Lamentations 4:4

Dalet

4 The nursing infant's tongue clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst.^[a] Little children beg for bread, but no one gives them [any].

Lamentations 4:4 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 4:4

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: [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.

Lamentations 4:4 In-Context

2 Zion's precious people- [once] worth their weight in pure gold- how they are regarded as clay jars, the work of a potter's hands!

3 Even jackals offer [their] breasts to nurse their young, but my dear people have become cruel like ostriches in the wilderness.

4 The nursing infant's tongue clings to the roof of his mouth from thirst. Little children beg for bread, but no one gives them [any].

5 Those who used to eat delicacies are destitute in the streets; those who were reared in purple [garments] huddle in garbage heaps.

6 The punishment of my dear people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in an instant without a hand laid on it.

Footnotes

• [a]. Ps 22:15