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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)The people who once ate the richest foods now beg in the streets for anything they can get. Those who once wore the finest clothes now search the garbage dumps for food.

Context of Lamentations 4:5

3Even 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. Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets. Those brought up in royal purple now lie on ash heaps. 6The punishment of my people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment without a hand turned to help her. 7Their princes were brighter than snow and whiter than milk, their bodies more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like lapis lazuli.

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 gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children,
• Isaiah 3:16The Lord says, “The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, strutting along with swaying hips, with ornaments jingling on their ankles.
• Isaiah 24:6Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.
• Isaiah 32:9You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say!
• Jeremiah 6:2I will destroy Daughter Zion, so beautiful and delicate.
• Amos 6:3You put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror.
• Luke 7:25If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces.
• 1 Timothy 5:6But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.
• Revelation 18:7Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’
• 2 Samuel 1:24“Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and finery, who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.
• Proverbs 31:21When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
• Luke 16:19“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.
• Job 24:8They are drenched by mountain rains and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.
• Jeremiah 9:21Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has removed the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares.
• Luke 15:16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

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