Deuteronomy 28:53

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 on you.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses addresses Israel as he outlines the covenant curses, describing the moment enemy forces completely surround their cities and cut off all supplies. He frames the verse as the climax of a siege where survival instincts override familial bonds.

The words — The Hebrew verb אָכַלְתָּ (’a.khal.Ta) means "you will eat," paired with פְרִי־בִטְנְךָ (fe.ri-bit.ne.kha), literally "the fruit of your womb." These terms specify the consumption of one's own children under extreme duress.

The thread — This imagery of consuming one's children during a siege appears in Leviticus 26:29, Jeremiah 19:9, and Lamentations 4:10. Each passage uses the same motif to depict the total breakdown of social order under divine judgment.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that covenant disobedience removes all protective boundaries, reducing human relationships to pure survival. It asks the reader to understand that violating the covenant destroys the very foundation of family and community.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְאָכַלְתָּ֣ve./'a.khal.Taand/ you will eat פְרִֽי־fe.ri-[the] fruit of בִטְנְךָ֗vit.ne./Khawomb/ your בְּשַׂ֤רbe.Sar[the] flesh of בָּנֶ֙יךָ֙ba.Nei./khasons/ your וּבְנֹתֶ֔יךָu./ve.no.Tei./khaand/ daughters/ your אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.Sherwhom נָֽתַן־na.tan-he has givenלְךָ֖le./Khato <the>/ youיְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahweh אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ'e.lo.Hei./khaGod/ your בְּמָצוֹר֙be./ma.tzOrin/ [the] siege וּבְמָצ֔וֹקu./ve./ma.Tzokand/ in/ [the] distress אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-which יָצִ֥יקya.Tzikhe will bring distressלְךָ֖le./Khato <the>/ youאֹיְבֶֽךָ׃'o.ye.Ve./khaenemy/ your

King James Version

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:

Cross-references

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.
Leviticus 26:29 You will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters.
Jeremiah 19:9 I 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.’
Deuteronomy 28:57 the afterbirth that comes from between her legs and the children she bears, because she will secretly eat them for lack of anything else in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within your gates.
2 Kings 6:28 Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’
Lamentations 2:20 Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
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.’
Deuteronomy 28:55 refusing to share with any of them the flesh of his children he will eat because he has nothing left in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within all your gates.
Deuteronomy 28:18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, as well as the produce of your land, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.
Matthew 24:19 How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!