Lamentations 4:8

Lamentations 4:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.
• New International Version (NIV)But now they are blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now their face is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now their appearance is blacker than soot; They go unrecognized in the streets; Their skin clings to their bones, It has become as dry as wood.

Context of Lamentations 4:8

6The punishment of my people exceeded that of of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment with no one to help her. ז (Zayin) 7Her consecrated ones were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies more ruddy than corals, their hair like lapis lazuli. ח (Khet) Now their appearance is darker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it is dried up, like tree bark. ט (Tet) 9Those who died by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, those who waste away, struck down from lack of food. י (Yod) 10The hands of tenderhearted women cooked their own children, who became their food, when my people were destroyed. כ (Kaf)

Lamentations 4:8 word by word

חָשַׁ֤ךְ מִשְּׁחוֹר֙ תָּֽאֳרָ֔ם לֹ֥א נִכְּר֖וּ בַּחוּצ֑וֹת צָפַ֤ד עוֹרָם֙ עַל־עַצְמָ֔ם יָבֵ֖שׁ הָיָ֥ה כָעֵֽץ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Their visageתֹּ֫אַרtô'ar · appearanceH8389
• is blackerחָשַׁךְchâshak · to darkenH2821
• than a coalשְׁחוֹרshechôr · blacknessH7815
• they are not knownנָכַרnâkar · to recognizeH5234
• in the streetsחוּץchûts chûts · outsideH2351
• their skinעוֹר‛ôr · skinH5785
• cleavethצָפַדtsâphad · to shrivelH6821
• to their bonesעֶ֫צֶם‛etsem · boneH6106
• it is witheredיָבֵשׁyâbêsh · to witherH3001
• it is become like a stickעֵץ‛êts · tree: woodH6086

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:8

• Lamentations 5:10Our skin is hot as an oven due to a fever from hunger.
• Job 30:17Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never cease.
• Joel 2:6People writhe in fear when they see them. All of their faces turn pale with fright.
• Nahum 2:10Destruction, devastation, and desolation! Their hearts faint, their knees tremble, each stomach churns, each face turns pale!
• Lamentations 4:1Alas! Gold has lost its luster; pure gold loses value. Jewels are scattered on every street corner. ב (Bet)
• Ruth 1:19So the two of them journeyed together until they arrived in Bethlehem. When they enteredBethlehem, the whole village was excited about their arrival. The women of the village said, “Can this be Naomi?”
• Job 2:12But when they gazed intently from a distance but did not recognize him, they began to weep loudly. Each of them tore his robes, and they threw dust into the air over their heads.
• Isaiah 52:14(just as many were horrified by the sight of you) he was so disfigured he no longer looked like a man;
• Job 19:20My bones stick to my skin and my flesh; I have escaped alive with only the skin of my teeth.
• Job 33:21His flesh wastes away from sight, and his bones, which were not seen, are easily visible.
• Psalms 32:4For day and night you tormented me; you tried to destroy me in the intense heat of summer. (Selah)
• Psalms 38:3My whole body is sick because of your judgment; I am deprived of health because of my sin.
• Psalms 102:3For my days go up in smoke, and my bones are charred like a fireplace.
• Psalms 119:83For I am like a wineskin dried up in smoke. I do not forget your statutes.

Commentaries on Lamentations 4:8

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Their visage … - Their form (their whole person, see 1 Samuel 28:14) … as in the margin. See Job 30:30. It is withered, it is become like a stick - Or, It has become dry like a piece of wood.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8Skin sticking to bones is symptomatic of the final stages of starvation, just before death.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. blacker than ... coal--or, "than blackness" itself (Joe 2:6; Na 2:10). like a stick--as withered as a dry stick. Teth.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 4:8

• Famine

In the dictionaries

• Coal
• Colour
• 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