Lamentations 4 · Verse 9

Lamentations 4:9

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.
Lamentations 4:9, King James Version

Lamentations 4:9 in other translations

BSBThose slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.
WEBThose who are killed with the sword are better than those who are killed with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through, for lack of the fruits of the field.
ASVThey 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.
YLTBetter have been the pierced of a sword Than the pierced of famine, For these flow away, pierced through, Without the increase of the field.
DARBYThe slain with the sword are happier than the slain with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.
BBEThose who have been put to the sword are better off than those whose death is caused by need of food; for these come to death slowly, burned up like the fruit of the field.
WebsterThey 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.

What does Lamentations 4:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
9. 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 (Ge 18:28; Psa 109:24). Jod.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Lamentations 4:1-12

The deplorable state of the nation is contrasted with its ancient prosperity. Verses 1-12 What a change is here! Sin tarnishes the beauty of the most exalted powers and the most excellent gifts; but that gold, tried in the fire, which Christ bestows, never will be taken from us; its outward appearance may be dimmed, but its real value can never be changed. The horrors of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem are…

Read the full comment on Lamentations 4:1-12 →

Lamentations 4:9 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

טוֹבִ֤יםto.VimgoodH2896
הָיוּ֙ha.Yuthey areH1961
חַלְלֵי\־cha.lei-[those] slain ofH2491
חֶ֔רֶבChe.reva swordH2719
מֵֽחַלְלֵ֖יme.cha.Leimore than [those] slain ofH2491
רָעָ֑בra.'AvhungerH7458
שֶׁ֣הֵ֤םshe.Hemwho theyH1992
יָז֙וּבוּ֙ya.Zu.vuthey flow awayH2100
מְדֻקָּרִ֔יםme.du.ka.Rimpierced throughH1856
מִתְּנוּבֹ֖תmi.te.nu.Votfrom [the] produce<s> ofH8570
שָׂדָֽי\׃\ \סsa.Dai[the] fieldH7704

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Lamentations 4:9

  • Jeremiah 16:4

    They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

  • Ezekiel 24:23

    And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.

  • Leviticus 26:39

    And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.

  • Ezekiel 33:10

    Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
for.
Le 26:39; Eze 24:23; 33:10
pine away. Heb. flow out.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Lamentations 4:8

    Their 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.

  • Lamentations 4:9

    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.

  • Lamentations 4:10

    The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

Read all of Lamentations 4

Lamentations 4:9 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Más dichosos fueron los muertos á cuchillo que los muertos del hambre; porque éstos murieron poco á poco por falta de los frutos de la tierra.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ceux qui ont été tués par l’épée ont été plus heureux que ceux qui sont morts par la famine; parce que ceux-ci ont dépéri, consumés par le manque du produit des champs.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Die vom Schwert Erschlagenen sind glücklicher als die vom Hunger Getöteten welche hinschmachten, durchbohrt vom Mangel an Früchten des Feldes.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Melius fuit occisis gladio quam interfectis fame, quoniam isti extabuerunt consumpti a sterilitate terræ.