Lamentations 4:10

Lamentations 4:10 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
• New International Version (NIV)With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The hands of the compassionate women Have cooked their own children; They became food for them In the destruction of the daughter of my people.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. They have eaten them to survive the siege.

Context of Lamentations 4:10

8Now their face is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood. 9Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field. The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people. 11The Lord gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations. 12The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem.

Lamentations 4:10 word by word

יְדֵ֗י נָשִׁים֙ רַחֲמָ֣נִיּ֔וֹת בִּשְּׁל֖וּ יַלְדֵיהֶ֑ן הָי֤וּ לְבָרוֹת֙ לָ֔מוֹ בְּשֶׁ֖בֶר בַּת־עַמִּֽי׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The handsיָדyâd · handH3027
• of the pitifulרַחֲמָנִיrachmânîy · compassionateH7362
• womenאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• have soddenבָּשַׁלbâshal · to boilH1310
• their own childrenיֶ֫לֶדyeled · youthH3206
• they were their meatבָּרָהbârâh · to eatH1262
• in the destructionשֶׁ֫בֶרsheber shêber · breakingH7667
• of the daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• of my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971

Cross-references for Lamentations 4:10

• Lamentations 4:3Even jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young; but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
• Lamentations 2:20Look, O Lord, and see! With whom have you dealt thus? Should women eat the fruit of their womb, the children of their tender care? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
• 2 Kings 6:26Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!"
• Isaiah 49:15"Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
• Lamentations 3:48my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
• Deuteronomy 28:56The most tender and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will begrudge to the husband she embraces, to her son and to her daughter,
• 2 Kings 6:29So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, 'Give your son, that we may eat him.' But she has hidden her son."

Commentaries on Lamentations 4:10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 10The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children - See on Lamentations 2:20; (note). But here there is a reference to mothers eating their own children; and this was done, not by mothers cruel and brutal, but by רחמניות נשים nashim rachmaniyoth, the compassionate, the tender-hearted mothers. From these horrible scenes it is well to pass with as hasty a step as possible.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10Pitiful - i. e. tender-hearted, compassionate. meat is used for food Psalm 69:21. What is here stated actually occurred during the siege of Jerusalem by Titus.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-22Although God’s people still experience his judgment, they will soon experience restoration.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1010. (La 2:20; De 28:56, 57). pitiful--naturally at other times compassionate (Is 49:15). Josephus describes the unnatural act as it took place in the siege under Titus. sodden--boiled. Caph.Read the comment

Topics related to Lamentations 4:10

• Cannibalism
• Famine
• Prophecy
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Comparable
• Dim
• Poetry
• Zedekiah
• Acrostic
• Alphabet
• Lamentations, Book of
• Pitiful
• Poetry, Hebrew
• Proverbs, the Book of

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