Lamentations 4:9

Lam 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 be slain with the sword are better.] They suffer less pain in dying; they are soon despatched. See on Lam 4:6. But famine is a hard weapon.

“ Triste genus mortis miseris mortalibus omne:

Est tureen imprimis triste perire fame. ”

For these pine away.] By a lingering death, as Drusus the Roman, to whom food being denied, he had eaten the stuffings of his bed, saith Suetonius; and our Richard II, who was tantalised and starved to death at Pomfret Castle, where his diet being served in and set before him in the wonted princely manner, he was not suffered either to taste or touch thereof. {a}

Stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.] Those "precious fruits of the earth," as James the apostle calleth them. {Jas 5:7} These as a sword defend us from death; and the want of them, as a sword, runneth us through. In the time of Otho the emperor, there was so great a scarcity of bread grain in Germany for three years together that many thousands died of hunger; in remembrance of which great dearth there is yearly baked at Erfurt a little loaf, such as was then sold for much money. {b}

{a} Speed, 766.

{b} Melanchth.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

For lack of food they pine away and consume.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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, and are taken away from the world; but he says that the faithful are held, as it were, captive by the snares of death, and protract life in perpetual languor. For this reason the Prophet now says that the punishment of death would have been light to the Jews. And yet we know that. a violent death is regarded by us with horror. For he who dies on his bed is said to yield to his fate, as he seems to pay what he owes to nature; but, he who is slain by the sword is violently snatched away, and, as it were, contrary to nature. Violent death, then, is always horrible. But the comparison used by the Prophet amplifies the atrocity of their punishment, because it would have been more desirable to have been killed at once than to remain alive to struggle with famine.

And he expresses himself more clearly by saying that they pined away, having been pierced through by the fruits of the earth There is here some obscurity, but by the fruits of the earth, we are no doubt to understand all kinds of food. Some consider that “defect,” or failure, is to be understood. But the Prophet speaks much more emphatically, even that all the productions of the earth took vengeance on this wicked people, by refusing the usual supply. The earth is the servant of God’s bounty and kindness; for it is the same as though he with his hand extended food to us, when the earth opens its bowels; so also the productions of the earth are evidences of God’s paternal love towards us. Now, when the fruits of the earth withdraw themselves from us, they are as it were the weapons to execute God’s vengeance. So, then, the Prophet means that the Jews had been pierced through by the fruits of the earth, and thus had pined away; as though he had said, that they had not been pierced by the sword, but had been wounded by famine, for the productions of the earth became, as it were, swords, while yet they sustain, as we have said, the life of men.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(9) 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 battle, stricken through while yet there were fruits, i.e., not doomed to perish slowly from hunger. The construction of Psa_109:24, however, “faileth of fatness”—i.e., for want of fatness—gives a sufficient support to the Authorised version.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. The two modes of death experienced in the siege are contrasted.

pine away] lit. as mg. flow away.

stricken through] See on Jer_37:10, where (mg.) “thrust through” is the same word in the Heb. As the expression seems scarcely applicable to those dying of hunger, the Heb. text is somewhat suspicious, but no obviously satisfactory emendation has been suggested.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 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 by degrees went off; and though they were not run through with the sword, they were stabbed by famine, and were so distressed in body and mind as if a sword had pierced them; not having the fruits of the field, the corn and the wine, to support nature, and keep them alive. Jarchi's note is,

"they that were slain with hunger were inflated at the smell of the fruits of the field, when the enemies were roasting their flesh upon the grass without the wall; the smell entered into those that swelled by famine, and their bellies burst, and their excrements flowed out; and this is the death worse than that of being slain with the sword.''

And to this agrees the Targum,

"more happy are they that are slain with the sword than they that are slain with famine; for they that are slain with the sword flowed when their bellies were burst, by that which they ate of the fruits of the field; and those that were inflated with famine, their bellies burst through "want" of food.''

Most interpreters refer this clause to those that died of famine: but Gussetius (z) interprets it of those that were killed with the sword; and renders and paraphrases the words thus, "for they being stabbed, sent out"; by the open wounds, "a flux, which arose from the fruits of the field"; their food and nourishment being yet in their belly and veins, and so did not pine away through penury and famine; and their misery was short and light, in comparison of others: and so Abendana.

(z) Comment. Ebr. p. 225.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The miserable condition just now described maintains a sad preeminence 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 Jer_37:10 Jer_51:4. In this case the line had better be rendered thus: For those pine away, stricken through, leaving the fruits of the field (which they no longer need). The word rendered "pine away" would be particularly applicable to those who perished from loss of blood.

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 war. Yet after all there is a great deal that deceives imagination here. Suffering is crowded into a small space, and puts on a horrible aspect, and thus it looks huger than it is, and so when we are appalled at the continuance in the world of great wars full of carnage, we shall do well to recollect that war is by no means the worst of things so far as power of inflicting suffering is concerned. Evidently the prophet saw starvation as a more horrible thing than war. It may, of course, be said the war was the cause of the famine, and very likely it was, but then, what was the cause of the war? Good men in their enthusiasm come in with all sorts of ready remedies for great evils, not sufficiently considering how one evil is connected with another, and how the stopping up of one channel may only fill other channels all the more. Who can dry up the fountain of all evil? that is the question.

II THE DREADFUL ACCOMPANIMENTS OF FAMINE. IS there anything worse than the carnage of a battlefield? Yes; the pangs of a multitude slowly dying of starvation, There is death from disease, death from decay, death of the strong man in full health from violence; but worse than any surely is this slow torment of hunger. What an instance of the rigid way in which law binds us down, unless there be some Divine reason for interfering with the operations perceptible to us! He who intervened to feed the five thousand and the four thousand could have intervened to keep these wretched women from laying their hands on their own children for food. What necessity was there in the one case which there was not in the other? Some there must have been, though we may fail to grasp it as a whole. Doubtless if we could only see clearly it would then become manifest that there is no lack in the giving of food, but that it is we who lack wisdom in developing and distributing what is given. Y.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Those who have been killed by the sword

Here the "sword" represents an enemy's attack. It can be stated in active form. AT: "Those whom enemy soldiers have killed" (See: Metonymy and Active or Passive)

those killed by hunger

Here "hunger" represents starvation. This can be stated in active form. AT: "those who starved to death" (See: Metonymyand Active or Passive)

who wasted away

"who became extremely thin and weak"

pierced by the lack of any harvest from the field

Here "harvest from the field" is a metonym that represents food to eat. Lack of food is spoken of here as if it were a sword that pierces people. AT: "who died because there was not enough food to eat" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor and Active or Passive)

The hands of compassionate women

Here the women are represented by their "hands." Because they were so hungry, women who had been compassionate in the past were no longer compassionate toward their children; instead they boiled them for food. AT: "Compassionate women" or "Women who had been compassionate in the past" (See: Synecdoche)

they became their food

"their children became the women's food"

the daughter of my people was

This is a poetic name for Jerusalem, which is spoken of here as if it were a woman. See how you translated this in Lamentations 2:11. AT: "my people were" (See: Metonymy and Personification)

translationWords

sword

compassion

children

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

for they ooze, pierced, etc. The victims of hunger were swollen from the smell of the fruits of the field, for the enemies would roast meat on the grass outside the wall, and the aroma would go into those swollen from hunger, and their stomachs would split, and their feces would ooze. Now this is a more ignoble death than those who are slain by the sword.

pierced Heb. מְדֻקָרִים. Being split either by the swelling of hunger or by the stabbing of the sword is called דְקִירָה, piercing.

by the fruits of the field Because of the roots and grasses that they gathered and ate, their feces increased and were loathsome.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.