Lamentations 5:2 · Bible study
Lamentations 5:2 Commentary: Inheritance Turned Over to Strangers
Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Study Lamentations 5:2: how God's promised inheritance to Israel was given to foreigners. Original language, historical context, and theological significance.
Research Summary
- Meaning: The land God gave to Israel as an inheritance has been transferred to foreign nations, a chief cause of lament in the exile.
- Key words: Inheritance (נַחֲלָה / H5159), turned over (נֶהֶפְכָה / H2015 Niphal), strangers (זָרִים / H2114), aliens/foreigners (נָכְרִים / H5237).
- Main debate: Whether ‘houses’ refers only to dwellings in Jerusalem (as destroyed in 2 Kings 25:9) or to all houses in the country (Keil and Delitzsch argue for the latter).
- Theological theme: Covenant faithfulness and judgment; the land as a sign of God's gift and the consequences of breaking the covenant.
- Best use: A model for communal lament over the tangible consequences of sin, leading to repentance and plea for restoration.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to aliens.
KJV King James Version 1769
Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Our inheritance is turned unto strangers, Our houses unto aliens.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Our inheritance hath been turned to strangers, Our houses to foreigners.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Our inheritance is turned to aliens: our houses to strangers.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Nuestra heredad se ha vuelto á extraños, nuestras casas á forasteros.
Nossa herança passou a ser de estrangeiros, nossas casas de forasteiros.
Notre héritage a passé à des étrangers,
Unser Erbe ist den Fremden zuteil geworden und unsre Häuser den Ausländern.
Ons erfdeel is tot de vreemdelingen gewend, onze huizen tot de uitlanders.
La nostra eredità è passata a degli stranieri, le nostre case, a degli estranei.
Dziedzictwo nasze obrócone jest do obcych, a domy nasze do cudzoziemców.
Наследие наше перешло к чужим, домы наши - к иноплеменным;
我們的產業 歸 與外邦人；我們的房屋 歸與外路人。
Our heritage is given up to men of strange lands, our houses to those who are not our countrymen.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Lamentations 5:2
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions read this verse as a raw lament over the reversal of God’s gift. The inheritance (נַחֲלָה, H5159) is the land of Canaan, promised to Abraham and his offspring (Gill; Calvin). Now it is turned over (נֶהֶפְכָה, Niphal perfect of H2015) to those outside the covenant, strangers (זָרִים) and aliens (נָכְרִים). Barnes specifies that the strangers are the Chaldeans who conquered the country. Calvin notes that the complaint amplifies the misery: not only fields are lost, but houses, an added disgrace. Keil and Delitzsch agree that ‘our inheritance’ refers to the whole land, not just Jerusalem, and ‘our houses’ to dwellings throughout the towns and villages. The shared reading is one of grief and appeal: what God gave as a permanent possession now belongs to foreigners.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The verse clearly laments that the land God gave Israel as an inheritance has been transferred to foreign nations, expressing the painful reality of exile and covenant consequence.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Identity of the strangers | The strangers are those who conquered Judah, namely the Chaldeans (Babylonians). | Some interpreters (e.g., Barnes, Gill) identify them specifically as Chaldeans; others (e.g., Calvin) speak more broadly of 'aliens' as those outside the commonwealth of Israel, including but not limited to the occupying forces. |
| Extent of the loss | Both land and houses have passed to foreigners. | Keil and Delitzsch argue that 'houses' refers to all dwellings throughout the land, rejecting the view that only Jerusalem houses (large ones left standing) are meant. Other commentators (e.g., Thenius) had limited the reference to Jerusalem. |
| Purpose of the verse | The verse functions as a lament and an appeal to God to notice the people's suffering. | Some (Matthew Henry, Calvin) emphasize the complaint as a step toward prayer and confession. Others (Lange's quotation of Hunnius) stress that the fulfillment of the covenant curses demonstrates the reliability of God's word. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Lamentations was composed in the aftermath of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. The city fell, the temple was burned, and a large portion of the population was deported. Those left behind under Gedaliah were vassals to the Chaldeans (Adam Clarke). The land of Canaan had a unique status: it was given to Israel as an inheritance (Leviticus 20:24), a gift from God that set them apart from the nations. Now that land was in the hands of those who did not know Yahweh.
The covenant curses in Deuteronomy 28 had warned precisely of this: ‘You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it’ (Deuteronomy 28:30). The verse echoes that threat fulfilled. The surrounding verses in Lamentations 5 paint a complete picture of dispossession: orphans, widows, water bought with money, and no rest from pursuers (Lamentations 5:3-5). The ‘inheritance’ (נַחֲלָה) is not merely real estate; it is the sign of God’s faithfulness and the people’s identity. To lose it is to lose their place in the story. Keil and Delitzsch argue that the houses mentioned are not limited to Jerusalem but include all dwelling places in the land, reinforcing how total the dispossession was.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for this verse. The Qeri הבּיטה in Lamentations 5:1 is an unnecessary alteration (Keil and Delitzsch), but for verse 2 the text is stable across traditions.
Reception History
Lamentations 5:2 has been read within the tradition of communal grief. In Judaism, it is part of the readings for Tisha B'Av, the fast mourning the destruction of both Temples. Christian commentators such as Calvin and Matthew Henry used it to teach that outward blessings are forfeited by sin, and that true prayer begins with honest complaint. The verse has also shaped theology of exile: the land is not an inalienable possession but a trust under covenant. In more recent centuries, it resonated with displaced peoples and refugees who lost ancestral homes.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The gift remembered. The inheritance was God's gift, not earned. The land was promised and given as a sign of covenant relationship. Preach the goodness of God's provision.
- The gift lost. Sin brought the covenant curses. The inheritance is now in foreign hands. This is not an accident; it is the fruit of prolonged disobedience. Preach the seriousness of unfaithfulness.
- The hope beyond loss. Lament is not the final word. The chapter ends with a plea for restoration (Lamentations 5:21). God who gave the inheritance can restore it. Preach the discipline that leads to repentance.
Five-point outline
- Complaint as worship. The verse is an honest cry to God. Lament is a legitimate form of prayer.
- Identity in crisis. The inheritance defined Israel. Loss of it forces them to ask who they are apart from the land.
- Divine sovereignty. It is God who turned the inheritance over. The enemy is only an instrument.
- Covenant consequences. The curses of Deuteronomy 28 are historical, not theoretical.
- The plea for restoration. The chapter moves toward repentance and a request for renewal.
Illustration hooks
- A family losing their farm to foreclosure through generations of mismanagement. The land that held memories is now someone else’s.
- A refugee returning to a homeland only to find strangers living in their childhood home. The house still stands, but it is no longer theirs.
- A church building sold to a non-profit after the congregation dwindles. The place of worship becomes a warehouse.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Did God really cause this loss, or was it just the Babylonians? What does it mean that God ‘turns over’ the inheritance?
- If the land was promised forever, how could God let it go? Does this mean God’s promises fail?
- What is our ‘inheritance’ today, and can we lose it by sin?
Leading a Discussion
This verse gives voice to a people who have lost everything. The land that symbolized God’s faithfulness is now in foreign hands. As you read, notice the raw honesty mixed with theological conviction. The people do not blame God; they bring the injustice to God.
Discussion questions
- What does the word ‘inheritance’ tell you about how Israel understood the land? Read Leviticus 20:24 and Psalm 79:1.
- Why do you think the verse mentions both ‘inheritance’ and ‘houses’? What different kinds of loss do they represent?
- How does Deuteronomy 28:30 connect to this verse? Is the suffering here a surprise or a fulfillment?
- What emotions are present in this complaint? How do the people express them?
- Where is God in this verse? Is he the cause, the bystander, or the one to whom they appeal?
- Can a Christian today lose the ‘inheritance’ of salvation? How do you reconcile covenant faithfulness with grace?
- What would it look like for your group to lament a loss honestly before God, without rushing to a happy ending?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Deuteronomy 28:30 | You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and not use its fruit. |
| Deuteronomy 28:68 | Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told you that you would never see it again. There you will offer yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you. |
| Psalms 79:1 | A Psalm by Asaph. God, the nations have come into your inheritance. They have defiled your holy temple. They have laid Jerusalem in heaps. |
| Psalms 79:2 | They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your saints to the animals of the earth. |
| Isaiah 1:7 | Your country is desolate. Your cities are burned with fire. Strangers devour your land in your presence and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. |
| Isaiah 5:17 | Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich. |
| Isaiah 63:18 | Your holy people possessed it but a little while. Our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary. |
| Jeremiah 6:12 | Their houses will be turned to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out my hand on the inhabitants of the land, says Yahweh.” |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
11 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke explains that the inheritance described here means not only land but freedom itself. Most Jews were killed or exiled, and even those who remained under Gedaliah were not free, living as vassals to the Chaldeans. The surviving remnant still faced subjugation.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes explains that the word "turned" actually means transferred, and the inheritance in view is the land of Canaan. The aliens are the Chaldaeans, who became the new possessors of the land after their conquest.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin stresses that the land of Canaan was given to Abraham's descendants in a unique, singular way, so its transfer to aliens was especially unreasonable. He then sharpens the point: losing fields is bad enough, but being ejected from their own homes while aliens dwell there is a deeper, more disgraceful misery.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Our inheritance ] our land, forfeited to the conquerors.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Note highlights the total dispossession of God's people: their inherited land and ancestral homes now belong to foreign invaders. The term "aliants" underscores that these are utter strangers, making the loss complete and humiliating.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill draws attention to the sharp contrast: the land God gave Israel as an inheritance now belongs to Chaldeans who are strangers to God and aliens from Israel's covenant community. Fields, vineyards and houses that came down from the fathers are now held by people with no spiritual share in the gift.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB explains that when the psalmist calls the land "our inheritance," he means the land God gave to Israel as His gift. The phrase emphasizes both God's ownership and His act of giving it to them as a lasting possession.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch reads Lamentations 5 as a general description of national disgrace and oppression, not as a record of specific historical events. They insist the metaphors of orphanhood and widowhood are comparisons for being unprotected, and that buying water and wood refers to paying heavy duties under enemy control, not literal purchases during a siege or in exile. They reject readings that limit
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that this final chapter is not prose but poetry of the highest order, marked by parallelisms of thought, deliberate assonance, and almost metrical rhythm. He treats the people as a concrete multitude speaking in first person plural, not as an idealised female figure, and counts the twenty-two verses as integral to the poem's unity rather than a loose supplement.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry notes that the people are not crying out about future fears but about present, tangible suffering. They bring before God evils already upon them, not imagined ones — what was long threatened has now arrived. Their grief is poured out as a real complaint, not a vague anxiety.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Captivity - Not for thy past sins. Thy sins - By the punishment of them.