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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Even the jackals feed their young, but not my people Israel. They ignore their children’s cries, like ostriches in the desert.

Context of Lamentations 4:3

1How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull! The sacred gems are scattered at every street corner. 2How the precious children of Zion, once worth their weight in gold, are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter’s hands! Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but my people have become heartless like ostriches in the desert. 4Because of thirst the infant’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth; the children beg for bread, but no one gives it to them. 5Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets. Those brought up in royal purple now lie on ash heaps.

Lamentations 4:3 word by word

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Even the sea monstersתַּןtannîyn tannîym · jackalH8577
• draw outחָלַץchâlats · to rescueH2502
• the breastשַׁדshad shôd · breastH7699
• they give suckיָנַקyânaq · to suckleH3243
• to their young onesגּוּרgûr gûr · whelpH1482
• the daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• of my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• cruelאַכְזָר'akzâr · cruelH393
• like the ostrichesיָעֵןyâ‛ên · ostrichH3283
• in the wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:3

• Lamentations 2:20“Look, Lord, and consider: Whom have you ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cared for? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
• Lamentations 4:10With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed.
• Leviticus 26:29You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.
• Deuteronomy 28:52They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.
• 2 Kings 6:26As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
• Isaiah 49:15“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
• Jeremiah 19:9I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’
• Ezekiel 5:10Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.
• Luke 23:28Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.
• Job 39:13“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork.
• Romans 1:31they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.

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