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What is the original translation of Deuteronomy 28:53? What does it mean?

Posted on September 20, 2020November 1, 2021 By Kingston Tong No Comments on What is the original translation of Deuteronomy 28:53? What does it mean?
Old Testament

Thank you for the question on the translation and meaning of Deuteronomy 25.53, “What is the original translation of Deuteronomy 28:53? What does it means?”

According to the Analytical Key to the Old Testament by John Owens, this is his translation of the Hebrew text. The context is the curses that God will bring upon the Jewish people for violating his covenant.

A. Verse 28:52

(and) they shall besiege (conj.-Hi. pf. 3 m. s.) you (prep. – 2 m. s. sf) in all your towns ( prep.-n.m.s. cstr.) until come down (prep-Qal inf. cstr.) your high walls (n.f.p.-2 m.s. sf-def. art.-adj. f. p) and fortified (conj.-def. art.-adj. f. p. or Qal pass. ptc. f. p.) which you trusted (rel.-pers. pr. 2 m. s. Qal act. ptc.) in them (prep.-3 f.p. sf) throughout all your land (prep.-n. m. s. cstr. n.f. s. -2 m. s. f) and they shall besiege you (conj.-v.supra-prep.-2 m. s. sf.) in all your towns (v. supra-v.supra) throughout all your land (v. supra-n. f. s.-2 m. s.) which has given (rel.-Qal pf. 3 m.s.) YAHWEH your God (pr. n.-n.m.p-2 m. s. sf) you (prep.-w m.s. sf. paus.)

B. Verse 26:53

and you shall eat (conj.-Qal. pf. 2 m. s.) the offspring of your own body (n. m. s. cstr.-n. f. s- 2 m. s. sf) the flesh of your sons (n. m. s. cstr.-n. m. p. sf.) and daughters (conj.-n. f. p.-2 m. s. sf) whom has given you (rel-Qal pf. 3 m. s.-prep.-2 m. sf) YAHWEH your God (pr. n.-n. m. p.-2 m. s. sf) in the siege (prep.-n. m. s.) and in the distress (conj.-prep.-n. m. s.) with which shall distress you (rel.-Hi. impf. 3 m. s.-prep.-2 m. s. sf) you (Qal. acct. ptcp-2 m. s. sf.).

Notation: I have attempted to type the English words and its grammatical structure. If I have copied something incorrectly, please excuse me for my eye sight is becoming worse. The literal translation will give the reader a sense of its meaning. I decided to stop at verse 53 as one can gain a fairly good understanding of the text which restates the siege with the lack of food in the city.

The text states that the siege will become so severe that the Jews will begin to eat their newly born or even the dead for food. As one reads Isaiah and Jeremiah, one finds that the curse was fulfilled. It is not a metaphor.

Jeremiah 19 says this, “7 “‘In this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds and the wild animals. 8 I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds. 9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies will press the siege so hard against them to destroy the them” (A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages). Citations are in the New International Version.

Lamentations 4 says this, “Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field. 10 With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed” (NIV).

Those within the siege realized that there is no food for the infants and children. They will die of starvation. Their bodies will become food for the surviving people and even in that the LORD God declared that they will be killed and taken into exile. The Babylonians sacked Jerusalem in 586 BCE.

SUMMARY: Deuteronomy 26:53 speaks of a future siege on Israel that is so severe that they will eat their own dying or dead children for food.

For more perspectives:

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-original-translation-of-Deuteronomy-28-53-What-does-it-mean

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