Jeremiah 19:9
in Jeremiah 19I 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.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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, in the siege and in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall distress them.
KJV
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 in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
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This verse in Jeremiah 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseI will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons - This was literally fulfilled when Jerusalem was besieged by the Romans. This also the prophet might have had in view.
This site's exposition
So behold, the days are coming
on Jeremiah 19:6-9
The place “will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter,” and judgment renames the ground. The siege famine in which “they will eat one another’s flesh” is the extremity Deuteronomy 28:53 warns of and Lamentations 4:10 records as having happened.
This site's exposition
I will make them eat the flesh
Matthew Henry notes the warning in Leviticus 26. John Gill holds that Jeremiah lived to see parents eat sons and daughters in the siege he foretold. Adam Clarke sees it come true again when the Romans besieged Jerusalem.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 7 and following) And I will scatter the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will overthrow them with the sword in the presence of their enemies and those who seek their lives, and I will give their dead bodies as food to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. And I will make this city a horror, a hissing, and everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its wounds.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
This was threatened in the law as an instance of the extremity to which the judgments of God should reduce them ( Lev. xxvi. 53 ) and was accomplished, Lam. iv.
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters,.... For want of food; the famine should be so great and pressing. Jeremiah, that foretells this, was a witness of it, and has left it on record, Lam 4:10; and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהַֽאֲכַלְתִּ֞ים | vehaakhaltim | and I will make eat them | H398 → | 810 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּשַׂ֣ר | besar | [the] flesh of | H1320 → | 270 times |
| בְּנֵיהֶ֗ם | beneihem | sons their | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וְאֵת֙ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּשַׂ֣ר | besar | [the] flesh of | H1320 → | 270 times |
| בְּנֹתֵיהֶ֔ם | benoteihem | daughters their | H1323 → | 588 times |
| וְאִ֥ישׁ | veish | and everyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| בְּשַׂר־ | besar- | [the] flesh of | H1320 → | 270 times |
| רֵעֵ֖הוּ | reehu | neighbor his | H7453 → | 188 times |
| יֹאכֵ֑לוּ | yokhelu | they will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| בְּמָצוֹר֙ | bematzor | in [the] siege | H4692 → | 25 times |
| וּבְמָצ֔וֹק | uvematzok | and in [the] distress | H4689 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָצִ֧יקוּ | yatziku | they will press | H6693 → | |
| לָהֶ֛ם | lahem | <to> <the> them | ||
| אֹיְבֵיהֶ֖ם | ʾoyeveihem | enemies their | H341 → | 282 times |
| וּמְבַקְשֵׁ֥י | umevakshei | and [those who] seek | H1245 → | 225 times |
| נַפְשָֽׁם׃ | nafsham | <of> life their | H5315 → | 754 times |
וְהַֽאֲכַלְתִּ֞יםand I will make eat them
vehaakhaltimH398 →810 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּשַׂ֣ר[the] flesh of
besarH1320 →270 times
בְּנֵיהֶ֗םsons their
beneihemH1121 →4930 times
וְאֵת֙and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בְּשַׂ֣ר[the] flesh of
besarH1320 →270 times
בְּנֹתֵיהֶ֔םdaughters their
benoteihemH1323 →588 times
וְאִ֥ישׁand everyone
veishH376 →1663 times
בְּשַׂר־[the] flesh of
besar-H1320 →270 times
רֵעֵ֖הוּneighbor his
reehuH7453 →188 times
יֹאכֵ֑לוּthey will eat
yokheluH398 →810 times
בְּמָצוֹר֙in [the] siege
bematzorH4692 →25 times
וּבְמָצ֔וֹקand in [the] distress
uvematzokH4689 →
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יָצִ֧יקוּthey will press
yatzikuH6693 →
לָהֶ֛ם<to> <the> them
lahem
אֹיְבֵיהֶ֖םenemies their
ʾoyeveihemH341 →282 times
וּמְבַקְשֵׁ֥יand [those who] seek
umevaksheiH1245 →225 times
נַפְשָֽׁם׃<of> life their
nafshamH5315 →754 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
Ezekiel 5:10As 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.’
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:29
You will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
- Ezekiel 12:14
And I will scatter to every wind all the attendants around him and all his troops, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.
- Deuteronomy 28:64
Then 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…
- Leviticus 26:29
Through
Lamentations 4:10The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 5:10
As 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.’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 49:15
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!
- Ezekiel 5:10
Through
Leviticus 26:29You will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters.
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.
- Lamentations 4:10
Through
Isaiah 9:20They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own…
it leads to
- Isaiah 49:26
I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your…
- Isaiah 49:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
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About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.