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Lamentations 4:10

Old Testament Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Lamentations 4:10 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children; They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children; They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Lamentations 4:10 — American Standard Version

Context — Lamentations 4

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
7Her nobles were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was as of sapphire.
8Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: Their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.
9They that are slain with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger; For these pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits of the field.
10The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children; They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11Jehovah hath accomplished his wrath, he hath poured out his fierce anger; And he hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath devoured the foundations thereof.
12The kings of the earth believed not, neither all the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem.
13[It is] because of the sins of her prophets, [and] the iniquities of her priests, That have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.
← Lamentations 4:9Lamentations 4:11 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children, etc.] Such as were naturally, and agreeably to their sex, pitiful and compassionate; merciful to the poor, as the Targum; and especially tenderhearted to their own offspring; yet, by reason of the soreness of the famine, became so cruel and hardhearted, as to take their own children, and slay them with their own hands, cut them to pieces, put them into a pot of water, and make a fire and boil them, and then eat them, as follows: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people: at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. This strange and unnatural action was foretold by Moses, (<052856>Deuteronomy 28:56,57);…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“(Lam 2:20; Deu 28:56-57). pitiful--naturally at other times compassionate (Isa 49:15). JOSEPHUS describes the unnatural act as it took place in the siege under Titus. sodden--boiled.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Pitiful - i. e. tender-hearted, compassionate. meat is used for food Psalms 69:21. What is here stated actually occurred during the siege of Jerusalem by Titus. return to 'Top of Page'”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“hands: Lam 4:3, Lam 2:20; Kg2 6:26-29 pitiful: Isa 49:15 in: Lam 3:48; Deu 28:56, Deu 28:57; Kg2 6:29 Lamentations 4:11”
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Related study paths

Read Lamentations 4 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification