Ezekiel 5:10
in Ezekiel 5As a result, fathers among you will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments against you and scatter all your remnant to every wind.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on thee; and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter unto all the winds.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Ezekiel 5
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe 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.
This site's exposition
I Myself am against you
on Ezekiel 5:8-10
The Lord says, “Behold, I Myself am against you, Jerusalem.” In the siege “fathers among you will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers.” Clarke ties this to the covenant curses of Leviticus 26:29 and Deuteronomy 28:53, and Lamentations 4:10 records women who cooked their own children.
This site's exposition
fathers among you will eat their sons
Famine in the siege will drive fathers to eat their sons and sons to eat their fathers. Adam Clarke points to Lamentations 4:10, where mothers cooked their own children. Those who live through it will be scattered to every wind.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(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.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Commentary on Chapter V 1. Take - Thus foretel the mourning, reproach, and deformity that are coming, for all this is signified by shaving the head and beard. A third part - Described on the tile, chap. iv, 1, a type of what should be done in Jerusalem.
Scatter - This was verified when they were fetched away, who were left at the departure of the besiegers, and when the very small remnant with Johanan fled into Egypt.
Nay, and Cain's curse (to be fugitives and vagabonds) is not the worst of it neither; their restless life shall be cut off by a bloody death: " I will draw out a sword after them, which shall follow them wherever they go." Evil pursues sinners; and the curse shall come upon them and overtake them.
): The fathers shall eat the sons, and the sons shall eat the fathers, through the extremity of the famine, or shall be compelled to do it by their barbarous conquerors. (3.) There shall be a complication of judgments, any one of them terrible enough, and desolating; but what then would they be when they came all together and in perfection?
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1 more voice on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee,....
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֗ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אָב֞וֹת | ʾavot | parents | H1 → | 1212 times |
| יֹאכְל֤וּ | yokhelu | they will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| בָנִים֙ | vanim | children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בְּתוֹכֵ֔ךְ | betokhekh | in [the] midst of you | H8432 → | 418 times |
| וּבָנִ֖ים | uvanim | and children | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יֹאכְל֣וּ | yokhelu | they will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| אֲבוֹתָ֑ם | ʾavotam | parents their | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וְעָשִׂ֤יתִי | veasiti | and I will bring about | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בָךְ֙ | vokh | on you | ||
| שְׁפָטִ֔ים | shefatim | judgments | H8201 → | 16 times |
| וְזֵרִיתִ֥י | vezeriti | and I will disperse | H2219 → | 39 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| שְׁאֵרִיתֵ֖ךְ | sheeritekh | [the] rest of you | H7611 → | 66 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | to every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| רֽוּחַ׃ פ | ruach | wind | H7307 → | 378 times |
לָכֵ֗ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
אָב֞וֹתparents
ʾavotH1 →1212 times
יֹאכְל֤וּthey will eat
yokheluH398 →810 times
בָנִים֙children
vanimH1121 →4930 times
בְּתוֹכֵ֔ךְin [the] midst of you
betokhekhH8432 →418 times
וּבָנִ֖יםand children
uvanimH1121 →4930 times
יֹאכְל֣וּthey will eat
yokheluH398 →810 times
אֲבוֹתָ֑םparents their
ʾavotamH1 →1212 times
וְעָשִׂ֤יתִיand I will bring about
veasitiH6213 →2628 times
בָךְ֙on you
vokh
שְׁפָטִ֔יםjudgments
shefatimH8201 →16 times
וְזֵרִיתִ֥יand I will disperse
vezeritiH2219 →39 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
שְׁאֵרִיתֵ֖ךְ[the] rest of you
sheeritekhH7611 →66 times
לְכָל־to every
lekholH3605 →5413 times
רֽוּחַ׃ פwind
ruachH7307 →378 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 19:9I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and distress inflicted on them by their enemies who seek their lives.’
it leads to
- Lamentations 4:10
The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 28:53–57
Then you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Lamentations 4:10
Through
Deuteronomy 28:64Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you…
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:33
But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
- Deuteronomy 4:27–28
Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
- Jeremiah 16:13
So I will cast you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you…
- Nehemiah 1:8
Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses when You said, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations,
- Deuteronomy 28:36
The LORD will bring you and the king you appoint to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone.
- Leviticus 26:33
Through
Zechariah 2:6“Get up! Get up! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the LORD, “for I have scattered you like the four winds of heaven,” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 17:21
All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and those who survive will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 17:21
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.