Deuteronomy 28:53

53 And thou shalt eate the frute of thyne awne bodye: the flessh of thy sonnes and off thy doughters which the Lorde thy God hath geuen the, in that straytenesse and sege wherewith thyne enemye shall besege the:

Deuteronomy 28:53 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 28:53

And thou shall eat the fruit of thine body
Than which nothing can be more shocking and unnatural, which is explained as follows:

the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God
hath given thee;
which is an aggravation of the cruel and inhuman fact:

in the siege, and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall
distress thee;
this shows the cause of it, a famine by reason of the closeness of the siege, so that no provisions could be brought in for their relief; and all within being eaten up, and everything that was eatable, even the most nauseous and disagreeable, they would be led on to this strange, unheard of, and barbarous action, eating their own children. This was fulfilled in the siege of Samaria, ( 2 Kings 6:25 2 Kings 6:28 2 Kings 6:29 ) ; and in the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, ( Lamentations 2:10 ) ( 4:10 ) and again in the Apocrypha:

``Moreover he hath delivered them to be in subjection to all the kingdoms that are round about us, to be as a reproach and desolation among all the people round about, where the Lord hath scattered them.'' (Baruch 2:4)

and in the siege of the same city by the Romans; of which an instance will be hereafter given.

Deuteronomy 28:53 In-Context

51 And he shall eate the frute of thy londe and the frute of thy catell vntyll he haue destroyed the: so that he shall leaue the nether corne, wyne, nor oyle, nether the ecrease of thyne oxen nor the flockes of thy shepe: vntyll he haue brought the to nought.

52 And he shall kepe the in in all thy cities, vntyll thy hye ad stronge walles be come doune wherei thou trustedest, thorow all thy londe. And he shall besege the in all thy cities thorow out all thy land whiche the Lorde thy God hath geuen the.

53 And thou shalt eate the frute of thyne awne bodye: the flessh of thy sonnes and off thy doughters which the Lorde thy God hath geuen the, in that straytenesse and sege wherewith thyne enemye shall besege the:

54 so that it shall greue the man that is tender and exceadynge delycate amonge you, to loke on his brother and vppon his wife that lyeth in hys bosome ad on the remnaunte of his childern, which he hath yet lefte,

55 for feare of geuynge vnto any of them of the flesh of hys childern, whiche he eateth, because he hath noughte lefte him in that straytenesse and sege wherewith thyne enemye shall besege the in all thy cytyes.