Lamentations 2:10

10 The older leaders of Jerusalem sit on the ground in silence. They throw dust on their heads and put on rough cloth to show their sadness. bow their heads to the ground in sorrow.

Lamentations 2:10 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 2:10

The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, [and]
keep silence
Who used to sit in the gate on thrones of judgment, and passed sentence in causes tried before them; or were wont to give advice and counsel, and were regarded as oracles, now sit on the ground, and dumb, as mourners; see ( Job 2:13 ) ; they have cast up dust upon their heads;
on their white hairs and gray locks, which bespoke wisdom, and made them grave and venerable: they have girded themselves with sackcloth:
after the manner of mourners; who used to be clothed in scarlet and rich apparel, in robes suitable to their office as civil magistrates: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground:
through shame and sorrow; who used to look brisk and gay, and walk with outstretched necks, and carried their heads high, but now low enough. Aben Ezra interprets it of the hair of their heads, which used to be tied up, but now loosed and dishevelled, and hung down as it were to the ground.

Lamentations 2:10 In-Context

8 The Lord planned to destroy the wall around Jerusalem. He measured the wall and did not stop himself from destroying it. He made the walls and defenses sad; together they have fallen.

9 Jerusalem's gates have fallen to the ground; he destroyed and smashed the bars of the gates. Her king and her princes are among the nations. The teaching of the Lord has stopped, and the prophets do not have visions from the Lord.

10 The older leaders of Jerusalem sit on the ground in silence. They throw dust on their heads and put on rough cloth to show their sadness. bow their heads to the ground in sorrow.

11 My eyes have no more tears, and I am sick to my stomach. I feel empty inside, because my people have been destroyed. Children and babies are fainting in the streets of the city.

12 They ask their mothers, "Where is the grain and wine?" They faint like wounded soldiers in the streets of the city and die in their mothers' arms.