And in the fourth month, in the ninth [day] of the month
The month Tammuz F15, which answers to part of June and part of July; hence the fast of the fourth month, for the taking of the city, ( Zechariah 8:19 ) ; the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the
people of the land;
for the common people; though there might be some in the king's palace, and in the houses of princes and noblemen, and officers of the army; yet none for the soldiers, and the meaner sort of people; who therefore were disheartened and enfeebled, that they could not defend the city, or hold out any longer: the famine had been before this time, but was now increased to a prodigious degree, so that the people had no bread to eat; see ( Jeremiah 38:9 ) .