Ezra 9:3

9:3 When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and my robe and ripped out some of the hair from my head and beard. Then I sat down, quite devastated.

Nehemiah 1:4

1:4 When I heard these things I sat down abruptly, crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Isaiah 3:26

3:26 Her gates will mourn and lament;

deprived of her people, she will sit on the ground.

Isaiah 47:1

Babylon Will Fall

47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,

O virgin daughter Babylon!

Sit on the ground, not on a throne,

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.


tn Heb “sat down.” Context suggests that this was a rather sudden action, resulting from the emotional shock of the unpleasant news, so “abruptly” has been supplied in the present translation.

tn Heb “she will be empty, on the ground she will sit.” Jerusalem is personified as a destitute woman who sits mourning the empty city.

tn בְּתוּלַה (bÿtulah) often refers to a virgin, but the phrase “virgin daughter” is apparently stylized (see also 23:12; 37:22). In the extended metaphor of this chapter, where Babylon is personified as a queen (vv. 5, 7), she is depicted as being both a wife and mother (vv. 8-9).

tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).