Lamentations 4:9

Lamentations 4:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.
• New International Version (NIV)Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Those slain by the sword are better off Than those who die of hunger; For these pine away, Stricken for lack of the fruits of the field.

Context of Lamentations 4:9

7Her Nazarites were purer than snow, whiter than milk; they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their figure was as sapphire. 8Their visage is darker than blackness, they are not known in the streets; their skin cleaveth to their bones, it is withered, it is become like a stick. The slain with the sword are happier than the slain with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. 10The hands of pitiful women have boiled their own children: they were their meat in the ruin of the daughter of my people. 11Jehovah hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath consumed the foundations thereof.

Lamentations 4:9 word by word

טוֹבִ֤ים הָיוּ֙ חַלְלֵי־חֶ֔רֶב מֵֽחַלְלֵ֖י רָעָ֑ב שֶׁ֣הֵ֤ם יָז֙וּבוּ֙ מְדֻקָּרִ֔ים מִתְּנוּבֹ֖ת שָׂדָֽי׃ סRead the interlinear

• slainחָלָלchâlâl · slain: killedH2491
• swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
• hungerרָעָבrâ‛âb · famineH7458
• fruitsתְּנוּבָהtenûbâh · fruitH8570
• fieldשָׂדַיώâdeh ώâday · fieldH7704

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:9

• Leviticus 26:39And they that remain of you shall waste away through their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also through the iniquities of their fathers shall they waste away with them.
• Ezekiel 24:23and your turbans shall be upon your heads, and your sandals upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall waste away in your iniquities and moan one toward another.
• Ezekiel 33:10And thou, son of man, say unto the house of Israel, Thus ye speak, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we waste away in them, how then should we live?

Commentaries on Lamentations 4:9

• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9Long sieges result in a serious lack of food. Even if people could get to the fields, they would find the crops destroyed or harvested to feed the soldiers.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. The speedy death by the sword is better than the lingering death by famine. pine away--literally, "flow out"; referring to the flow of blood. This expression, and "stricken through," are drawn from death by "the sword." want of ... fruits--The words in italics have to be supplied in the original (Ge 18:28; Psa 109:24). Jod.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 4:9

• Famine

In the dictionaries

• Comparable
• Dim
• Poetry
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Lamentations, Book of
• Pining Sickness
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Siege

Commentaries on Lamentations 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings