New International Version
Deuteronomy 28:53
53Because 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.
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:
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you.
Context of Deuteronomy 28:53
51They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or olive oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. 52They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you. 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. 54Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, 55and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities.
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 28:18The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and 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 he asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’
- Jeremiah 19:9I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’
- Lamentations 2:20“Look, Lord, and consider: Whom have you ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cared for? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
- Lamentations 4:10With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed.
- Ezekiel 5:10Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.
- Matthew 24:19How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!
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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