Who are the princes referred to in Lamentations 4:7?

The Hebrew word translated as princes is nezerim. It can refer to the noblemen of the city, as it means, literally, the high-ranking people. It is also used to refer to those who are separated from the rest and occupy a special place among the people. These people are highly placed in society.¹ The word may also be translated as princes, as it is connected to the word, nezer, which means crown.² In Genesis 49:26 and Deuteronomy 33:26, this word refers to someone who wears a crown. It may also refer to the religious group by the same name (see Numbers 6:1–21) or in this instance to the religious leaders, or a special group of religious people. Although it may refer to leaders in general, it seems more likely to refer to a highly committed religious group, as the other civic and religious leaders are designated in other parts of the book, for example Lamentations 1:5; Lamentations 4:20. As Lamentations 4:1–6 refers to the children who suffered without their own specific blame, it may well refer in a similar way to the Nazarites, who suffered along with the wicked.³ While it is not clear whatever group is meant here, their former glory (Lamentations 4:7) gave way to utter destitution (Lamentations 4:8).