Yechezkel 5:10

10 Therefore the avot shall eat banim in the midst of thee, and the banim shall eat their avot; and I will execute shefatim (judgments, punishments) in thee, and kol she’erit of thee will I scatter unto kol ruach.

Yechezkel 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.

Yechezkel 5:10 In-Context

8 Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem: Hineni, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute mishpatim in the midst of thee in the sight of the Goyim.
9 And I will do to thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of kol to’avot of thee.
10 Therefore the avot shall eat banim in the midst of thee, and the banim shall eat their avot; and I will execute shefatim (judgments, punishments) in thee, and kol she’erit of thee will I scatter unto kol ruach.
11 Therefore, as I live, saith Adonoi Hashem; Surely, because thou hast made My Mikdash tameh with all thy shikkutzim, and with all thine to’avot, therefore will I also withdraw; neither shall Mine eye pity, neither will I spare.
12 A third part of thee shall die by dever, and by ra’av shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the cherev all around thee; and I will scatter a third part into kol ruach, and I will draw out a cherev after them.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.