The Distress of Zion
Lamentations 4:3
In 11 translations
- BSB
- Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like an ostrich in the wilderness.Or serpents or dragons
- 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.sea…: or, sea calves
- WEB
- 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 wilderness.
- ASV
- Even the jackals 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.
- LSV
- Even dragons have drawn out the breast, || They have suckled their young ones, || The daughter of my people has become cruel, || Like the ostriches in a wilderness.
- YLT
- Even dragons have drawn out the breast, They have suckled their young ones, The daughter of my people is become cruel, Like the ostriches in a wilderness.
- DBY
- Even the jackals offer the breast, they give suck to their young; the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
- DRC
- Ghimel. Even the sea monsters have drawn out the breast, they have given suck to their young: the daughter of my people is cruel, like the ostrich in the desert.
- GNV
- Euen the dragons draw out the breastes, and giue sucke to their yong, but the daughter of my people is become cruell like the ostriches in the wildernesse.
- JPS
- Even the jackals 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.
- LXXE
- Gimel. Nay, serpents have drawn out the breasts, they give suck to their young, the daughters of my people are incurably cruel, as an ostrich in a desert.
Word by word Hebrew · tap a word
Words in brackets are English the glossers added; the Hebrew has no word for them, and they can carry a choice of tense or meaning.
Where the editions differ
Editions are published forms of the Hebrew and Greek texts. Meet the editions and sources →
- Written (Ketiv): תַּנִּין (“serpents”). Read aloud (Qere): תַּנִּים֙ (“jackals”) — the form shown in the word-by-word reader.
- Written (Ketiv): כִּי (“for”). Read aloud (Qere): (“[ ]”) — the form shown in the word-by-word reader.
- Written (Ketiv): עֵנִים (“springs”). Read aloud (Qere): כַּיְעֵנִ֖ים (“like the ostriches”) — the form shown in the word-by-word reader.
Spelling, punctuation and minor wording (3)
- Leningrad Codex reads תַּנִּין֙; read aloud (Qere) reads תַּנִּים֙ (“jackals”).
- Leningrad Codex reads כַּיְ; read aloud (Qere) reads (“[ ]”).
- Leningrad Codex reads עֵנִ֖ים; read aloud (Qere) reads כַּיְעֵנִ֖ים (“like the ostriches”).
Edition differences: STEP Bible, based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0). Names and codes expanded; consecutive words grouped. Comparisons follow the editions used by the source; see version details.
Original-language editions
- WLC
- גַּם־תנין חָ֣לְצוּ שַׁ֔ד הֵינִ֖יקוּ גּוּרֵיהֶ֑ן בַּת־עַמִּ֣י לְאַכְזָ֔ר כי ענים בַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃Read aloud as (qere): תַּנִּים֙Read aloud as (qere): כַּיְעֵנִ֖ים
- LXX-Br
- ΓΙΜΕΛ. Καί γε δράκοντες ἐξέδυσαν μαστοὺς, ἐθήλασαν σκύμνοι αὐτῶν θυγατέρας λαοῦ μου εἰς ἀνίατον, ὡς στρουθίον ἐν ἐρήμῳ.
In the reference works topics that cite this verse
From public-domain Bible dictionaries and topical indexes (1884–1915).
Cross-references most cited first
- Luke 23:28–29But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs…
- Ezekiel 5:10As a result, fathers among you will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments against you and scatter all your remnant to every wind.’
- Lamentations 2:20Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
- Lamentations 4:10The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Job 39:13–16The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but cannot match the pinions and feathers of the stork. For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand. She forgets that a foot may crush them, or a wild…
- Leviticus 26:29You will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters.
- Jeremiah 19:9I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and distress inflicted on them by their enemies who seek their lives.’
- Deuteronomy 28:52–57They will besiege all the cities throughout your land, until the high and fortified walls in which you trust have fallen. They will besiege all your cities throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you. Then…
- 2 Kings 6:26–29As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!” He answered, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the…
- Isaiah 49:15“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!
- Romans 1:31They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.
From the OpenBible.info cross-reference set (votes from readers; not every link is a quotation or allusion).