lam 2:13What can I say for you? To what can I compare you, O Daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, that I may console you, O Virgin Daughter of Zion? For your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can ever heal you?
- Jer 14:17You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow, a severely grievous wound.
- Matt 27:39And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads
- Job 16:4I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you.
- Ps 22:7–8All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:
- Isa 37:21–35Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,
- Ps 109:25I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
- Lam 2:15All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”
- Mic 4:8And you, O watchtower of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion—the former dominion will be restored to you; sovereignty will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem.”
- Lam 4:21So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.
- Zech 9:9Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
- Jer 31:4Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out in joyful dancing.
- Isa 23:10Cultivate your land like the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish; there is no longer a harbor.
- Isa 23:12He said, “You shall rejoice no more, O oppressed Virgin Daughter of Sidon. Get up and cross over to Cyprus—even there you will find no rest.”
- Jer 46:11Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.
- Lam 1:15The Lord has rejected all the mighty men in my midst; He has summoned an army against me to crush my young warriors. Like grapes in a winepress, the Lord has trampled the Virgin Daughter of Judah.
- Ps 9:14that I may declare all Your praises—that within the gates of Daughter Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation.
- Jer 18:13Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.
- Isa 47:5“Sit in silence and go into darkness, O Daughter of Chaldea. For you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms.
- Isa 1:8And the Daughter of Zion is abandoned like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a city besieged.
- Isa 47:1“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
- Ps 137:8O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
- Amos 5:2“Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.”
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 19:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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