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Lamentations 4:9

Old Testament Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Lamentations 4:9 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “They 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.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

They 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.
Lamentations 4:9 — American Standard Version

Context — Lamentations 4

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
6For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, That was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands were laid upon her.
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.
← Lamentations 4:8Lamentations 4:10 →
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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
“[They that be] slain with the sword are better than [they that be] slain with hunger, etc.] Not that they are better with respect to their state after death, but with respect to their manner of dying. They that were slain by the sword of the Chaldeans, as many were, either upon the walls, or in sallies out against the enemy, these felt less pain, and had less terror of mind in dying, than those did who perished by famine; they died a lingering death, as it were by inches, and were in continual pain of body and uneasiness of mind: for these pine away, stricken through for [want of] the fruits of the field: that is, those that died by famine gradually wasted or “flowed” away, their fluid parts…”
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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
“The speedy death by the sword is better than the lingering death by famine. pine away--literally, "flow out"; referring to the flow of blood. This expression, and "stricken through," are drawn from death by "the sword." want of . . . fruits--The words in italics have to be supplied in the original (Gen 18:28; Psa 109:24).”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“4:9 Long sieges result in a serious lack of food. Even if people could get to the fields, they would find the crops destroyed or harvested to feed the soldiers.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“for: Lev 26:39; Eze 24:23, Eze 33:10 pine away: Heb. flow out Lamentations 4:10”
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Related study paths

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

Sources and verification