ya.en denotes ostriches used in Lamentations as a comparison for cruelty in the wilderness.

The attested plural noun names ostriches in a comparison: Lamentations 4:3 likens the daughter of the speaker's people to them in the wilderness.

1. Ostriches in a wilderness comparison · dominant

   In Lamentations 4:3, the plural forms occur in the comparison that the daughter of the speaker's people has become cruel like these creatures in the wilderness; the APB renders the clause "like ostriches in the wilderness."

   Lamentations 4:3

In the Anselm Project Bible: In Lamentations 4:3, the APB presents the comparison as "like ostriches in the wilderness." The verse is read as a whole, but the clause plainly places the term within that comparison.