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In Ezekiel, God declares that fathers will eat their sons as punishment for covenant violations. This echoes ancient Near Eastern treaty curses, including the Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon, which similarly threaten oath-breakers with cannibalism.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
The Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon §§46–47
Esarhaddon's Succession Treaty (SAA 2 6)
Ancient Near East, Assyrian
437 May Belet-ili, the lady of creation, cut off birth from your land; may she deprive your nurses of the cries of little children in the streets and squares. 440 May Adad, the canal inspector of heaven and earth, cut off sea[sonal flooding] from your land and deprive your fields of [grain], may he [submerge] your land with a great flood; may the locust who diminishes the land devour your harvest; may the sound of mill or oven be lacking from your houses, may the grain for grinding disappear from you; instead of grain may your sons and your daughters grind your bones; may not (even) your (first) finger-joint dip in the dough, may the [...] of your bowls eat up the dough. May a mother [bar the door] to her daughter. In your hunger eat the flesh of your sons! In want and famine may one man eat the flesh of another; may one man clothe himself in another's skin; may dogs and swine eat your flesh; may your ghost have nobody to take care of the pouring of libations to him.
Ezekiel 5:10
Hebrew Bible
7 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you are more arrogant than the nations around you, you have not followed my statutes and have not carried out my regulations. You have not even carried out the regulations of the nations around you! 8 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I—even I—am against you, and I will execute judgment among you while the nations watch. 9 I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again because of all your abominable practices. 10 Therefore, fathers will eat their sons within you, Jerusalem, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you, and I will scatter any survivors to the winds. 11 “Therefore, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, because you defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominable practices, I will withdraw; my eye will not pity you, nor will I spare you. 12 A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you. A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you, and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them.
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Notes and References
“... Having announced that Yahweh would visit his people with unprecedented hostility, the effects of his actions are described in the most horrifying terms: fratricidal cannibalism. While the motif of cannibalism figures prominently in ancient Near Eastern treaty curses, the present statement finds its inspiration in Yahweh's own covenant curse, an abbreviated form of which is preserved in Lev. 26:29: "You will eat the flesh of your sons; and the flesh of your daughters you will eat." [...] Other prophets spoke of parents eating their children as well (Isa. 9:18-20 [Eng. 19-21]; 49:26; Jer. 19:9; Zech. 11:9), but the horror of Ezekiel's description supersedes them all. [...] 37. Cf. the treaty between Ashurnirari V of Assyria and Mati'ilu of Arpad (ANET, p. 533): "May Adad, the canal inspector of heaven and earth, put an end to Mati'ilu, his land and the people of his land through hunger, want, and famine, so that they eat the flesh of their sons and daughters and it tastes as good to them as the flesh of spring lambs." See also the vassal treaties of Esarhaddon, §§440-52, 547-50, 570-72 (ANET, pp. 538-41). ...”
Block, Daniel I.
The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 1-24 (New International Commentary on the Old Testament)
(p. 204) Eerdmans, 1997
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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