New English Translation
Deuteronomy 28:53
53You will then eat your own offspring, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege by which your enemies will constrict you.
Deuteronomy 28:53 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
- New International Version (NIV)Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.
- New King James Version (NKJV)You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you.
Context of Deuteronomy 28:53
51They will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed. They will not leave you with any grain, new wine, olive oil, calves of your herds, or lambs of your flocks until they have destroyed you. 52They will besiege all of your villages until all of your high and fortified walls collapse – those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will besiege all your villages throughout the land the Lord your God has given you. You will then eat your own offspring, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege by which your enemies will constrict you. 54The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will turn against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children. 55He will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages.
Read all of Deuteronomy 28Deuteronomy 28:53 word by word
וְאָכַלְתָּ֣ פְרִֽי־בִטְנְךָ֗ בְּשַׂ֤ר בָּנֶ֙יךָ֙ וּבְנֹתֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָֽתַן־לְךָ֖ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּמָצוֹר֙ וּבְמָצ֔וֹק אֲשֶׁר־יָצִ֥יק לְךָ֖ אֹיְבֶֽךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And thou shalt eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- the fruitפְּרִיperîy · fruitH6529
- of thine own bodyבֶּ֫טֶןbeţen · belly: wombH990
- the fleshבָּשָׂרbâώâr · fleshH1320
- of thy sonsבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- and of thy daughtersבַּתbath · daughterH1323
- which the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- thy Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- hath givenנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- thee, in the siegeמָצוֹרmâtsôr mâtsûr · siegeH4692
- and in the straitnessמָצוֹקmâtsôq · distressH4689
- wherewith thine enemiesאֹיֵב'ôyêb 'ôyêb · enemyH341
- shall distressצוּקtsûq · to pressH6693
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 28:53
- Deuteronomy 28:18Your children will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.
- Leviticus 26:29You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.
- 2 Kings 6:28Then the king asked her, “What’s your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Hand over your son; we’ll eat him today and then eat my son tomorrow.’
- Jeremiah 19:9I will reduce the people of this city to desperate straits during the siege imposed on it by their enemies who are seeking to kill them. I will make them so desperate that they will eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters and the flesh of one another.”’”
- Lamentations 2:20Look, O Lord! Consider! Whom have you ever afflicted like this? Should women eat their offspring, their healthy infants? Should priest and prophet be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary? ש (Sin/Shin)
- Lamentations 4:10The hands of tenderhearted women cooked their own children, who became their food, when my people were destroyed. כ (Kaf)
- Ezekiel 5:10Therefore fathers will eat their sons within you, Jerusalem, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you, and I will scatter any survivors to the winds.
- Matthew 24:19Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days!
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 28:53
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15-68Verses 15-68 The curses correspond in form and number Deuteronomy 28:15-19 to the blessings Deuteronomy 28:3-6, and the special modes in which these threats should be executed are described in five groups of denunciations Deuteronomy 28:20-26 First series of judgments. The curse of God should rest on all they did, and should issue in manifold forms of disease, in famine, and in defeat in war. Deuteronomy 28:20 Vexation - Rather, confusion: the word in the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 45-68Verses 45-68 If God inflicts vengeance, what miseries his curse can bring upon mankind, even in this present world! Yet these are but the beginning of sorrows to those under the curse of God. What then will be the misery of that world where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched! Observe what is here said of the wrath of God, which should come and remain upon the Israelites for their sins. It is amazing to think that a people so long the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-68This section explains the conditions for receiving the covenant blessing, the types of blessings, and the curses that will occur if people ignore or disobey these rules (28:1–14; 28:15–68).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 53-5753-57. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body--(See 2Ki 6:29; La 4:10). Such were the dreadful extremities to which the inhabitants during the siege were reduced that many women sustained a wretched existence by eating the flesh of their own children. Parental affection was extinguished, and the nearest relatives were jealously, avoided, lest they should discover and demand a share of the revolting viands.Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 28:53
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 28
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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