Lamentations 4:9

Happier are those slain by the sword than those slain by hunger; for those poured forth their blood, being pierced through, —[these perished] without the fruits of the field.

Leeser Tanakh

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

8Darker than black is now their visage; they are not to be recognized in the streets: their skin is shriveled fast upon their bones; it is dry, it is become like wood.

10The hands of merciful women cooked their own children: they became food unto them in the downfall of the daughter of my people.

Read all of Lamentations 4

Cross References

Deuteronomy 28:51And it will eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy soil, until thou be destroyed; so that it will not leave unto thee corn, wine, or oil, the increase of thy cattle, or the young of thy flocks, until it have ruined thee.

Jeremiah 16:4A death through diseases of famine shall they die; they shall not be lamented for; nor shall they be buried; for dung upon the face of the earth shall they be: and by the sword and by famine shall they come to their end; and their carcasses shall be for food unto the fowls of heaven, and unto the beasts of the earth.

Ezekiel 7:15The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine are within: he that is in the field shall die by the sword; and he that is in the city, him shall famine and pestilence devour.

Ezekiel 33:10But thou, O son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, Thus do ye speak, saying, Truly our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and through them do we pine away: how then shall we 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