4The tongue of the nursing child clings to the roof of his mouth for thirst. The young children ask bread, and no one breaks it for them.
5Those who ate delicacies are desolate in the streets. Those who were brought up in purple embrace dunghills.
6For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown as in a moment. No hands were laid on her.
7Her nobles were purer than snow. They were whiter than milk. They were more ruddy in body than rubies. Their polishing was like sapphire.
8Their appearance is blacker than a coal. They are not known in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones. It is withered. It has become like a stick.
9Those who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger; For these pine away, stricken through, for lack of the fruits of the field.
10The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children. They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
4 The tongue of the nursing child clings to the roof of his mouth for thirst. The young children ask bread, and no one breaks it for them.
5 Those who ate delicacies are desolate in the streets. Those who were brought up in purple embrace dunghills.
6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown as in a moment. No hands were laid on her.
7 Her nobles were purer than snow. They were whiter than milk. They were more ruddy in body than rubies. Their polishing was like sapphire.
8 Their appearance is blacker than a coal. They are not known in the streets. Their skin clings to their bones. It is withered. It has become like a stick.
9 Those who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger; For these pine away, stricken through, for lack of the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children. They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
KJVKing James Version
4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.
5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.
7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:
8 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.
9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Show all 3 translations
JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst; the young children ask bread, and none breaketh it unto them.
5 They that did feed on dainties are desolate in the streets; they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands fell upon her.
7 Her princes were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was as of sapphire;
8 Their visage is blacker than coal; they are not known in the streets; their skin is shrivelled upon their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.
9 They that are slain with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of women full of compassion have sodden their own children; they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Genesis 19:25(v6)He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground.
Psalms 22:15(v4)My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.
Psalms 51:7(v7)Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
2 Kings 6:26-29(v10)As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” He said, “If Yahweh doesn’t help…
Isaiah 49:15(v10)“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not…
Show all 70 cross-references
Lamentations 2:20(v10)“Look, Yahweh, and see to whom you have done thus! Should the women eat their offspring, the children that they held and bounced on their…
Lamentations 5:10(v8)Our skin is black like an oven, because of the burning heat of famine.
Luke 16:19(v5)“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
Job 30:30(v8)My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.
Psalms 102:3-5(v8)For my days consume away like smoke. My bones are burned as a torch. My heart is blighted like grass, and withered, for I forget to eat my…
Psalms 144:12(v7)Then our sons will be like well-nurtured plants, our daughters like pillars carved to adorn a palace.
Proverbs 31:21(v5)She is not afraid of the snow for her household; for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
Song of Solomon 5:10(v7)My beloved is white and ruddy. The best among ten thousand.
Jeremiah 19:9(v10)I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters. They will each eat the flesh of his friend in the siege…
Lamentations 2:11-12(v4)My eyes fail with tears. My heart is troubled. My liver is poured on the earth, because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,…
Amos 6:3-7(v5)Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; Who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their…
Luke 15:16(v5)He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any.
Leviticus 26:29(v10)You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.
Leviticus 26:39(v9)Those of you who are left will pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers they shall…
Deuteronomy 28:54-56(v5)The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the…
1 Samuel 16:12(v7)He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with a handsome face and good appearance. Yahweh said, “Arise! Anoint him, for this is he.”
2 Samuel 1:24(v5)You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you delicately in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your clothing.
Job 19:20(v8)My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
Psalms 119:83(v8)For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke. I don’t forget your statutes.
Psalms 137:6(v4)Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you, if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.
Isaiah 1:9-10(v6)Unless Yahweh of Armies had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom. We would have been like Gomorrah. Hear Yahweh’s…
Isaiah 24:6-12(v5)Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell therein are found guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are…
Jeremiah 16:4(v9)“They will die grievous deaths. They will not be lamented, neither will they be buried. They will be as dung on the surface of the ground.…
Lamentations 3:48(v10)My eye runs down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Lamentations 4:3(v10)Even the jackals offer their breast. They nurse their young ones. But the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the…
Ezekiel 5:10(v10)Therefore the fathers will eat the sons within you, and the sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you; and I will…
Ezekiel 24:23(v9)Your turbans will be on your heads, and your sandals on your feet. You won’t mourn or weep; but you will pine away in your iniquities, and…
Matthew 24:21(v6)for then there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be.
Luke 7:25(v5)But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously dressed, and live delicately, are in…
Luke 10:12(v6)I tell you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.
Luke 12:47(v6)That servant, who knew his lord’s will, and didn’t prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes,
1 Timothy 5:6(v5)But she who gives herself to pleasure is dead while she lives.
Revelation 18:7-9(v5)However much she glorified herself, and grew wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning. For she says in her heart, ‘I sit a queen,…
Numbers 6:2-21(v7)“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate…
Deuteronomy 32:24(v4)They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the…
Judges 13:5(v7)for, behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son. No razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the…
Judges 13:7(v7)but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink. Don’t eat any unclean thing, for the…
Judges 16:17(v7)He told her all his heart and said to her, “No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If…
Ruth 1:19-20(v8)So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. When they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was excited about them, and they asked, “Is…
Job 2:12(v8)When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn’t recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe,…
Job 30:17-19(v8)In the night season my bones are pierced in me, and the pains that gnaw me take no rest. My garment is disfigured by great force. It binds…
Job 33:21(v8)His flesh is so consumed away that it can’t be seen. His bones that were not seen stick out.
Psalms 32:4(v8)For day and night your hand was heavy on me. My strength was sapped in the heat of summer.
Psalms 38:3(v8)There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation, neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.
Psalms 102:11(v8)My days are like a long shadow. I have withered like grass.
Isaiah 3:16-26(v5)Moreover Yahweh said, “Because the daughters of Zion are arrogant, and walk with outstretched necks and flirting eyes, walking to trip as…
Isaiah 32:9-14(v5)Rise up, you women who are at ease! Hear my voice! You careless daughters, give ear to my speech! For days beyond a year you will be…
Isaiah 52:14(v8)Just as many were astonished at you— his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men—
Jeremiah 6:2-3(v5)I will cut off the beautiful and delicate one, the daughter of Zion. Shepherds with their flocks will come to her. They will pitch their…
Jeremiah 9:21-22(v5)For death has come up into our windows. It has entered into our palaces to cut off the children from outside, and the young men from the…
Lamentations 1:11(v4)All her people sigh. They seek bread. They have given their pleasant things for food to refresh their soul. “Look, Yahweh, and see; for I…
Lamentations 4:1-2(v8)How the gold has become dim! The most pure gold has changed! The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street. The…
Lamentations 4:9(v6)Those who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger; For these pine away, stricken through, for lack of…
Ezekiel 16:48-50(v6)As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters. “ ‘…
Ezekiel 33:10(v9)“You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: ‘You say this, “Our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them. How then…
Daniel 1:15(v7)At the end of ten days, their faces appeared fairer, and they were fatter in flesh, than all the youths who ate of the king’s dainties.
Daniel 9:12(v6)He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the…
Joel 2:6(v8)At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale.
Amos 2:11-12(v7)I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Isn’t this true, you children of Israel?” says…
Nahum 2:10(v8)She is empty, void, and waste. The heart melts, the knees knock together, their bodies and faces have grown pale.
Matthew 7:9-11(v4)Or who is there among you, who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a…
Matthew 11:23-24(v6)You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, you will go down to Hades. For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in…
Deuteronomy 28:53-57(v10)You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and…
Job 24:8(v5)They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.
Luke 1:15(v7)For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv4–10He says that sucking children were so thirsty, that…
He says that sucking children were so thirsty, that the tongue was as it were fixed to the palate; and it was a dreadful thing; for mothers would willingly pour forth their own blood to feed their infants. When, therefore, the tongue of a child clave to his mouth, it seemed to be in a manner beyond nature. Among other calamities, then, the Prophet names this, that infants pined away with thirst, and also that children sought bread in vain. He speaks not in the latter instance of sucklings, but. of children three or four years old. Then he says that they sought or asked for bread, but that there was no one to give.
He describes here the famine of the city, of which he had predicted, when he declared that it would be better with the slain than with the people remaining alive, for a harder conflict with famine and want would await the living. But this was not believed. Now, then, the Prophet upbraids the Jews with their former perverseness. He afterwards adds, —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv6, 8, 9Or, no strength was against her.
Or, no strength was against her.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv4–10Lam 4:4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth…
Lam 4:4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, [and] no man breaketh [it] unto them.
Ver. 4. The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth.] For want of suck. That was a miracle which is recorded of the old woman of Bolton, in Lancashire, who took up a poor child that lay crying at the breasts of her dead mother - slain, among many others, by Prince Rupert’s party - and laying it to her own dry breasts, that had not yielded suck for above twenty years before, on purpose to still it, had milk came to nourish it, to the admiration and astonishment of all beholders. This and another like example of God’s good providence for the relief of little ones whom their mothers could not relieve, may be read of in Mr Clark’s "Mirror for Saints and Sinners," edit. 3, fol. 495, 507.
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And no man breaketh it unto them.] The parents either not having it for them, or not having a heart to part with it to them.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv4–10As the fatness of the mother’s milk makes it…
As the fatness of the mother’s milk makes it instead of bread and flesh to the sucking child, so the moisture of it makes it to be as drink to allay its heat; the children wanting this moisture, their mouths were hot and dry. It was a time of famine; the little children, understanding not-the case of the city, were importunate for something to eat, but none had enough for himself, much less for others. See Lam 2:12,13.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv4–10The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the…
The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst,.... Through want of the milk of the breast, which is both food and drink unto it:
the young children ask bread; of their parents as usual, not knowing how the case was, that there was a famine in the city; these are such as were more grown, were weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts, and lived on other food, and were capable of asking for it:
Read full note →
and no man breaketh it unto them: distributes unto them, or gives them a piece of bread; not father, friend, or any other person; it not being in their power to do it, they having none for themselves.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv6–8Of Sodom - Their punishment was greater, because more…
Of Sodom - Their punishment was greater, because more lingering, and gradual, whereas Sodom was overthrown in a moment, and that by no human hands that abode upon her, causing her a continued torment.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv4, 5, 6, 7, 10Verse 4. The tongue of the sucking child] See…
Verse 4. The tongue of the sucking child] See Clarke on La 2:12.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv6, 7, 10Lam 4:6. For the punishment, &c., is greater than…
Lam 4:6. For the punishment, &c., is greater than the punishment of Sodom — The fate of Sodom was less deplorable than that of Jerusalem; for Sodom was destroyed in an instant; but Jerusalem endured a long siege, and suffered all the miseries of famine, sickness, and hostile arms. In Sodom all were destroyed together, and none left to mourn in bitterness of soul the sad loss of their dearest friends; in Jerusalem many survived to mourn the deplorable fate of their friends and country, and to suffer the ignominy and miseries of captivity. The original of the last clause, ידים לא חלו בה, is rendered by the LXX., και ουκ επονεσαν εν αυτη
χειρας, they did not cause hands to labour, or be weary, in her: and by Blaney, nor were hands weakened in her.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv5, 6, 7, 8, 10They that were brought up in scarlet - literally,…
They 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.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv5–10Scarlet. Literally, "yellow;" croceis. (Haydock) --- Hebrew means purple.…
Scarlet. Literally, "yellow;" croceis. (Haydock) --- Hebrew means purple. Those who have been educated in the most delicate manner, are forced to feed on the most disgusting things, 4 Kings vi. 25., and xviii. 27., and Deuteronomy xxviii. 54.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv4–10thirst--The mothers have no milk to give through the…
thirst--The mothers have no milk to give through the famine.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv4, 5, 6, 7, 104. The tongue… cleaveth to the roof — The…
4. The tongue… cleaveth to the roof — The most graphic and fearfully expressive feature of the common misery is brought to view in this unnatural conduct of parents, leaving the sucking child and young children to famish for want of proper nutriment.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv5–105. delicately] luxuriously. Children are still the subject, and…
5. delicately] luxuriously. Children are still the subject, and not, as has been suggested, rich persons. In the latter case we should have to render carried on scarlet (i.e. litters or couches furnished with costly stuffs of that colour), unduly forcing the sense of the Heb. verb.
desolate] See on ch. Lam_3:11.
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embrace dunghills] for want of a better couch.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv5–10(5) They that were brought up . . .—Literally,…
(5) They that were brought up . . .—Literally, that were carried (as children are carried). “Scarlet” as in 2Sa_1:24, stands for the shawls or garments of the rich, dyed, as they were, in the Tyrian purple or crimson. Those that had been once wrapped in such shawls now threw themselves, “embracing” them as their only refuge, on dunghills.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv4–10Breaketh it unto them. The Jewish bread, consisting of…
Breaketh it unto them. The Jewish bread, consisting of round or oval cakes. (comp. 1Ki_19:6)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv4, 6, 7, 9The tongue of the nursing baby sticks to the…
The tongue of the nursing baby sticks to the roof of his mouth by thirst
"Nursing babies are so thirsty that their tongues stick to the top of their mouths"
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feast on
"eat much"
now starve in the streets
These people no longer have homes, so they live outside along the streets.
Those who were brought up wearing scarlet clothing
This can be stated in active form. AT: "those who grew up wearing scarlet clothing" or "those who wore scarlet clothing when they were growing up" (See: Active or Passive)
scarlet clothing
Here this phrase is a metonym for luxurious, expensive, and comfortable clothing, at least some of which was probably scarlet. AT: "luxurious clothing"
now lie on piles of ashes
This is because they no longer have homes and soft beds.
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv7–94:7 like fine jewels: (literally like lapis lazuli): Lapis…
4:7 like fine jewels: (literally like lapis lazuli): Lapis lazuli is a beautiful blue stone that is soft enough to carve. It is often used in decorations and mosaics.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv4–10 He says that sucking children were so thirsty, that…
He says that sucking children were so thirsty, that the tongue was as it were fixed to the palate; and it was a dreadful thing; for mothers would willingly pour forth their own blood to feed their infants. When, therefore, the tongue of a child clave to his mouth, it seemed to be in a manner beyond nature. Among other calamities, then, the Prophet names this, that infants pined away with thirst, and also that children sought bread in vain. He speaks not in the latter instance of sucklings, but. of children three or four years old. Then he says that they sought or asked for bread, but that there was no one to give.
He describes here the famine of the city, of which he had predicted, when he declared that it would be better with the slain than with the people remaining alive, for a harder conflict with famine and want would await the living. But this was not believed. Now, then, the Prophet upbraids the Jews with their former perverseness. He afterwards adds, —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv6, 8, 9 Or, no strength was against her.
Or, no strength was against her.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv4–10 Lam 4:4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth…
Lam 4:4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, [and] no man breaketh [it] unto them.
Ver. 4. The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth.] For want of suck. That was a miracle which is recorded of the old woman of Bolton, in Lancashire, who took up a poor child that lay crying at the breasts of her dead mother - slain, among many others, by Prince Rupert’s party - and laying it to her own dry breasts, that had not yielded suck for above twenty years before, on purpose to still it, had milk came to nourish it, to the admiration and astonishment of all beholders. This and another like example of God’s good providence for the relief of little ones whom their mothers could not relieve, may be read of in Mr Clark’s "Mirror for Saints and Sinners," edit. 3, fol. 495, 507.
Read full note →
And no man breaketh it unto them.] The parents either not having it for them, or not having a heart to part with it to them.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv4–10 As the fatness of the mother’s milk makes it…
As the fatness of the mother’s milk makes it instead of bread and flesh to the sucking child, so the moisture of it makes it to be as drink to allay its heat; the children wanting this moisture, their mouths were hot and dry. It was a time of famine; the little children, understanding not-the case of the city, were importunate for something to eat, but none had enough for himself, much less for others. See Lam 2:12,13.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv4–10 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the…
The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst,.... Through want of the milk of the breast, which is both food and drink unto it:
the young children ask bread; of their parents as usual, not knowing how the case was, that there was a famine in the city; these are such as were more grown, were weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts, and lived on other food, and were capable of asking for it:
Read full note →
and no man breaketh it unto them: distributes unto them, or gives them a piece of bread; not father, friend, or any other person; it not being in their power to do it, they having none for themselves.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv6–8 Of Sodom - Their punishment was greater, because more…
Of Sodom - Their punishment was greater, because more lingering, and gradual, whereas Sodom was overthrown in a moment, and that by no human hands that abode upon her, causing her a continued torment.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4, 5, 6, 7, 10 Verse 4. The tongue of the sucking child] See…
Verse 4. The tongue of the sucking child] See Clarke on La 2:12.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 10 Lam 4:6. For the punishment, &c., is greater than…
Lam 4:6. For the punishment, &c., is greater than the punishment of Sodom — The fate of Sodom was less deplorable than that of Jerusalem; for Sodom was destroyed in an instant; but Jerusalem endured a long siege, and suffered all the miseries of famine, sickness, and hostile arms. In Sodom all were destroyed together, and none left to mourn in bitterness of soul the sad loss of their dearest friends; in Jerusalem many survived to mourn the deplorable fate of their friends and country, and to suffer the ignominy and miseries of captivity. The original of the last clause, ידים לא חלו בה, is rendered by the LXX., και ουκ επονεσαν εν αυτη
χειρας, they did not cause hands to labour, or be weary, in her: and by Blaney, nor were hands weakened in her.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv5, 6, 7, 8, 10 They that were brought up in scarlet - literally,…
They 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.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv5–10 Scarlet. Literally, "yellow;" croceis. (Haydock) --- Hebrew means purple.…
Scarlet. Literally, "yellow;" croceis. (Haydock) --- Hebrew means purple. Those who have been educated in the most delicate manner, are forced to feed on the most disgusting things, 4 Kings vi. 25., and xviii. 27., and Deuteronomy xxviii. 54.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv4–10 thirst--The mothers have no milk to give through the…
thirst--The mothers have no milk to give through the famine.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv4, 5, 6, 7, 10 4. The tongue… cleaveth to the roof — The…
4. The tongue… cleaveth to the roof — The most graphic and fearfully expressive feature of the common misery is brought to view in this unnatural conduct of parents, leaving the sucking child and young children to famish for want of proper nutriment.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–10 5. delicately] luxuriously. Children are still the subject, and…
5. delicately] luxuriously. Children are still the subject, and not, as has been suggested, rich persons. In the latter case we should have to render carried on scarlet (i.e. litters or couches furnished with costly stuffs of that colour), unduly forcing the sense of the Heb. verb.
desolate] See on ch. Lam_3:11.
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embrace dunghills] for want of a better couch.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–10 (5) They that were brought up . . .—Literally,…
(5) They that were brought up . . .—Literally, that were carried (as children are carried). “Scarlet” as in 2Sa_1:24, stands for the shawls or garments of the rich, dyed, as they were, in the Tyrian purple or crimson. Those that had been once wrapped in such shawls now threw themselves, “embracing” them as their only refuge, on dunghills.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv4–10 Breaketh it unto them. The Jewish bread, consisting of…
Breaketh it unto them. The Jewish bread, consisting of round or oval cakes. (comp. 1Ki_19:6)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv4, 6, 7, 9 The tongue of the nursing baby sticks to the…
The tongue of the nursing baby sticks to the roof of his mouth by thirst
"Nursing babies are so thirsty that their tongues stick to the top of their mouths"
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feast on
"eat much"
now starve in the streets
These people no longer have homes, so they live outside along the streets.
Those who were brought up wearing scarlet clothing
This can be stated in active form. AT: "those who grew up wearing scarlet clothing" or "those who wore scarlet clothing when they were growing up" (See: Active or Passive)
scarlet clothing
Here this phrase is a metonym for luxurious, expensive, and comfortable clothing, at least some of which was probably scarlet. AT: "luxurious clothing"
now lie on piles of ashes
This is because they no longer have homes and soft beds.
translationWords
feast
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7–9 4:7 like fine jewels: (literally like lapis lazuli): Lapis…
4:7 like fine jewels: (literally like lapis lazuli): Lapis lazuli is a beautiful blue stone that is soft enough to carve. It is often used in decorations and mosaics.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.