The kings of the earth didn’t believe, neither did all the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem.
Parallel translations
- KJV The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
- BSB The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any people of the world, that an enemy or a foe could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
- NKJV The kings of the earth, And all inhabitants of the world, Would not have believed That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem—
- NASB The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Would enter the gates of Jerusalem.
- NLT Not a king in all the earth— no one in all the world— would have believed that an enemy could march through the gates of Jerusalem.
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
No one in the world believed Jerusalem's defenses could ever be breached, yet they were.
Overview
The fall of Jerusalem was so unthinkable that kings and nations never imagined an enemy could enter her gates. Her presumed security rested on her status as God's city. The fall shows that no human stronghold stands when God withdraws His protection because of sin, directing trust to God alone (Ps. 127:1; Jer. 7:4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Ps 48:4–6For, behold, the kings assembled themselves, they passed by together.
- Deut 29:24–28even all the nations will say, “Why has Yahweh done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?”
- 1 Kgs 9:8–9Though this house is so high, yet everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss; and they will say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this land, and to this house?’
- Jer 21:13Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, and of the rock of the plain,’ says Yahweh. ‘You that say, “Who would come down against us?” or “Who would enter into our homes?”
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The weeping over a ruined city and the steadfast mercies that are new every morning point to the man of sorrows who wept over Jerusalem and whose mercy rises new from the grave.
How Lamentations 4:12 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.