Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 5:10
Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.
10. the fathers shall eat the sons ] Neither is this, as it might be, a generality merely to suggest severe straitness. Lam 4:10, “The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children, they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.” See the story 2Ki 6:24-29; cf. Lev 26:29; Deu 28:53; Jer 19:9; Lam 2:20.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 10. The fathers shall eat the sons] Though we have not this fact so particularly stated in history, yet we cannot doubt of it, considering the extremities to which they were reduced during the siege. The same is referred to by Jeremiah, La 4:10. Even the women, who were remarkable for kindness and humanity, boiled their own children, and ate them during the siege.
Will I scatter into all the winds.] Disperse you, by captivity, among all the nations of the earth.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And this explains what is above threatened. No history I know of that does mention any thing like this; barbarous Indians sell one another, and some report (as I take it) that children among them unnaturally murder aged parents, but they eat them not.
In the midst of thee; it may intimate their doing this publicly.
The whole remnant will I scatter: this was verified when they were fetched away who were left at the departure of the besiegers, and when the very small remnant with Johanan fled into Egypt.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. fathers . . . eat . . .sonsalluding to Moses’ words (Lev 26:29;Deu 28:53), with the additionalsad feature, that “the sons should eat their fathers” (see2Ki 6:28; Jer 19:9;Lam 2:20; Lam 4:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee,…. Which was long ago threatened by the Lord, and prophesied of by Moses, Le 26:27; and was fulfilled at several times in the people of Israel, as at the siege of Samaria, 2Ki 6:28; at the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, La 4:10; and at the siege of the same city by Titus Vespasian, as Josephus w relates; for though these instances only show that mothers ate their children, yet no doubt the fathers took part with them; and if mothers, who are naturally more tender, could do this, it is much more reasonable to suppose that fathers did the same:
and the sons shall eat their fathers; this, though nowhere recorded, yet doubtless was done; it being as reasonable to think that a son might eat his father as a father his son, though both monstrously shocking:
and I will execute judgments in thee; punishments, such as pestilence, famine, and sword, after mentioned:
and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds; that is, those that remain, and are not cut off, by the above judgments, shall be carried captive into Babylon, or be dispersed in to Egypt, Ammon, Moab, and other places: this had a full accomplishment in the dispersion of the Jews into the several parts of the world, when they were destroyed by the Romans.
w De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 3. sect. 4. Ed. Hudson.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Further Execution of this Threat
Eze 5:10. Therefore shall fathers devour their children in thy midst, and children shall devour their fathers: and I will exercise judgments upon thee, and disperse all thy remnant to the winds. Eze 5:11 . Therefore, as I live, is the declaration of the Lord Jehovah, Verily, because thou hast polluted my sanctuary with all thine abominations and all thy crimes, so shall I take away mine eye without mercy, and will not spare. Eze 5:12 . A third of thee shall die by the pestilence, and perish by hunger in thy midst; and the third part shall fall by the sword about thee; and the third part will I scatter to all the winds; and will draw out the sword after them. Eze 5:13 . And my anger shall be fulfilled, and I will cool my wrath against them, and will take vengeance. And they shall experience that I, Jehovah, have spoken in my zeal, when I accomplish my wrath upon them. Eze 5:14 . And I will make thee a desolation and a mockery among the nations which are round about thee, before the eyes of every passer-by. Eze 5:15 . And it shall be a mockery and a scorn, a warning and a terror for the nations round about thee, when I exercise my judgments upon thee in anger and wrath and in grievous visitations. I, Jehovah, have said it. Eze 5:16 . When I send against thee the evil arrows of hunger, which minister to destruction, which I shall send to destroy you; for hunger shall I heap upon you, and shall break to you the staff of bread. Eze 5:17 . And I shall send hunger upon you, and evil beasts, which shall make thee childless; and pestilence and blood shall pass over thee; and the sword will I bring upon thee. I, Jehovah, have spoken it. – As a proof of the unheard-of severity of the judgment, there is immediately mentioned in Eze 5:10 a most horrible circumstance, which had been already predicted by Moses (Lev 26:29; Deu 28:53) as that which should happen to the people when hard pressed by the enemy, viz., a famine so dreadful, during the siege of Jerusalem, that parents would eat their children, and children their parents; and after the capture of the city, the dispersion of those who remained “to all the winds, i.e., to all quarters of the world.” This is described more minutely, as an appendix to the symbolical act in Eze 5:1 and Eze 5:2, in Eze 5:11 and Eze 5:12, with a solemn oath, and with repeated and prominent mention of the sins which have drawn down such chastisements. As sin, is mentioned the pollution of the temple by idolatrous abominations, which are described in detail in Ezekiel 8. The , which is variously understood by the old translators (for which some Codices offer the explanatory correction ), is to be explained, after Job 36:7, of the “turning away of the eye,” and the following as the object; while , “that it feel no compassion,” is interjected between the verb and its object with the adverbial signification of “mercilessly.” For that the words are adverbially subordinate to , distinctly appears from the correspondence – indicated by – between and . Moreover, the thought, “Jehovah will mercilessly withdraw His care for the people,” is not to be termed “feeble” in connection with what follows; nor is the contrast, which is indicated in the clause , lost, as Hvernick supposes. does not require to be understood of a positive act, which would correspond to the desecration of the sanctuary. This is shown by the last clause of the verse. The withdrawal without mercy of the divine providence is, besides, in reality, equivalent to complete devotion to destruction, as it is particularized in Eze 5:12. For Eze 5:12 see on Eze 5:1 and Eze 5:2. By carrying out the threatened division of the people into three parts, the wrath of God is to be fulfilled, i.e., the full measure of the divine wrath upon the people is to be exhausted (cf. 7, 8), and God is to appear and “cool” His anger. , “ sedavit iram,” occurs again in Eze 16:42; Eze 21:22; Eze 24:13. , Hithpael, pausal form for , “ se consolari,” “to procure satisfaction by revenge;” cf. Isa 1:24, and for the thing, Deu 28:63. In Eze 5:14. the discourse turns again from the people to the city of Jerusalem. It is to become a wilderness, as was already threatened in Lev 26:31 and Lev 26:33 to the cities of Israel, and thereby a “mockery” to all nations, in the manner described in Deu 29:23. , in Eze 5:15, is not to be changed, after the lxx, Vulgate, and some MSS, into the second person; but Jerusalem is to be regarded as the subject which is to become the object of scorn and hatred, etc., when God accomplishes His judgments. is a warning-example. Among the judgments which are to overtake it, in Eze 5:16, hunger is again made specially prominent (cf. Eze 4:16) and first in Eze 5:17 are wild beasts, pestilence, blood, and sword added, and a quartette of judgments announced as in Eze 14:21. For pestilence and blood are comprehended together as a unity by means of the predicate. Their connection is to be understood according to Eze 14:19, and the number four is significant, as in Eze 14:21; Jer 15:3. For more minute details as to the meaning, see on Eze 14:21. The evil arrows point back to Deu 32:23; the evil beasts, to Lev 24:22 and Deu 32:24. To produce an impression, the prophet heaps his words together. Unum ejus consilium fuit penetrare in animos populi quasi lapideos et ferreos. Haec igitur est ratio, cur hic tanta varietate utatur et exornet suam doctrnam variis figuris (Calvin).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
He says, then, fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you, and this was certainly fulfilled: for Jeremiah speaks of women, but he comprehends men also. (Lam 4:10.) For he says that women are tender-hearted, he does not say mothers merely, but that they were humane beyond others; but we know that maternal affection is more tender. But when mothers and those tender ones devour their children, that was the final portent. Now he adds, I will execute, therefore, (for the copula here ought to be resolved into the expletive particle,) judgments against thee That is, in this manner I will really show myself a judge, and I will scatter all thy remnants unto all winds. H e signifies that there should be such dispersion, that no body or name of the people should remain. But that hope might cherish and sustain the Jews, if any name and body of the people had been left. But when God pronounces that they should be offscourings to be scattered to every wind, he takes away all hope of restoration for the present at least. We know that there was a certain number left, but such destruction was necessarily threatened before God gave any hope of his mercy. When he says, to any wind, he signifies in any quarter whatever. For as one or another wind blows so the dust is carried, and the offscourings are dispersed in all directions. It follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
10. Fathers shall eat the sons, etc. This shows the awfulness of the famine during the siege (2Ki 6:24-29; Lam 4:10; Lev 26:29; Jer 19:9).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Eze 5:10 Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.
Ver. 10. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons. ] See this fulfilled in the pitiful mothers; Lam 4:10 and may it be thought, saith one, that their hungry husbands shared not with them in those viands? Oh, the severity of God. Cavebis, si pavebis.
And the whole remnant of thee will I scatter.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the fathers shall eat, &c. = fathers shall eat, &c. (no Art.) Reference to Pentateuch (Lev 26:29. Deu 28:53).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the fathers: Lev 26:29, Deu 28:53-57, Deu 28:64, 2Ki 6:29, Isa 9:20, Isa 49:26, Jer 19:9, Lam 2:20, Lam 4:10
the whole: Eze 5:2, Eze 5:12, Eze 6:8, Eze 12:14, Eze 20:23, Eze 22:15, Eze 36:19, Lev 26:33, Deu 4:27, Deu 28:64, Deu 32:26, Neh 1:8, Psa 44:11, Jer 9:16, Jer 44:12, Jer 50:17, Amo 9:9, Zec 2:6, Zec 7:14, Luk 21:24
Reciprocal: 2Ki 6:28 – Give thy son 2Ki 25:3 – the famine Jer 6:21 – fathers Jer 13:14 – even Jer 31:10 – He Jer 49:32 – I will scatter Jer 49:36 – scatter Jer 52:6 – the famine Lam 2:19 – that faint Lam 4:3 – the daughter Eze 11:9 – and will Eze 25:11 – I will Zec 11:9 – and let
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 5:10. This verse predicts some of the awful effects of a famine that was to be brought upon Jerusalem by the siege. It would seem impossible for parents to he starved to such an extent that they would eat the flesh of their own children, But hunger is a terrible motive, and this very deed has been committed (2 Kings 6: 2529).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 5:10-11. The fathers shall eat the sons, &c. Fathers eating their children, and children their fathers, expresses the height of misery, and the most grievous famine. We have sufficient proof that such instances happened in the Jewish nation amidst their more than common calamities. Josephus relates some instances of parents eating their children during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans; and we have further evidence of such horrid acts having been done by them in the extremity of famine, from the texts referred to in the margin. And the whole remnant of them will I scatter, &c. This is another judgment threatened against them by Moses, and remarkably fulfilled in this their last dispersion, in which they are to be found in every part of the known world, and yet live everywhere like strangers only upon sufferance: see note on Deu 28:64. Because thou hast defiled my sanctuary Hast profaned my temple by placing idols in it, and worshipping them. With all thy detestable things, and all thine abominations These are expressions of the same signification, denoting idols. Therefore will I also diminish thee Will make thee of less account, and take from thee all honours as thou hast from me, as much as lay in thy power: or, as some interpret the clause, I will cut off or destroy, by diminishing, (as the word is used Num 27:4,) without showing any pity or compassion. See the margin.