Leviticus 26:29

Translations

Modern

You will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters.

Traditional

And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.

Literal

And you shall eat the flesh of your sons; even the flesh of your daughters you shall eat.

Latin

…ita ut comedatis carnes filiorum vestrorum et filiarum vestrarum.

Original

Hebrew

English

You will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters.

Notes

Leviticus 26:29

Starvation would become so severe in the land that when a child died of hunger, the family might eat the child’s body. This was a practice seen among pagan nations (Deuteronomy 28:53–57; see 2 Kings 6:24–31; Lamentations 2:20; compare 2 Kings 3:27).

Leviticus 26:14–39

God punishes his people to change their behavior and restore their relationship with him. He acts like a perfectly righteous and loving parent would with a disobedient child. The punishments, meant to stop rebellious behavior, gradually increase. This gives Israel a chance to repent at any time (Leviticus 26:18–28). Even when Israel faced exile from the land in 722 and 586 BC, God was working to restore them (see, for example, Isaiah 40–66; Jeremiah 29:10; Amos 9:11–15).

Leviticus 26:3–39

These blessings and curses are similar to a key part of ancient Near Eastern treaties between a suzerain (a powerful king) and a vassal (a lesser king). In these treaties, the suzerain king promised to protect the vassal king and his land. In return, the vassal swore loyalty to the suzerain.

Blessings and curses followed, with curses usually being longer (compare Leviticus 26:3–13 with 26:14–39; see also Deuteronomy 27:15–28:68). These treaties often called upon gods as witnesses and enforcers. Yet, in God's covenant with Israel, God was one of the treaty parties, with Israel as the other. Since God could not swear by anyone greater, he swore by himself (see Hebrews 6:13; Genesis 22:16).

Theme notes and profiles

Ancient Law Codes Blessing Counsel from Others Curses and Blessings God’s Covenants God’s Judgment of His People Making Sense of the Exile Oppression of God’s People Promised Land Retribution The Dangers of Sin The Land True Success

Related verses

Matthew 24:19
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!
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 on you.
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.
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.’
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?
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.’
Luke 23:29
Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’
2 Kings 6:28–29
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.’

Leviticus 26:29

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