Lamentations 4:7

Lamentations 4:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:
• New International Version (NIV)Their princes were brighter than snow and whiter than milk, their bodies more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like lapis lazuli.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, the beauty of their form was like sapphire.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Her Nazirites were brighter than snow And whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than rubies, Like sapphire in their appearance.

Context of Lamentations 4:7

5They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: They that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. 6For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, That was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands were laid upon her. Her nobles were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was as of sapphire. 8Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: Their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. 9They that are slain with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger; For these pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits of the field.

Lamentations 4:7 word by word

זַכּ֤וּ נְזִירֶ֙יהָ֙ מִשֶּׁ֔לֶג צַח֖וּ מֵחָלָ֑ב אָ֤דְמוּ עֶ֙צֶם֙ מִפְּנִינִ֔ים סַפִּ֖יר גִּזְרָתָֽם׃ סRead the interlinear

• snowשֶׁ֫לֶגsheleg · snowH7950
• milkחָלָבchâlâb · milkH2461
• sapphireסַפִּירsappîyr · sapphireH5601

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:7

• Numbers 6:2Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself unto Jehovah,
• Judges 13:5for, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
• Judges 16:17And he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon my head; for I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.
• Amos 2:11And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith Jehovah.
• Luke 1:15For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
• 1 Samuel 16:12And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look upon. And Jehovah said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he.
• Psalms 51:7Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
• Psalms 144:12When our sons shall be as plants grown up in their youth, And our daughters as corner-stones hewn after the fashion of a palace;
• Daniel 1:15And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths that did eat of the king’s dainties.

Commentaries on Lamentations 4:7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Her Nazarites were purer than snow - נזיר nazir does not always signify a person separated under a religious vow; it sometimes denotes what is chief or eminent. It is applied to Joseph, Genesis 49:26. Blayney therefore translates here, Her Nobles. "Her nobles were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk; They were ruddier on the bone than rubies; their veining was the sapphires." On which he remarks: - "In the first line the whiteness of their skin is…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7The Nazarites from their temperance were remarkable for health and personal beauty, besides being held in religious veneration. Rubies - Or, corals. Their polishing was of sapphire - Or, their shape was “a sapphire.” The allusion is no longer to color, but to form. Their shape was exact and faultless as the cutting of a precious stone.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7their appearance like sapphires: (literally like lapis lazuli): Lapis lazuli is a beautiful blue stone. It is soft enough to carve and is often used in decorations and mosaics.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. Nazarites--literally, "separated ones" (Nu 6:2). They were held once in the highest estimation, but now they are degraded. God's blessing formerly caused their body not to be the less fair and ruddy for their abstinence from strong drink. Compare the similar case of Daniel, &c. (Da 1:8-15). Also David (1Sa 16:12; 17:42). Type of Messiah (So 5:10). rubies--Gesenius translates, "corals," from a Hebrew root, "to divide into branches," from the branching…Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 4:7

• Famine
• Fraternity
• Nazarite
• Ruby
• Snow

In the dictionaries

• Comparable
• Dim
• Poetry
• Ruby
• Stones, Precious
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Body
• Color; Colors
• Coral

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