Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 28:54
[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:
54. The man that is the most tender among you, and the very most delicate ] or dainty. The same adjs. in Isa 47:1.
his eye shall be evil ] See on Deu 15:9.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
[So that] the man [that is] tender among you, and very delicate,…. Not only the rustic that has been brought up meanly, and used to hard living; but one that has been bred very tenderly, and lived in a delicate manner, like the rich man in Lu 16:19; that fared sumptuously every day:
his eye shall be evil towards his brother, and towards the wife of his bosom, and towards the remnant of his children which he shall leave; that is, he shall begrudge his brother, who is so nearly related to him, the least bit of food; yea, his wife, he dearly loved, and is one flesh with him, his other self, and even his children, which are parts of himself, such of them as were left not eaten by him; or his eye should be evil upon then, he should look with an evil eye on them, determining within himself to kill and eat them next. Though the particular instance in which his eye would be evil to them follows, yet no doubt there are other instances in which his eye would be evil towards them, as there were at the siege of Jerusalem, and have been since. Josephus b says,
“that in every house where there was any appearance of food (or anything that looked like it, that had the shadow of it) there was a battle; and the dearest friends fought with one another, snatching away from each other, the miserable supports of life;”
as the husband from his wife and children, and the wife from her husband and children; see more in De 28:56; and, in later times, we told by the Jewish historian c, that wrote an account of their sufferings and distresses since their dispersion, that at Fez the Jews sold their children for slaves for bread.
b De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 3. sect. 3. c Shebet Judah, sive Hist. Jud. p. 326.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Deu 28:54 [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:
Ver. 54. His eye shall be evil, ] i.e., Envious and grutchful.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
his eye: Deu 15:9, Pro 23:6, Pro 28:22, Mat 20:15
and toward: The Roman armies at length besieged, sacked, and utterly desolated Jerusalem, and during this seige, the famine was so extreme, that even rich and delicate persons, both men and women, ate their own children, and concealed the horrible repast, lest others should tear it from them! “Women snatched the food out of the very mouths of their husbands, and sons of their fathers, and – what is most miserablemothers of their infants.” “In every house, if there appeared any semblance of food, a battle ensued, and the dearest friends and relations fought with one another; snatching away the miserable provisions of life.” “A woman distinguished by birth and wealth, after she had been plundered by the tyrants – or soldiersof all her possessions, boiling her own sucking child, ate half of him, and concealing the other half, reserved it for another time!” Deu 13:6, 2Sa 12:3, Mic 7:5
his children: Psa 103:13, Isa 49:15, Mat 7:9-11, Luk 11:11-13
Reciprocal: Gen 31:2 – countenance Deu 28:56 – her eye shall be evil Jer 47:3 – the fathers Lam 4:5 – that did Mar 7:22 – an evil 1Ti 5:6 – in pleasure
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 28:54-55. His eye shall be evil toward his brother His wants will make him throw off all distinction of, and compassion for, his nearest and dearest relations. Hunger will make him snatch the meat out of the mouths of his own children, and grudge every morsel that they eat. Accordingly Josephus informs us that wives forced away the meat out of the very mouths of their husbands, children of their parents, and, what was yet more unnatural, mothers of their infants, taking away from them, as they lay languishing in their arms, the very last support of life. Nay, he tells us that in every house, if there appeared any semblance of food, a battle ensued, and the dearest friends and relations fought with one another, snatching away the miserable provisions of life. So, literally, were the words of Moses fulfilled! Bel. Jud., lib. 5. cap. 10, sect. 3; and lib. 6. cap. 3, sect. 3.