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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They wandered, blind, through the streets; they were so defiled with blood that no one was able 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.

Context of Lamentations 4:14

12Neither the kings of the earth nor the people of the lands ever thought that enemy or foe would enter the gates of Jerusalem. מ (Mem) 13But it happened due to the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who poured out in her midst the blood of the righteous. נ (Nun) They wander blindly through the streets, defiled by the blood they shed, while no one dares to touch their garments. ס (Samek) 15People cry to them, “Turn away! You are unclean! Turn away! Turn away! Don’t touch us!” So they have fled and wander about; but the nations say, “They may not stay here any longer.” פ (Pe) 16The Lord himself has scattered them; he no longer watches over them. They did not honor the priests; they did not show favor to the elders. ע (Ayin)

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 also subject you to madness, blindness, and confusion of mind.
• Isaiah 29:10For the Lord has poured out on you a strong urge to sleep deeply. He has shut your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers).
• Isaiah 56:10All their watchmen are blind, they are unaware. All of them are like mute dogs, unable to bark. They pant, lie down, and love to snooze.
• Isaiah 59:9For this reason deliverance is far from us and salvation does not reach us. We wait for light, but see only darkness; we wait for a bright light, but live in deep darkness.
• Micah 3:6Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads.
• Matthew 15:14Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”
• Ephesians 4:18They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
• Numbers 35:33“You must not pollute the land where you live, for blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed there, except by the blood of the person who shed it.
• Isaiah 1:15When you spread out your hands in prayer, I look the other way; when you offer your many prayers, I do not listen, because your hands are covered with blood.
• Jeremiah 2:34Even your clothes are stained with the lifeblood of the poor who had not done anything wrong; you did not catch them breaking into your homes. Yet, in spite of all these things you have done,
• Numbers 19:16And whoever touches the body of someone killed with a sword in the open fields, or the body of someone who died of natural causes, or a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean seven days.
• Hosea 4:2There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery. They resort to violence and bloodshed.
• Numbers 16:26And he said to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because of all their sins.”
• Psalms 6:8Turn back from me, all you who behave wickedly, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping!
• Psalms 139:19If only you would kill the wicked, O God! Get away from me, you violent men!
• Micah 2:10But you are the ones who will be forced to leave! For this land is not secure! Sin will thoroughly destroy it!

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