Lamentations 4:9

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Lamentations 4:1-12

The elegy in this chapter begins with a lamentation of the very sad and doleful change which the judgments of God had made in Jerusalem. The city that was formerly as gold, as the most fine gold, so rich and splendid, the perfection of beauty and the joy of the whole earth, has become dim, and is changed, has lost its lustre, lost its value, is not what it was; it has become dross. Alas! what an alteration is here! I. The temple was laid waste, which was the glory of Jerusalem and its... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:9

They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger ,.... 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... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Lamentations 4:9

Verse 9 The beginning of the verse is without any difficulty; for the Prophet says that it happened better to those who immediately perished by the sword than to others who had to struggle with famine, according to what he had lately said, that the punishment of Sodom was more tolerable, because it was suddenly executed. Sudden death is the easiest And the Prophet, when complaining that the ungodly prospered, so that the faithful sometimes envied them, says that they die as it were in a moment,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 4:9

The miserable condition just now described maintains a sad pre-eminence even when compared with the fate of the slain in battle. And why! For these pine away (literally, melt away ) , stricken through (with the pangs of hunger). The Authorized Version takes the subject of the second half of the verse to be the famished. But it is, perhaps, more natural to take it to be those wounded in a battle, to whom the expression, "stricken through," is actually applied in ch. 37:10; 51:4. In this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Lamentations 4:9

Sword and hunger. I. WORSE THINGS THAN WAR . Better, says the prophet, to be swiftly slain in battle than have the slow and gnawing death of hunger. None worthy the name of Christian can but appreciate and admire the zeal, devotion, and self-abnegation of those who toil incessantly in the things that make for peace. War is so dreadful an evil that hardly too strong things can be said against it. And one of the strong things said is with respect to the immense suffering produced by... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Lamentations 4:7-9

Lamentations 4:7-9. Her Nazarites were purer than snow It seems the word, נזיריה , ought not to be translated here Nazarites, or those who were separated by a vow to God; but princes, or chief men: so Waterland understands the word, as also Blaney, who renders it, her nobles. We find the same term applied to Joseph, as one separated, or distinguished in eminence and dignity above his brethren, Genesis 49:26. By being purer than snow, and whiter than milk, seems to be... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Lamentations 4:1-22

Corrupt leaders disgraced (4:1-22)Jerusalem’s former glory is contrasted with her present ruin. The once glorious temple, now defiled and shattered, is symbolic of the once glorious people now shamed and broken. Jerusalem’s dead lie in the streets like pieces of broken pottery (4:1-2). The writer recalls again the scene of horror during the siege. Wild beasts provide food for their young, but in Jerusalem mothers are unable to provide food for their children. Rich nobles die on the streets like... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Lamentations 4:9

are = have proved. read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Lamentations 4:9

Lamentations 4:9. For these pine away— For they who are cut down by the sword, have departed quickly as the fruits of the field: "They who have perished by the sword, are quickly cut down like the ripe fruits of the field; and therefore it is better with them than with those who have wasted away by a long famine." Houbigant. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Lamentations 4:9

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 (Genesis 18:28; Psalms 109:24). Jod. read more

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