Lamentations 4:5

Lamentations 4:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
• New International Version (NIV)Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets. Those brought up in royal purple now lie on ash heaps.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those who were brought up in scarlet Embrace ash heaps.
• New Living Translation (NLT)The people who once ate the richest foods now beg in the streets for anything they can get. Those who once wore the finest clothes now search the garbage dumps for food.

Context of Lamentations 4:5

3Even jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young; but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. 4The tongue of the nursing infant sticks to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives to them. Those who once feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple embrace ash heaps. 6For the chastisement of the daughter of my people has been greater than the punishment of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and no hands were wrung for her. 7Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, the beauty of their form was like sapphire.

Lamentations 4:5 word by word

הָאֹֽכְלִים֙ לְמַ֣עֲדַנִּ֔ים נָשַׁ֖מּוּ בַּחוּצ֑וֹת הָאֱמֻנִים֙ עֲלֵ֣י תוֹלָ֔ע חִבְּק֖וּ אַשְׁפַּתּֽוֹת׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They that did feedאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• delicatelyמַעֲדָןma‛ădân ma‛ădannâh · delicacyH4574
• are desolateשָׁמֵםshâmêm · be desolate: destroyedH8074
• in the streetsחוּץchûts chûts · outsideH2351
• they that were brought upאָמַן'âman · be faithfulH539
• in scarletתּוֹלָעtôlâ‛ tôlê‛âh tôla‛ath tôla‛ath · wormH8438
• embraceחָבַקchâbaq · to embraceH2263
• dunghillsאַשְׁפֹּת'ashpôth 'ashpôth shephôth · refuseH830

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:5

• Deuteronomy 28:54The man who is the most tender and refined among you will begrudge food to his brother, to the wife he embraces, and to the last of the children whom he has left,
• Isaiah 3:16The Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet,
• Isaiah 24:6Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.
• Isaiah 32:9Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
• Jeremiah 6:2The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy, the daughter of Zion.
• Amos 6:3O you who put far away the day of disaster and bring near the seat of violence?
• Luke 7:25What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts.
• 1 Timothy 5:6but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.
• Revelation 18:7As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, 'I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.'
• 2 Samuel 1:24"You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
• Proverbs 31:21She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
• Luke 16:19"There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
• Job 24:8They are wet with the rain of the mountains and cling to the rock for lack of shelter.
• Jeremiah 9:21For death has come up into our windows; it has entered our palaces, cutting off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares.
• Luke 15:16And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

Commentaries on Lamentations 4:5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Embrace dunghills - Lie on straw or rubbish, instead of the costly carpets and sofas on which they formerly stretched themselves.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5They that were brought up in scarlet - literally, “those that were carried upon scarlet;” young children in arms and of the highest birth now lie on the dirt-heaps of the city.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. 55. delicately--on dainties. are desolate--or, "perish." in scarlet embrace dunghills--Instead of the scarlet couches on which the grandees were nursed, they must lie on dunghills. embrace--They who once shrank sensitively from any soil, gladly cling close to heaps of filth as their only resting-place. Compare "embrace the rock" (Job 24:8). Vau.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 4:5

• Colors
• Famine

In the dictionaries

• Comparable
• Dim
• Dunghill
• Poetry
• Scarlet
• Zedekiah
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Color; Colors
• Delicate; Delicately

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