FocusReversal and responsibility
Connection to the wholeThe poem contrasts earlier conditions with present degradation and considers the failures surrounding the city's collapse.
interpretation Lamentations 4:3
KJVEven 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.
Read it in context
The Distress of Zion
Start reading at Lamentations 4:1 (Lamentations 4:1 to Lamentations 4:22).
An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
The poem contrasts earlier conditions with present degradation and considers the failures surrounding the city's collapse.
- 4:1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
- 4:2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
- 4:3 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.
- 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.
- 4:5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
- 4:6 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.
- 4:7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:
- 4:8 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.
- 4:9 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.
- 4:10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- 4:11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.
- 4:12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
- 4:13 For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,
- 4:14 They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.
- 4:15 They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there.
- 4:16 The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders.
- 4:17 As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us.
- 4:18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
- 4:19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
- 4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.
- 4:21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.
- 4:22 The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.
Who
- Who wrote the book? Jeremiah is the traditional author. The poems themselves do not identify their writer, so the personal attribution remains uncertain. Historical source: Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b–15a (record of Jewish attribution, not contemporary proof). traditionally held
- Who was present or being addressed in this passage? In the surrounding chapter context (Lamentations 4:1–4:22): The poet describes Zion's suffering for hearers and addresses Edom and the daughter of Zion in the closing contrast. stated in the text
- Who was the book written to? The devastated people of Judah and Jerusalem mourning the city's destruction, and the community preserving that lament and appeal to God. Biblical references: Lamentations 1:1; Lamentations 2:10; Lamentations 5:1. book background
What
- What is the topic of this reading unit? The Distress of Zion. Read Lamentations 4:1 through Lamentations 4:22 as a connected unit. interpretation
- How does it contribute to the book? The poem contrasts earlier conditions with present degradation and considers the failures surrounding the city's collapse. interpretation
When
- When are the events or message set? The poems concern Jerusalem's devastation and its aftermath. They do not supply a composition date or name their author within the text. book background
Where
- What is the book’s geographic setting? Jerusalem's ruined condition and the people's suffering form the setting, while individual and communal voices describe that distress. book background
- Where does the context start? This passage sits in The Distress of Zion (Lamentations 4:1 to Lamentations 4:22). Start reading at Lamentations 4:1. An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.
How
- How does this book connect with Jesus Christ? The lament over Jerusalem can be compared with Jesus' lament for the city. The comparison joins grief and accountability without making every speaker in Lamentations a direct prophetic portrait of Jesus. See Lamentations 1:1, Luke 19:41, Luke 19:44. interpretation
- How should this book guide our response? Make room for truthful lament, confession, and prayer in devastation. Hope in mercy does not require pretending that suffering is small or that every question has been resolved. interpretation
Cited: Lamentations 4:1, Lamentations 4:22, Lamentations 1:1, Luke 19:41, Luke 19:44
Who wrote it, and how we know
Jeremiah (traditional)
From early tradition
What Scripture saysThe book does not name its author. Chronicles records that Jeremiah lamented for Josiah.
2 Chronicles 35:25
Early traditionThe Greek translation and early tradition name Jeremiah.
What is debatedAuthorship is not stated in the book itself.
Related passages
- the daughter Lam 2:20 Lam 4:10 Lev 26:29 Deut 28:52-57 2 Kgs 6:26-29 Isa 49:15 Jer 19:9 Ezek 5:10
- like Job 39:13-16 Rom 1:31
Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).
Macro-Structure
See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.
Macro-Structure of Lamentations 4
Lamentations consists of poetic laments over Jerusalem's devastation. The book does not name its author. Shifts between the city's voice, an individual sufferer, and communal prayer must be respected. Local headings and stanza divisions are editorial reading aids adapted from public-domain BSB headings; verse boundaries and Scripture links use the KJV. Connections describe the surrounding book movement.
Lamentations 1:1 Lamentations 3:1 Lamentations 5:1
Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.
Macro-Structure of Lamentations
Lamentations consists of poetic laments over Jerusalem's devastation. The book does not name its author. Shifts between the city's voice, an individual sufferer, and communal prayer must be respected.
Lamentations 1:1 Lamentations 3:1 Lamentations 5:1
The deserted city laments
Lamentations 1:1–22FocusLoss and confession
Connection to the wholeJerusalem's desolation is portrayed through lament and confession, inviting attention to the severity of the city's suffering.
interpretation The day of the LORD's anger
Lamentations 2:1–22FocusDevastation and an appeal to cry out
Connection to the wholeThe lament considers the destruction as judgment and urges a pouring out of the heart before the Lord.
interpretation The sufferer remembers and hopes
Lamentations 3:1–66FocusAffliction, mercy, and appeal
Connection to the wholeIndividual affliction gives way to remembrance of the LORD's mercies, self-examination, and further appeals for help and justice.
interpretation FocusReversal and responsibility
Connection to the wholeThe poem contrasts earlier conditions with present degradation and considers the failures surrounding the city's collapse.
interpretation The community prays
Lamentations 5:1–22FocusRemember and restore
Connection to the wholeThe closing communal prayer brings the people's condition before the LORD and asks for restoration without supplying a simple narrative resolution.
interpretation Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.