Ezekiel 5:10

10 Therefore fathers shall eat (their) sons in the midst of thee, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I shall make dooms in thee (and I shall bring in judgements upon thee), and I shall winnow all thine remnants into each wind;

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Ezekiel 5:10 In-Context

8 therefore the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I to thee, and I myself shall make dooms in the midst of thee, before the eyes of heathen men; (and so the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I am against thee, and I myself shall bring in judgements in the midst of thee, before the eyes of the heathen;)

9 and I shall do things in thee which I did not, and to which I shall no more make like things, for all thine abominations. (and I shall do things in thee which I have not done before, and which I shall never do again, for all thy abominations.)

10 Therefore fathers shall eat (their) sons in the midst of thee, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I shall make dooms in thee (and I shall bring in judgements upon thee), and I shall winnow all thine remnants into each wind;

11 Therefore (as) I live, saith the Lord God, no but for that that thou defouledest mine holy thing in all thine offences, and in all thine abominations; and I shall break, and mine eye shall not spare, and I shall not do mercy. (And so as I live, saith the Lord God, because thou hast defiled my holy place with all thy offences, and with all thy abominations, I shall break thee, and my eye shall not spare thee, and I shall not have any mercy on thee.)

12 The third part of thee shall die by pestilence, and shall be wasted by hunger in the midst of thee; and the third part of thee shall fall down by sword in thy compass; forsooth I shall scatter thy third part into each wind, and I shall draw out a sword after them. (A third part of thee shall die by pestilence, and shall be wasted by famine in the midst of thee; and a third part of thee shall fall down by the sword all around thee; and I shall scatter a third part of thee into each wind, and then I shall draw out a sword to go after them.)