Lamentations 4:14

Lamentations 4:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.
• New International Version (NIV)Now they grope through the streets as if they were blind. They are so defiled with blood that no one dares to touch their garments.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They wandered, blind, through the streets; they were so defiled with blood that no one was able to touch their garments.
• New King James Version (NKJV)They wandered blind in the streets; They have defiled themselves with blood, So that no one would touch their garments.

Context of Lamentations 4:14

12The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should enter into the gates of Jerusalem. 13[It is] for the sins of her prophets, [and] the iniquities of her priests, who have shed the blood of the righteous in the midst of her. They wandered about blind in the streets; they were polluted with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. 15They cried unto them, Depart! Unclean! Depart! depart, touch not! When they fled away, and wandered about, it was said among the nations, They shall no more sojourn [there]. 16The face of Jehovah hath divided them; he will no more regard them. They respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the aged.

Lamentations 4:14 word by word

נָע֤וּ עִוְרִים֙ בַּֽחוּצ֔וֹת נְגֹֽאֲל֖וּ בַּדָּ֑ם בְּלֹ֣א יֽוּכְל֔וּ יִגְּע֖וּ בִּלְבֻשֵׁיהֶֽם׃ סRead the interlinear

• wanderedנוּעַnûa‛ · to shakeH5128
• blindעִוֵּר‛ivvêr · blindH5787
• streetsחוּץchûts chûts · outsideH2351
• bloodדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
• touchנָגַעnâga‛ · to touchH5060

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:14

• Deuteronomy 28:28Jehovah will smite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart;
• Isaiah 29:10For Jehovah hath poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your chiefs, the seers, hath he covered.
• Isaiah 56:10His watchmen are all of them blind, they are without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs that cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber:
• Isaiah 59:9Therefore is justice far from us, and righteousness overtaketh us not: we wait for light, and behold darkness; for brightness, [but] we walk in obscurity.
• Micah 3:6therefore ye shall have night without a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, without divination; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.
• Matthew 15:14Leave them alone; they are blind leaders of blind: but if blind lead blind, both will fall into a ditch.
• Ephesians 4:18being darkened in understanding, estranged from the life of God by reason of the ignorance which is in them, by reason of the hardness of their hearts,
• Numbers 35:33And ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are; for blood, it polluteth the land; and there can be no atonement made for the land, for the blood that hath been shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
• Isaiah 1:15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
• Jeremiah 2:34Yea, in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor, whom thou didst not encounter breaking in, but [it is found] upon all these.
• Numbers 19:16And every one that toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead person, or the bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
• Hosea 4:2Swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, — they break out; and blood toucheth blood.
• Numbers 16:26And he spoke to the assembly, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye perish in all their sins.
• Psalms 6:8Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for Jehovah hath heard the voice of my weeping.
• Psalms 139:19Oh that thou wouldest slay the wicked, O God! And ye men of blood, depart from me.
• Micah 2:10Arise ye, and depart; for this is not the resting-place, because of defilement that bringeth destruction, even a grievous destruction.

Commentaries on Lamentations 4:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14They have wandered as blind men in the streets - Rather, "They ran frantic through the streets, they were stained with blood." This was in their pretended zeal for their cause. Bishop Bonner, who was at the head of those sanguinary executions in England, was accustomed to buffet the poor Protestants, when on their examinations they were too powerful for him in argument: - "He proved his doctrine orthodox, By apostolic blows and knocks." Just as his elder…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14They have wandered - God‘s ministers, consecrated to His service, wandered through the city blinded by the insatiable lust of slaughter. It was a pollution to touch their garments.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-20Verses 13-20 Nothing ripens a people more for ruin, nor fills the measure faster, than the sins of priests and prophets. The king himself cannot escape, for Divine vengeance pursues him. Our anointed King alone is the life of our souls; we may safely live under his shadow, and rejoice in Him in the midst of our enemies, for He is the true God and eternal life.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-22Although God’s people still experience his judgment, they will soon experience restoration.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. blind--with mental aberration. polluted ... with blood--both with blood of one another mutually shed (for example, Jr 2:34), and with their blood shed by the enemy [Glassius]. not touch ... garments--as being defiled with blood (Nu 19:16). Samech.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 4:14

• Minister, Christian

In the dictionaries

• Comparable
• Dim
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Lamentations, Book of
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of

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