Lamentations 4:8

Lamentations 4:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Their 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.
• New International Version (NIV)But now they are blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now their face is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now their appearance is blacker than soot; They go unrecognized in the streets; Their skin clings to their bones, It has become as dry as wood.

Context of Lamentations 4:8

6God has punished my people. He punished us more than he punished Sodom's people. God destroyed that city in a moment, and nobody was there to help them. 7In past times, the leaders of Jerusalem were more pure than very white snow. They were strong and healthy. Their bodies seemed to shine like valuable stones. Now their faces are dirty and black. People see them in the streets, but they do not recognize them. Their skin hangs on their bones. Their skin is as dry as wood for a fire. 9Our enemies have killed many people with long knives. It is better for those dead people than for the people who have no food. They are very hungry. And they die slowly because they have nothing to eat. 10Women who once were very kind have boiled their own children. Their children became their food, when the enemies were destroying the city.

Lamentations 4:8 word by word

חָשַׁ֤ךְ מִשְּׁחוֹר֙ תָּֽאֳרָ֔ם לֹ֥א נִכְּר֖וּ בַּחוּצ֑וֹת צָפַ֤ד עוֹרָם֙ עַל־עַצְמָ֔ם יָבֵ֖שׁ הָיָ֥ה כָעֵֽץ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Their visageתֹּ֫אַרtô'ar · appearanceH8389
• is blackerחָשַׁךְchâshak · to darkenH2821
• than a coalשְׁחוֹרshechôr · blacknessH7815
• they are not knownנָכַרnâkar · to recognizeH5234
• in the streetsחוּץchûts chûts · outsideH2351
• their skinעוֹר‛ôr · skinH5785
• cleavethצָפַדtsâphad · to shrivelH6821
• to their bonesעֶ֫צֶם‛etsem · boneH6106
• it is witheredיָבֵשׁyâbêsh · to witherH3001
• it is become like a stickעֵץ‛êts · tree: woodH6086

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:8

• Lamentations 5:10Our skin feels as if we are burning. We are so hungry that we are ill.
• Job 30:17At night, my bones are painful. The pain is always there in my body.
• Joel 2:6Nations that see them are very afraid. Every face changes colour.
• Nahum 2:10They take the valuable things from the city. They take everything that they can. And they destroy everything else. The people are very sad. Their knees and their bodies shake. Their faces become white because they are afraid.
• Lamentations 4:1Look! The gold has stopped shining! Look how the best gold has changed! The valuable stones from the Holy Place lie at the end of every street!
• Ruth 1:19Naomi and Ruth travelled together to Bethlehem. When they arrived there, the people were very surprised. The women from the town said, ‘Is this really Naomi?’
• Job 2:12When they could see Job from far away, they did not easily recognize him. They began to weep very loudly. They were so upset that they tore their clothes. They threw dust into the air and on their heads.
• Isaiah 52:14At one time, when people saw him, they were very upset. His body became completely spoiled, so that he no longer seemed to be a man. He did not seem to have a human body.
• Job 19:20My body is now only skin and bones. I still breathe but I am only just alive.
• Job 33:21Their bodies become very thin. People can even see their bones.
• Psalms 32:4In the day and in the night, you punished me very much. It seemed as if the hot sun was taking away my strength. Selah.
• Psalms 38:3Your punishment has made my whole body ill. My health has gone, because of my sin.
• Psalms 102:3My life is quickly disappearing, like smoke from a fire. My bones hurt very much, as if they were burning in an oven.
• Psalms 119:83I am like an old wineskin that has become useless. But I have not forgotten your rules.

Commentaries on Lamentations 4:8

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Their visage … - Their form (their whole person, see 1 Samuel 28:14) … as in the margin. See Job 30:30. It is withered, it is become like a stick - Or, It has become dry like a piece of wood.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8Skin sticking to bones is symptomatic of the final stages of starvation, just before death.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. blacker than ... coal--or, "than blackness" itself (Joe 2:6; Na 2:10). like a stick--as withered as a dry stick. Teth.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 4:8

• Famine

In the dictionaries

• Coal
• Colour
• 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