Lamentations 4:3

Lamentations 4:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
• New International Version (NIV)Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but my people have become heartless like ostriches in the desert.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Even jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young; but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Even the jackals present their breasts To nurse their young; But the daughter of my people is cruel, Like ostriches in the wilderness.

Context of Lamentations 4:3

1How dark the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are poured out At the corner of every street. 2The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against fine gold, How they are regarded as earthen jars, The work of a potter’s hands! Even jackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has become cruel Like ostriches in the wilderness. 4The tongue of the infant cleaves To the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The little ones ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them. 5Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those reared in purple Embrace ash pits.

Lamentations 4:3 word by word

גַּם־תַּנִּים֙ חָ֣לְצוּ שַׁ֔ד הֵינִ֖יקוּ גּוּרֵיהֶ֑ן בַּת־עַמִּ֣י לְאַכְזָ֔ר כַּיְעֵנִ֖ים בַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃ סRead the interlinear

• Evenגַּםgam · alsoH1571
• jackalsתַּןtan · dragonH8565
• offerחָלַץchâlats · to rescueH2502
• the breastשַׁדshad shôd · breastH7699
• They nurseיָנַקyânaq · to suckleH3243
• their youngגּוּרgûr gûr · whelpH1482
• the daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• of my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• cruelאַכְזָר'akzâr · cruelH393
• ostrichesיָעֵןyâ‛ên · ostrichH3283
• in the wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:3

• Lamentations 2:20See, O Lord, and look! With whom have You dealt thus? Should women eat their offspring, The little ones who were born healthy? Should priest and prophet be slain In the sanctuary of the Lord?
• Lamentations 4:10The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
• Leviticus 26:29Further, you will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters you will eat.
• Deuteronomy 28:52It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the Lord your God has given you.
• 2 Kings 6:26As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”
• Isaiah 49:15“Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
• Jeremiah 19:9I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them.”’
• Ezekiel 5:10Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind.
• Luke 23:28But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
• Job 39:13“The ostriches’ wings flap joyously With the pinion and plumage of love,
• Romans 1:31without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;

Commentaries on Lamentations 4:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Even the sea monsters draw out the breast - The whales give suck to their young ones. The word תנין tannin, signifies all large and cruel creatures, whether aquatic or terrestrial; and need not here be restrained to the former sort. My Old MS. Bible translates curiously: Not and the cruel bestis that ben clepid Lamya, and thei nakeden ther tetis, geve ther whelpis souken. Like the ostriches in the wilderness - For her carelessness about her eggs, and her…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Sea monsters - Rather, jackals. Their young ones - “Their” whelps. The term is applied only to the young of dogs, lions, and the like.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3like an ostrich: See also Job 39:13–16.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. sea monsters ... breast--Whales and other cetaceous monsters are mammalian. Even they suckle their young; but the Jewish women in the siege, so desperate was their misery, ate theirs (La 4:10; La 2:20). Others translate, "jackals." ostriches--see on Job 39:14; Job 39:16, on their forsaking their young. Daleth.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 4:3

• Malice
• Ostriches

In the dictionaries

• the sea, the Great Sea, the western sea
• Comparable
• Dim
• Ostrich
• Poetry
• Whale
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Breast
• Dragon

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