Ezekiel 5:10 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Ezekiel 5:10
Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.
to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
sons
בָנִים֙va.Nim
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
midst
בְּתוֹכֵ֔ךְbe.to.Khekh
H8432
a bisection · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
sons
וּבָנִ֖יםu.va.Nim
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
eat
יֹאכְל֣וּyo.khe.Lu
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
fathers
אֲבוֹתָ֑ם'a.vo.Tam
H1
father · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
execute
וְעָשִׂ֤יתִיve.'a.Si.ti
H6213
to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
judgments
שְׁפָטִ֔יםshe.fa.Tim
H8201
a sentence · noun, common masculine plural absolute
remnant
שְׁאֵרִיתֵ֖ךְshe.'e.ri.Tekh
H7611
a remainder or residual (surviving · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
scatter
וְזֵרִיתִ֥יve.ze.ri.Ti
H2219
to toss about · conjunction + verb, piel sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
winds
רֽוּחַRu.ach
H7307
wind · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Zechariah 2:6 Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith…
Leviticus 26:29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.
Deuteronomy 28:64 And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods,…
Jeremiah 19:9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend…
Ezekiel 12:14 And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.
Psalms 44:11 Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.
Ezekiel 5:2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part,…
Ezekiel 36:19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ezekiel 5:5–end
We have here the explanation of the foregoing similitude: This is Jerusalem. Thus it is usual in scripture language to give the name of the thing signified to the sign; as when Christ said, This is my body. The prophet's head, which was to be shaved, signified Jerusalem, which by the judgments of God was now to be stripped of all its ornaments, to be emptied of all its inhabitants, and to be set naked and bare, to be shaved with a razor that is hired, Isa 7:20. The head of one that was a priest, a prophet, a holy person, was fittest to represent Jerusalem the holy city. Now the contents of these verses are much the same with what we have often met with, and still shall, in the writings of th…
fathers . . . eat . . . sons--alluding to Moses words (Lev 26:29; Deu 28:53), with the additional sad feature, that "the sons should eat their fathers" (see Kg2 6:28; Jer 19:9; Lam 2:20; Lam 4:10).
Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 5:10
The fathers shall eat the sons - Though we have not this fact so particularly stated in history, yet we cannot doubt of it, considering the extremities to which they were reduced during the siege. The same is referred to by Jeremiah, Lam 4:10. Even the women, who were remarkable for kindness and humanity, boiled their own children, and ate them during the siege.
Will I scatter into all the winds - Disperse you, by captivity, among all the nations of the earth.
John Gill on Ezekiel 5:10
Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee,.... Which was long ago threatened by the Lord, and prophesied of by Moses, Leviticus 26:27; and was fulfilled at several times in the people of Israel, as at the siege of Samaria, 2 Kings 6:28; at the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Lamentations 4:10; and at the siege of the same city by Titus Vespasian, as Josephus (w) 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 nowhe…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 10.) Therefore, fathers will eat their sons in your midst, and sons will eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnants to every wind. This is in accordance with what was said before: Because you have surpassed the nations that surround you, or because your behavior is like the nations that surround you, you have not walked in my commandments and have not kept my judgments. This is why it is repeated for the third time. First, thus: Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am coming to you, and I myself will bring judgments in your midst. Second: Therefore, fathers will eat their sons in your midst. Third: Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God; if you have violated my sanctuary in all your offenses, and the rest. However, it should be noted that where there are beautiful and honorable things, and according to the merit of those who uphold them, God professes to act for their sake. But where there are sad and unworthy things for God, he indeed says that they happen, but not by his own doing, as at present: Therefore, fathers will eat their sons in your midst, and sons will eat their fathers. For he did not say, 'I will make the fathers eat their sons in your midst, and the sons eat their fathers.' But what was proper and not unworthy of the majesty of God, he says he will do. For it follows: 'And I will execute judgments in you, and I will scatter all your remnant to every wind.' We can expect such a thing to come in curses in Deuteronomy, especially in that place: 'Those who glorify me I will glorify, but those who despise me will be brought to nothing.' (Deuteronomy XXVIII). For he who glorifies himself, glorifies himself. But those who despise him will not be despised by the Lord, or be reduced to nothingness (for it followed that he said), but absolutely, they will be reduced to nothingness: not by God, but by their own merits and sins. We read in the Book of Kings, driven by the necessity of hunger, a mother devoured her son (2 Kings 6). Josephus also recounts many such acts in the siege of Jerusalem. However, the story does not tell when fathers eat their sons or when sons eat their fathers, except perhaps in many desperate situations, it must be believed that these things have also happened. This can also be applied to our Jerusalem: when teachers are against their students, that is, fathers against…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Cannibalism · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Ezekiel 5:9-10
9. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.
9. Et faciam in to quae non feci, et quae, non sum facturus secundum hoc amplius, propter cunctas abominationes tuas.
10. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.
10. Propterea [114] patres vorabunt filios in medio tui, et filii vorabunt patres suos: faciam ergo judicia in to et dispergam cunctas reliquias tuas ad quemlibet ventum.
Now God subjoins, that their punishment should b…
Parents will eat their own children: This horrific prospect was an anticipated consequence of famine (see 2 Kgs 6:26-30), and one of the curses of disobedience (see Lev 26:29).
Rashi on Ezekiel 5:8
I too You betrayed Me, and I too, behold I am upon you.
