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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)They wandered blindly through the streets, so defiled by blood that no one dared touch them.

Context of Lamentations 4:14

12The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem. 13This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous. They wandered, blind, through the streets; they were so defiled with blood that no one was able to touch their garments. 15"Away! Unclean!" people cried at them. "Away! Away! Do not touch!" So they became fugitives and wanderers; people said among the nations, "They shall stay with us no longer." 16The Lord himself has scattered them; he will regard them no more; no honor was shown to the priests, no favor to the elders.

Lamentations 4:14 word by word

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• They have wanderedנוּעַnûa‛ · to shakeH5128
• blindעִוֵּר‛ivvêr · blindH5787
• in the streetsחוּץchûts chûts · outsideH2351
• they have pollutedגָּאַלgâ'al · to defileH1351
• themselves with bloodדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
• so that men couldיָכֹלyâkôl yâkôl · be ableH3201
• notלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• touchנָגַעnâga‛ · to touchH5060
• their garmentsלְבוּשׁlebûsh lebûsh · clothingH3830

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:14

• Deuteronomy 28:28The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind,
• Isaiah 29:10For the Lord has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers).
• Isaiah 56:10His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
• Isaiah 59:9Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
• Micah 3:6Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them;
• Matthew 15:14Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit."
• Ephesians 4:18They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
• Numbers 35:33You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
• Isaiah 1:15When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
• Jeremiah 2:34Also on your skirts is found the lifeblood of the guiltless poor; you did not find them breaking in. Yet in spite of all these things
• Numbers 19:16Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
• Hosea 4:2there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
• Numbers 16:26And he spoke to the congregation, saying, "Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins."
• Psalms 6:8Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
• Psalms 139:19Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me!
• Micah 2:10Arise and go, for this is no place to rest, because of uncleanness that destroys with 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