Lamentations 4:9

It was better to men slain with sword, than to men slain with hunger; for these men waxed rotten, they were wasted of the barrenness of [the] earth. (It was better for those who were killed with the sword, than for those killed by hunger; for these people slowly grew rotten, and they wasted away for the barrenness of the land.)

Wycliffe Modern Spelling

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

8The face of them was made blacker than coals, and they were not known in (the) streets; the skin cleaved to their bones, it dried, and was made as a stick, (or it dried up, and was made like a stick).

10The hands of merciful women seethed their children; they were made the meats of those women in the sorrow of the daughter of my people. (The hands of merciful women boiled their own children; they were made the food for those women in the horror of the wounding of my people.)

Read all of Lamentations 4

Cross References

Deuteronomy 28:51And it shall devour the fruit of thy beasts, and the fruits of thy land, till thou perishest, and this folk shall not leave to thee wheat, wine, and oil, nor droves of oxen, and flocks of sheep, till he lose thee, (And they shall devour the fruit of thy beasts, and the fruit of thy land, until thou diest, and this nation shall not leave thee any corn, or wine, or oil, or herds of oxen, or flocks of sheep, until they have completely destroyed thee,)

Jeremiah 16:4They shall die by deaths of sicknesses, they shall not be bewailed, and they shall not be buried; they shall be into a dunghill on the face of [the] earth, and they shall be wasted by sword and hunger; and the carrion of them shall be into meat to the volatiles of heaven, and to [the] beasts of the earth. (They shall die by the death of sicknesses, but they shall not be bewailed, and they shall not be buried; they shall be like a mound of dung upon the face of the earth, and they shall be wasted by the sword and by hunger; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the heavens, or of the air, and for the beasts of the earth.)

Ezekiel 7:15Sword is without, pestilence and hunger within; he that is in the field, shall die by sword; and they that be in the city, shall be devoured by pestilence and hunger. (The sword is outside, pestilence and famine within; he who is in the field, shall die by sword; and they who be in the city, shall be devoured by pestilence and famine.)

Ezekiel 33:10Therefore thou, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus ye spake, saying, Our wickednesses and our sins be [up] on us, and we fail in those; how therefore may 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