You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you. The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining, so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter, toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates.
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Deuteronomy 28:53-57 sits inside this longer paragraph.
All these curses will come on you, and will pursue you and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you. They will be for a sign and for a wonder to you and to your offspring forever. Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; therefore you will serve your enemies whom Yahweh sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce facial expressions, that doesn’t respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young. They will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine, oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. They will besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout all your land. They will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land which Yahweh your God has given you. You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you. The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining, so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter, toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates. If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH your God, then Yahweh will make your plagues and the plagues of your offspring fearful, even great plagues, and of long duration, and severe sicknesses, and of long duration. He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they will cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you until you are destroyed. You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude, because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice. It will happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be plucked from the land that you are going in to possess. Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see. Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told to you that you would never see it again. There you will offer yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.
Parallel Translations
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You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you.
The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining,
so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates.
The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter,
toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates.
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And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:
So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.
The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,
And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
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And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters whom the LORD thy God hath given thee; in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall straiten thee.
The man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil against his brother, and against the wife of his bosom, and against the remnant of his children whom he hath remaining;
so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he hath nothing left him; in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall straiten thee in all thy gates.
The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil against the husband of her bosom, and against her son, and against her daughter;
and against her afterbirth that cometh out from between her feet, and against her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly; in the siege and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall straiten thee in thy gates.
Cross-references (29)
- Lamentations 4:10 (v53) The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children. They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Leviticus 26:29 (v53) You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.
- Jeremiah 19:9 (v53) I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters. They will each eat the flesh of his friend in the siege…
- Deuteronomy 28:57 (v53) toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack…
- 2 Kings 6:28-29 (v53) The king said to her, “What is your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will…
Show all 28 cross-references
- Lamentations 2:20 (v53) “Look, Yahweh, and see to whom you have done thus! Should the women eat their offspring, the children that they held and bounced on their…
- Ezekiel 5:10 (v53) Therefore the fathers will eat the sons within you, and the sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you; and I will…
- Deuteronomy 15:9 (v54) Beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,” and your eye be evil…
- Deuteronomy 28:54 (v56) The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the…
- Deuteronomy 28:55 (v53) so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and…
- Isaiah 49:15 (vv54, 57) “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not…
- Genesis 49:10 (v57) The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the…
- Deuteronomy 13:6 (v54) If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul,…
- Isaiah 3:16 (v56) Moreover Yahweh said, “Because the daughters of Zion are arrogant, and walk with outstretched necks and flirting eyes, walking to trip as…
- Lamentations 4:3-6 (v56) Even the jackals offer their breast. They nurse their young ones. But the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the…
- Matthew 20:15 (v54) Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’
- Deuteronomy 28:18 (v53) The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock will be cursed.
- 2 Samuel 12:3 (v54) but the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up together with him, and with his…
- Psalms 103:13 (v54) Like a father has compassion on his children, so Yahweh has compassion on those who fear him.
- Proverbs 23:6 (v54) Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and don’t crave his delicacies:
- Proverbs 28:22 (v54) A stingy man hurries after riches, and doesn’t know that poverty waits for him.
- Jeremiah 5:10 (v55) “Go up on her walls, and destroy; but don’t make a full end. Take away her branches, for they are not Yahweh’s.
- Jeremiah 34:2 (v55) “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Yahweh says, “Behold, I will give this city into…
- Jeremiah 52:6 (v55) In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the…
- Micah 7:5 (v54) Don’t trust in a neighbor. Don’t put confidence in a friend. With the woman lying in your embrace, be careful of the words of your mouth!
- Matthew 7:9-11 (v54) Or who is there among you, who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a…
- Matthew 24:19 (v53) But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days!
- Luke 11:11-13 (v54) “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a…
28 distinct cross-references across this passage (29 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv56–57 As came to pass in the days of Joram…
As came to pass in the days of Joram king of Israel, 2 Kings 6:20, and when the Romans besieged Jerusalem.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv53, 54, 56, 57 Deu 28:53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of…
Deu 28:53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
Ver. 53. And thou shalt eat.] {See Trapp on "Lev 26:29"}
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv54, 56, 57 Evil, i.e. unkind, envious, covetous, to monopolize these dainty…
Evil, i.e. unkind, envious, covetous, to monopolize these dainty bits to themselves, and grudging that their dearest relations should have any part of them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv53–57 And toward her young one that cometh out from…
And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet,.... Or her secundine, "her afterbirth", as in the margin of our Bibles; so the Targum of Jonathan and Aben Ezra interpret it. The latter describes it,"the place of the fetus, while it abides in the womb of its mother;''the membrane in which the child is wrapped; and it is suggested that, as nauseous as that is, the delicate woman should eat it, and then the newborn child that was wrapped in it; so Jarchi interprets it, little children; though it seems to be distinguished from the children she bears or brings forth in the next clause:
and towards her children which she shall bear; that is, have an evil eye towards them, to eat them as follows:
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for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates; that is, eat her children, being reduced to the utmost extremity, being in want of all things, having nothing at all to abate her sharp hunger; which, and nothing else, could incline her, and prevail upon her to do an action so monstrously horrid: and which she would do in the most private and secret manner; both lest others should partake with her, as well as being conscious of the foulness and blackness of the crime, that would not by any means bear the light; and all this owing to the closeness of the siege, and the unspeakable distress they should be in through it. For the illustration of this, take the following story as related by Josephus (f);"a woman, whose name was Mary, that lived beyond Jordan, illustrious for her descent and riches fled with the multitude to Jerusalem when besieged carrying with her her substance, and what food she could get that were left to her by the spoilers; where being pressed with famine, she took her sucking child, killed it boiled it, and ate half of it, and then laid up the rest, and covered it; and when the seditious party entered the house, they smelt it, and demanded her food, threatening to kill her if she did not deliver it; which when she brought forth, declaring what she had done, they were struck with horror; to whom she said, this is my son, and this my own deed; eat, for I have eaten; be not more tender or softer than a woman, and more sympathizing or more pitiful than a mother.''All the ideas that this prophecy of Moses conveys are to be met with in this account; as of a woman well bred and delicate, reduced to the utmost distress, and wanting all the necessaries of life, killing her tender infant, a sucking babe, eating it secretly, and laying up the rest covered for another time. If Moses had lived to have known the fact committed, as Josephus did, he could not have expressed it well in stronger and clearer terms than he has done. This is a most amazing instance of a prophecy delivered out two thousand years or more before the fact was done, and of the exact accomplishment of it; and if the observation of a learned critic (g) can be established, that the first word of this verse should be and so be rendered, "and she shall boil that which cometh out from between her feet, even her children which she shall bear", the fulfilment of the prophecy will appear still more exact, both at the siege of Samaria, Kg2 6:20; and of Jerusalem, as in the above relation of Josephus.
(f) De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 3. sect. 4. (g) Dr. Kennicot's State of the Hebrew Text, Dissert. 1. p. 421.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv54, 56, 57 Evil - Unkind, envious, covetous to monopolize these dainty…
Evil - Unkind, envious, covetous to monopolize these dainty bits to themselves, and grudging that their dearest relations should have any part of them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv56–57 Verse 56. The tender and delicate woman] This was…
Verse 56. The tender and delicate woman] This was literally fulfilled when Jerusalem was besieged by the Romans; a woman named Mary, of a noble family, driven to distraction by famine, boiled and ate her own child! See a similar case 2Kg 6:29; and See Clarke on Le 26:29.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv53, 54, 56 Deu 28:53. Thou shalt eat the fruit of thine…
Deu 28:53. Thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body — The stoutest and most obstinate resistance will avail you nothing; all the advantage you will gain by it will be to suffer such long and pressing straits by the siege as will force you, after thousands have perished with hunger, to feed upon the flesh of one another. This prediction was repeatedly fulfilled, especially when Vespasian and his son Titus begirt Jerusalem so closely that the besieged were reduced to a most grievous famine, which forced them, after they had eaten up their horses and other creatures, to eat even their own children, whom parents, who had used to live delicately, Moses here foretels, should themselves eat up privately, and let none share with them.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv53, 54, 56, 57 Womb; a cruelty which the Jews were guilty of…
Womb; a cruelty which the Jews were guilty of in the sieges of Samaria and of Jerusalem. See Baruch ii. 2, 13., Lamentations ii. 20., and iv., and 4 Kings vi. 28., and Josephus, Jewish Wars vii. 8. (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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own…
And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body--(See Kg2 6:29; Lam 4:10). Such were the dreadful extremities to which the inhabitants during the siege were reduced that many women sustained a wretched existence by eating the flesh of their own children. Parental affection was extinguished, and the nearest relatives were jealously, avoided, lest they should discover and demand a share of the revolting viands.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v53 53. Eat the fruit of thine own body —…
53. Eat the fruit of thine own body — The terrible straits to which the nation will be reduced are here described with graphic distinctness, as if an historian rather than a prophet held the pen. With greater minuteness is the horrible distress portrayed in the verses that follow. The man accustomed to luxurious living, the woman so delicate that the sole of her foot had not touched the ground, in the extremity of famine caused by the siege will forget all natural affection. See 2Ki_6:28; also Josephus, Jewish War, book 7, chap. 2.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv53, 54, 56, 57 53. And thou shalt eat, etc.] Cp. Lev_26:29, Eze_5:10,…
53. And thou shalt eat, etc.] Cp. Lev_26:29, Eze_5:10, and for instances of this horror 2Ki_6:28 f., Lam_2:20; Lam_4:10.
in the siege and in the straitness] A Refrain as in Deu_28:55; Deu_28:57. Similarly Jer_19:9, along with the eating of children as here.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv53, 55, 56 (53) Thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own…
(53) Thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body.—Specially confirmed in the siege of Samaria by the Syrians (2Ki_6:26-29; but see on Deu_28:56), and also in Jerusalem when besieged by Nebuchadnezzar. (See Lam_2:20; Lam_4:10.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv56–57 So intense should be the hunger, that the delicate…
So intense should be the hunger, that the delicate and sensitive woman, brought up in luxury, and who would not set her foot on the ground lest she should be fatigued by the exertion or offended by coming in contact with the base soil, but when she went abroad must be carried in a litter or borne by a camel or an ass, even she should break through all restraints of delicacy and affection, and would secretly devour the very infant she had borne during the siege.
Vers. 56, 57. The delicate lady.
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Isa_3:16-26 The queens of select society have little reason to be vain of their excessive and artificial delicacy. They need not pride themselves in it, or think that it entitles them to look haughtily on others. For
I DELICACY IS NOT CHARACTER. It is consistent with a vain, light, scornful, wicked disposition. The tender and delicate lady in this verse is one of the enemies of God. The purest types of female character avoid those extravagances of delicacy which, indulged in, become second nature. Character alone entities to respect. To be vain of beauty or breeding, when the heart is false and the life untrue to God, is to be vain of an ornamented husk within which lies rottenness. only noble to be good.
II DELICACY IS AN ACCIDENT OF FORTUNE. It is adventitious an accident of position. Born in another sphere, she who boasts of it would not have had it. It is the product of artificial conditions, of which she reaps the benefit, but which she had no part in creating. It is not gained by her own exertions, or attributable to her worth or merit. If she values it, let her at least not despise others. She might have been the cottager, the cottager the lady.
III DELICACY IS VALUELESS WHEN FORTUNE CEASES TO SMILE ON ITS POSSESSOR. No change of circumstances can rob of its value the possession of knowledge, talents, virtue, good breeding, or refinement. These will grace the humblest home, will prove a passport to respect in any society. It is different with the fastidious and excessive delicacy of the belle. So entirely is this an appendage of a certain social position that, when that is gone, it perishes like a crushed flower. The admirers of the delicate lady have deserted her. She is treated with coldness, even rudeness. No one so helpless, so dependent, as she. She shone, like the moon, in a reflected brightness, and, foolishly inconsiderate, gloried in it as something of her own.
IV DELICACY MAY BE COMPELLED TO STOOP TO THE BITTEREST DEGRADATIONS. This is the lesson of the verses before us, and we need not dwell upon it. But the thought of such possibilities should quell pride and awaken awe. The depths of want and woe to which the most delicately nurtured may sink, are only paralleled by the possibilities of joy that lie hidden in the most wretched souls, if they will but forsake sin and give themselves up to Jesus and the guidance of his Spirit. J.O.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv54, 56 General Information:
General Information:
Moses speaks to the Israelites as if they were one man, so the words "you" and "your" here are singular. (See: Forms of You)
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who is tender and very delicate among you—he
"who is tender and very delicate among you—even he." Moses is saying that not only those one would expect to eat their children, but even the last person one would expect to eat his own children will eat his children.
all your city gates
Here "city gates" represents the cities themselves. AT: "all your cities" (See: Synecdoche)
translationWords
envy
siege
adversary
gate
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv54, 56, 57 28:54 A tenderhearted man was sheltered from the dark…
28:54 A tenderhearted man was sheltered from the dark and disgusting side of life. He had never experienced the horrors that would befall him.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.