Lamentations 4:3

Lamentations 4:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
• New International Version (NIV)Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but my people have become heartless like ostriches in the desert.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Even jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young; but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Even the jackals present their breasts To nurse their young; But the daughter of my people is cruel, Like ostriches in the wilderness.

Context of Lamentations 4:3

1How dark and dim the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones [of the temple] are poured out and scattered At the head of every street. 2The [noble and] precious sons of Zion, [Once] worth their weight in fine gold, How they are regarded [merely] as earthen jars, The work of a potter’s hands! Even the jackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has become cruel Like ostriches in the wilderness [that desert their young]. 4The tongue of the infant clings To the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The little ones ask for food, But no one gives it to them. 5Those who feasted on delicacies Are perishing in the streets; Those reared in purple [as nobles] Embrace ash heaps.

Lamentations 4:3 word by word

גַּם־תַּנִּים֙ חָ֣לְצוּ שַׁ֔ד הֵינִ֖יקוּ גּוּרֵיהֶ֑ן בַּת־עַמִּ֣י לְאַכְזָ֔ר כַּיְעֵנִ֖ים בַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Even the sea monstersתַּןtannîyn tannîym · jackalH8577
• draw outחָלַץchâlats · to rescueH2502
• the breastשַׁדshad shôd · breastH7699
• they give suckיָנַקyânaq · to suckleH3243
• to their young onesגּוּרgûr gûr · whelpH1482
• the daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• of my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• cruelאַכְזָר'akzâr · cruelH393
• like the ostrichesיָעֵןyâ‛ên · ostrichH3283
• in the wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:3

• Lamentations 2:20See, O Lord, and look! With whom have You dealt this way? Should women eat their offspring, The little ones who were born healthy and beautiful? Should priest and prophet be killed In the sanctuary of the Lord?
• Lamentations 4:10The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people [Judah].
• Leviticus 26:29You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.
• Deuteronomy 28:52They will besiege you in all your cities until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land; and they will besiege you in all your cities throughout your land which the Lord your God has given you.
• 2 Kings 6:26As the king of Israel (Jehoram) was passing by on the [city] wall a woman cried out to him, “Help, my lord, O king!”
• Isaiah 49:15[The Lord answered] “Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
• Jeremiah 19:9And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and each one will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and distress brought by their enemies and those who seek their lives.” ’
• Ezekiel 5:10Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you and I will scatter to all the winds the remnant of you.
• Luke 23:28But Jesus, turning toward them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
• Job 39:13“The [flightless] wings of the ostrich wave joyously; With the pinion (shackles, fetters) and plumage of love,
• Romans 1:31without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful [without pity].

Commentaries on Lamentations 4:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Even the sea monsters draw out the breast - The whales give suck to their young ones. The word תנין tannin, signifies all large and cruel creatures, whether aquatic or terrestrial; and need not here be restrained to the former sort. My Old MS. Bible translates curiously: Not and the cruel bestis that ben clepid Lamya, and thei nakeden ther tetis, geve ther whelpis souken. Like the ostriches in the wilderness - For her carelessness about her eggs, and her…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Sea monsters - Rather, jackals. Their young ones - “Their” whelps. The term is applied only to the young of dogs, lions, and the like.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3like an ostrich: See also Job 39:13–16.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. sea monsters ... breast--Whales and other cetaceous monsters are mammalian. Even they suckle their young; but the Jewish women in the siege, so desperate was their misery, ate theirs (La 4:10; La 2:20). Others translate, "jackals." ostriches--see on Job 39:14; Job 39:16, on their forsaking their young. Daleth.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 4:3

• Malice
• Ostriches

In the dictionaries

• the sea, the Great Sea, the western sea
• Comparable
• Dim
• Ostrich
• Poetry
• Whale
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Breast
• Dragon

Commentaries on Lamentations 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings