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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Those who once feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple embrace 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.

Context of Lamentations 4:5

3Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but the women of my people are as cruel as wild ostriches. 4The tongues of nursing infants stick to the roofs of their mouths because of their thirst. Little children beg for bread, but no one will break off a piece for them. Those who used to eat delicacies are now destitute in the streets. Those who used to wear expensive clothes now pick through piles of garbage. 6The punishment for my people’s wickedness has been more severe than the punishment for the sins of Sodom. Sodom was destroyed instantly, without one human hand touching it. 7Zion’s princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk. Their bodies were more pink than coral. Their hair was like sapphires.

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 28:54Even the most tender and sensitive man among you will become stingy toward his brother, the wife he loves, and the children he still has left.
• Isaiah 3:16The Lord adds, “The women of Zion are arrogant. They walk with their noses in the air, making seductive glances, taking short little steps, jingling the ankle bracelets on their feet.”
• Isaiah 24:6That is why a curse devours the earth, and its people are punished for their guilt. That is why those who live on the earth are burned up, and only a few people are left.
• Isaiah 32:9Get up, and listen to me, you pampered women. Hear what I say, you overconfident daughters.
• Jeremiah 6:2“My people Zion are like lovely pastures.
• Amos 6:3How horrible it will be for those who think that a day of disaster is far away. They bring the reign of violence closer.
• Luke 7:25Really, what did you go to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Those who wear splendid clothes and live in luxury are in royal palaces.
• 1 Timothy 5:6But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead although she is still alive.
• Revelation 18:7She gave herself glory and luxury. Now give her just as much torture and misery. She says to herself, ‘I’m a queen on a throne, not a widow. I’ll never be miserable.’
• 2 Samuel 1:24Daughters of Israel, cry over Saul, who dressed you in decorated, red clothes, who put gold jewelry on your clothes.
• Proverbs 31:21She does not fear for her family when it snows because her whole family has a double layer of clothing.
• Luke 16:19“There was a rich man who wore expensive clothes. Every day was like a party to him.
• Job 24:8They are drenched by the rainstorms in the mountains. They hug the rocks because they can’t find shelter.
• Jeremiah 9:21Death has come through our windows and entered our palaces. Death has cut down the children in the streets and the young men in the marketplaces.
• Luke 15:16No one in the country would give him any food, and he was so hungry that he would have eaten what the pigs were eating.

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