Lamentations 4:9

TETH. It was better for those slain by the sword, than for those put to death by famine. For these waste away, being consumed by the sterility of the land.

Catholic Public Domain Version

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

8HETH. Their face has been blacked more than coals, and they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has adhered to their bones; it dried out and became like wood.

10JOD. The hands of pitiable women have boiled their sons. They became their food in the grief of the daughter of my people.

Read all of Lamentations 4

Cross References

Deuteronomy 28:51And he will devour the fruit of your cattle, and the fruits of your land, until you have passed away, without leaving behind you wheat, or wine, or oil, or herds of oxen, or flocks of sheep: until he utterly destroys you.

Jeremiah 16:4They will die from grievous mortal illnesses. They will not be mourned, and they will not be buried. They will be like manure on the face of the earth. And they will be consumed by sword and by famine. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the land.”

Ezekiel 7:15The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine are inside. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword. And whoever is in the city will be devoured by the pestilence and the famine.

Ezekiel 33:10You, therefore, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: You have spoken in this way, saying: ‘Our iniquities and our sins are upon us, and we waste away in them. So then, how would we be able to live?’

Matthew Henry on Lamentations 4:2-13

Desolate Condition of Jerusalem; Effects of Famine in Jerusalem; Destruction of Jerusalem. ( b. c. 588.) 1 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. 2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Lamentations 4:9