Movatterモバイル変換

Lamentations 4:3
Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my peopleis become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.

Lamentations 2:20
Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit,and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

2 Kings 6:26-29
And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king…

pitiful

Isaiah 49:15
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

in

Lamentations 3:48
Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

Deuteronomy 28:56,57
The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, …

2 Kings 6:29
So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.

have cooked their own children
The act of cooking one's own children is a horrific fulfillment of the curses outlined inDeuteronomy 28:53-57, where God warns Israel of the dire consequences of disobedience, including cannibalism during sieges. This phrase serves as a stark reminder of the covenantal relationship between God and Israel, where blessings and curses were contingent upon obedience. The historical context of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 586 BC provides the backdrop for this desperate act, illustrating the extreme deprivation and moral collapse during the city's destruction.

who became their food
This phrase emphasizes the dire necessity and the complete breakdown of societal norms and family structures. The consumption of children as food is a literal and symbolic representation of the judgment and devastation that has befallen Jerusalem. It serves as a vivid illustration of the consequences of sin and rebellion against God, as prophesied by Jeremiah and other prophets. The act of eating one's offspring is a reversal of the life-giving role of a parent, highlighting the depth of despair and the collapse of hope.

in the destruction of the daughter of my people
The "daughter of my people" is a poetic expression referring to Jerusalem and its inhabitants, often used in prophetic literature to convey a sense of endearment and lament. The destruction mentioned here is the result of the Babylonian conquest, a pivotal event in Jewish history that led to the exile. This phrase connects to the broader theme of divine judgment and the fulfillment of prophetic warnings, as seen inJeremiah 19:9 andEzekiel 5:10. It also foreshadows the eventual hope of restoration and redemption, as God's covenant with Israel includes promises of future renewal despite current devastation.

• The phrase highlights that the women involved were ordinarily tender-hearted mothers, not hardened criminals.

• Scripture often depicts mothers as symbols of care (Isaiah 49:15;1 Kings 3:26). Here that natural compassion is tragically reversed.

• This reversal fulfills earlier warnings that sin and covenant breach would twist even the most basic human instincts (Deuteronomy 28:56–57;Leviticus 26:29).

• The verse forces us to see how judgment can distort what God created for nurture into agents of unimaginable pain (Romans 1:26–32).

• The action is literal: famine during Babylon’s siege drove people to cannibalism (2 Kings 25:1–3).

• Similar horrors occurred in the earlier siege of Samaria (2 Kings 6:26–29), showing this is not isolated but a pattern when a nation rejects God.

• Jeremiah had prophesied this very outcome (Jeremiah 19:9), underscoring God’s faithfulness to His word—both promises and warnings.

• The detail “cooked” underscores deliberate, prolonged agony, contrasting sharply with the quickness of battle death (Lamentations 4:9).

• The children, once a blessing (Psalm 127:3), now become sustenance, illustrating the curses that replace blessings when covenant is spurned (Deuteronomy 28:53).

• The grotesque turn pictures sin’s ultimate fruit: life consumed instead of nurtured (James 1:15).

• It also shows that human solutions apart from God lead to self-destruction (Proverbs 14:12).

• “Daughter of my people” is Jeremiah’s term of endearment for Jerusalem (Jeremiah 14:17), reminding readers that judgment fell on a beloved, not a faceless enemy.

• The “destruction” refers to Babylon’s 586 BC conquest (2 Kings 25:8–10).

• God had been patient for generations (2 Chronicles 36:15–16), but persistent rebellion brought the promised consequence (Ezekiel 5:10).

• Even in devastation, the covenant story is moving toward hope; later chapters promise restoration (Lamentations 3:21–23;Jeremiah 31:31–34).

Lamentations 4:10 portrays the unthinkable: tender mothers resorting to cannibalism during Jerusalem’s siege. The verse fulfills earlier divine warnings, illustrates how sin corrupts the most compassionate instincts, and underscores the severity of God’s judgment when a nation rejects Him. Yet the broader context of Lamentations reminds us that even in deepest darkness, God’s mercies are new every morning and His redemptive plan remains intact.