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Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary

Lamentations 4:9

During the siege many were killed by the enemies sword, many more perished by famine; the prophet saith the condition of those who perished by the sword was much better than the condition of those who perished by famine, because they had a quicker death, and were sooner despatched and put out of their pain; whereas they who perished by hunger died a miserable, lingering death, gradually pining away, because they wanted corn and herbs, the fruits of the field, to uphold their souls in life.

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See also Lamentations 4:9 in other biblical comments:

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    CHAPTER 4 THE DEPARTED GLORY AND THE CUP OF SHAME This new lament begins with a description of the former glory of Zion and its present wretchedness; the glory is departed: How is the gold become dim...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    LAMENTATIONS 4. THE FOURTH LAMENT. This has less literary finish than Lamentations 4:3, and it has also less spiritual value. It lacks much of the saints whom one seems to see in Lamentations 4:1, and...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    ARE. have proved....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    The two modes of death experienced in the siege are contrasted. _pine away_ lit. as mg. _flow away_. _stricken through_ See on Jeremiah 37:10, where (mg.) "thrust through" is the same word in the He...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    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...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE A RUINED KINGDOM Lamentations 4:1-22 The fourth poem is an alphabetic acrostic like that found in Chapter s 1 and 2 with the exception that the stanzas here have two lines instea...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    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. THEY THAT BE SLAIN WITH THE SWORD ARE BE...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    ZION'S FORMER GLORY CONTRASTED WITH HER PRESENT HUMILIATION In this fourth dirge the poet describes the miseries of the various classes in the sack of Jerusalem, concluding with a warning to Edom. In...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    BETTER] i.e. better off. Death by the sword, prior to the siege, is pronounced preferable to being gradually wasted by famine. FOR _WANT OF_ THE FRUITS OF THE FIELD] lit. 'from the produce of the fie...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    JEREMIAH WEEPS IN THE DARKNESS LAMENTATIONS _ROY ROHU_ CHAPTER 4 JEREMIAH CONTINUES TO SPEAK. V1 Look! The gold has stopped shining! Look how the best gold has changed! The stones of the *temple...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    FOR WANT OF... — The italics indicate the difficulty of the sentence. Literally the clause stands, _from the fruits of the field,_ and it has been explained by some as referring to those that died in...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    טֹובִ֤ים הָיוּ֙ חַלְלֵי ־חֶ֔רֶב מֵֽ חַלְלֵ֖י...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    CONTRASTS Lamentations 4:1 IN form the fourth elegy is slightly different from each of its predecessors. Following the characteristic plan of the Book of Lamentations, it is an acrostic of twenty-two...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The fourth poem is for the most part a dirge of desolation, which nevertheless ends in a song of hope. Jeremiah first described the disaster in Zion, declaring that it all arose as the result of the s...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    [They that are] slain with the sword are better than [they that are] slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for [lack of] the (f) fruits of the field. (f) For lack of food they pine...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    _For. Literally, "by the barrenness of the earth." (Haydock) --- Such a death was, no doubt, more painful than to perish quickly by the sword. (Calmet)_...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    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. The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they e...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    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, accord...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    Jeremiah, having now found Jehovah in the affliction, tranquilly measures its whole extent. But this is itself a consolation. For after all Jehovah who changes not is there to comfort the heart. This...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    [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. T...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    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. Ver. 9. _They that...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _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...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    They that be slain with the sword are better, more fortunate, THAN THEY THAT BE SLAIN WITH HUNGER, because they were not obliged to suffer the agonies of a slow death; FOR THESE PINE AWAY, STRICKEN TH...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    JERUSALEM'S AFFLICTION A PUNISHMENT FOR HER GUILT...

  • Marginal Notes in the King James Version (1611)

    PINE AWAY: _ Heb._ flow out...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    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...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Lamentations 4:9 slain H2491 sword H2719 better H2896 die H2491 hunger H7458 these H1992 away H2100 (H8799) S

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    THE SAD CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM DUE TO THE ANGER OF YHWH (LAMENTATIONS 4:1). Lamentations 4:1 (Aleph) How is the gold become dim! How is the most pure gold changed! The (precious) sto...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Lamentation on the direful effects of calamities of Judah. Sins of the leaders acknowledged. CHARACTERS: God, Jeremiah. CONCLUSION: Nothing ripens a people more for ruin, nor fills the mea...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Lamentations 4:1. _How is the gold,_ זהב _zahab,_ so called because of its superior lustre to other metals, now _become dim._ Gold does not oxidize, and scarcely receives a tarnish; yet the rulers and...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    LAMENTATIONS—NOTE ON LAMENTATIONS 4:1 How the Gold Has Grown Dim. Chapter Lamentations 4:1 returns to themes in chs....

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    LAMENTATIONS—NOTE ON LAMENTATIONS 4:9 HAPPIER WERE THE VICTIMS OF THE SWORD. Because they died quickly (see v. Lamentations 4:6). pier

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    EXEGETICAL NOTES.— (ג). Lamentations 4:3. Beasts of prey show affection for their brood. EVEN THE JACKALS DRAW OUT—present—THE BREAST; a familiar fact testifying that they were true to their instincts...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    THE SUFFERINGS OF JERUSALEM; NO CLASS IS EXEMPT. EDOM'S TRIUMPHING. EXPOSITION LAMENTATIONS 4:1 HOW IS THE GOLD BECOME DIM!… THE STONES OF THE SANCTUARY, etc. "Alas f

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    The fourth lamentation: How is the gold become dim! the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine go...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Ezekiel 24:23; Ezekiel 33:10; Leviticus 26:39...

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