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Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary

Lamentations 4:7

By Nazarites in this place the most and best interpreters do not understand persons who were of the religious order of Nazarites, the laws of which order are to be read Num 6, and of whom we read Amos 2:11,12, for here is a beauty described (under several metaphors) which could never agree to them; but persons that were nobly and ingenuously bred; the word Nezer signifying a crown, or ensign of honour, 2 Samuel 1:10 2 Kings 11:12. The name Nazarite was given to persons splendid for their breeding and education, or honour and dignity; it is given to Joseph, Genesis 49:26, we translate it separate from his brethren, Deuteronomy 33:16; so Nahum 3:17. Her Nazarites in this place signifieth her separated ones, who either in respect of birth, education, estate, places of magistracy, or the like, were distinguished from the rest of the people. He expresseth their former splendid estate by the metaphors of snow, milk, rubies, and sapphires.

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See also Lamentations 4:7 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse 7. _HER NAZARITES WERE PURER THAN SNOW_] נזיר _nazir_ does not always signify a _person separated_ under a _religious vow_; it sometimes denotes what is _chief_ or _eminent_. It is applied to _J...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    The Nazarites from their temperance were remarkable for health and personal beauty, besides being held in religious veneration. RUBIES - Or, corals. THEIR POLISHING WAS OF SAPPHIRE - Or, their shape...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    CHAPTER 4 THE DEPARTED GLORY AND THE CUP OF SHAME This new lament begins with a description of the former glory of Zion and its present wretchedness; the glory is departed: How is the gold become dim...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    LAMENTATIONS 4. THE FOURTH LAMENT. This has less literary finish than Lamentations 4:3, and it has also less spiritual value. It lacks much of the saints whom one seems to see in Lamentations 4:1, and...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _nobles_ probably right, as in Genesis 49:26; Deuteronomy 33:16 (in which places mg. renders "princes") as against the more frequent sense _Nazirites_(as mg. here). _rubies_ mg. _corals_. _their poli...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Cp. Lamentations 4:1. The emaciation produced by famine and hardship is vividly pourtrayed. Cp. Job 19:20; Job 30:30....

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    THEY WERE MORE RUDDY, &C.— _They were brighter in body than pearls,_ &c. See Bochart, lib. 2: cap. 6....

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE A RUINED KINGDOM Lamentations 4:1-22 The fourth poem is an alphabetic acrostic like that found in Chapter s 1 and 2 with the exception that the stanzas here have two lines instea...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: HER NAZARITES - literally, separated ones (Numbers 6:1.) T...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    4:7 Nazarites (f-2) Or 'princes.'...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    ZION'S FORMER GLORY CONTRASTED WITH HER PRESENT HUMILIATION In this fourth dirge the poet describes the miseries of the various classes in the sack of Jerusalem, concluding with a warning to Edom. In...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    NAZARITES] RV 'nobles,' probably alluding to the Rechabites, famous at that time for their purity and temperance (Jeremiah 35)....

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    JEREMIAH WEEPS IN THE DARKNESS LAMENTATIONS _ROY ROHU_ CHAPTER 4 JEREMIAH CONTINUES TO SPEAK. V1 Look! The gold has stopped shining! Look how the best gold has changed! The stones of the *temple...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    HER NAZARITES... — The word has been rendered “princes” by some commentators, on the ground that it means literally those who are “separated” from their brethren (Genesis 49:26; Deuteronomy 33:16), wh...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    זַכּ֤וּ נְזִירֶ֨יהָ֙ מִ שֶּׁ֔לֶג צַח֖וּ מֵ חָ

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    CONTRASTS Lamentations 4:1 IN form the fourth elegy is slightly different from each of its predecessors. Following the characteristic plan of the Book of Lamentations, it is an acrostic of twenty-two...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The fourth poem is for the most part a dirge of desolation, which nevertheless ends in a song of hope. Jeremiah first described the disaster in Zion, declaring that it all arose as the result of the s...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    Old ivory. Whiteness shews its age. (Pliny, [Natural History?] iii. 8.) --- As it grows old it turns yellow, and loses much of its value. But the ancients had the art of dyeing it scarlet. (Virgil, \'...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    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. The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they e...

  • James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary

    _THE NAZARITES_ ‘Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk.’ Lamentations 4:7 I. THE IDEAL.—The wealth of a great people consists not so much in its material possessions, but i...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    Here the Prophet speaks of Nazarites, by whom we know the worship of God was honored; for they, who were not content with the common observance of the Law, consecrated themselves to God, that by their...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    Jeremiah, having now found Jehovah in the affliction, tranquilly measures its whole extent. But this is itself a consolation. For after all Jehovah who changes not is there to comfort the heart. This...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    HER NAZARITES WERE PURER THAN SNOW,.... Such who separated themselves by a vow to the Lord, and abstained from drinking wine and strong drink, and by a moderate diet, and often washing themselves, as...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing [was] of sapphire: Ver. 7. _Her Nazarites._] Who served God in a singular way...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Her Nazarites were purer than snow_ It seems the word, נזיריה, ought not to be translated here _Nazarites_, or those who were _separated_ by a vow to God; but _princes_, or _chief men:_ so Waterland...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    JERUSALEM'S AFFLICTION A PUNISHMENT FOR HER GUILT...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Her Nazarites, her princes or rulers, separated from the rest of the people by virtue of the dignity of their office, WERE PURER THAN SNOW, THEY WERE WHITER THAN MILK, THEY WERE MORE RUDDY IN BODY THA...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    1-12 What a change is here! Sin tarnishes the beauty of the most exalted powers and the most excellent gifts; but that gold, tried in the fire, which Christ bestows, never will be taken from us; its...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Lamentations 4:7 Nazirites H5139 brighter H2141 (H8804) snow H7950 whiter H6705 (H8804) milk H2461 ruddy H119

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    THE SAD CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM DUE TO THE ANGER OF YHWH (LAMENTATIONS 4:1). Lamentations 4:1 (Aleph) How is the gold become dim! How is the most pure gold changed! The (precious) sto...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Lamentation on the direful effects of calamities of Judah. Sins of the leaders acknowledged. CHARACTERS: God, Jeremiah. CONCLUSION: Nothing ripens a people more for ruin, nor fills the mea...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Lamentations 4:1. _How is the gold,_ זהב _zahab,_ so called because of its superior lustre to other metals, now _become dim._ Gold does not oxidize, and scarcely receives a tarnish; yet the rulers and...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    LAMENTATIONS—NOTE ON LAMENTATIONS 4:1 How the Gold Has Grown Dim. Chapter Lamentations 4:1 returns to themes in chs....

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    LAMENTATIONS—NOTE ON LAMENTATIONS 4:7 MORE RUDDY THAN CORAL. Their bodies were perfectly formed and healthy. BEAUTY OF THEIR FORM. Their faces were handsome....

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    EXEGETICAL NOTES.— (ג). Lamentations 4:3. Beasts of prey show affection for their brood. EVEN THE JACKALS DRAW OUT—present—THE BREAST; a familiar fact testifying that they were true to their instincts...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    THE SUFFERINGS OF JERUSALEM; NO CLASS IS EXEMPT. EDOM'S TRIUMPHING. EXPOSITION LAMENTATIONS 4:1 HOW IS THE GOLD BECOME DIM!… THE STONES OF THE SANCTUARY, etc. "Alas f

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    The fourth lamentation: How is the gold become dim! the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine go...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    1 Samuel 16:12; Amos 2:11; Amos 2:12; Daniel 1:15; Judges 13:5;...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Nazarites — Her Nazarites in this place signify her separated ones, who either in respect of birth, education, estate, or place of magistracy, were distinguished from the rest of the people....

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