Ezekiel 5:10

10 Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds.

Ezekiel 5:10 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 5:10

Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee,
&c.] Which was long ago threatened by the Lord, and prophesied of by Moses, ( Leviticus 26:27 ) ( Deuteronomy 28:53 Deuteronomy 28:55 Deuteronomy 28:57 ) ; and was fulfilled at several times in the people of Israel, as at the siege of Samaria, ( 2 Kings 6:28 2 Kings 6:29 ) ; at the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, ( Lamentations 4:10 ) ; and at the siege of the same city by Titus Vespasian, as Josephus F23 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.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 3. sect. 4. Ed. Hudson.

Ezekiel 5:10 In-Context

8 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations.
9 And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again.
10 Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds.
11 Wherefore, as I live, says the Lord GOD, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will cut you down; my eye will not spare, and I will have no pity.
12 A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in the midst of you; a third part shall fall by the sword round about you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.