Deuteronomy 28:55 Meaning: The Horror of Covenant Breaking
so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates.
So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.
so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he hath nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in all thy gates.
against giving to one of them of the flesh of his sons whom he eateth, because he hath nothing left to him, in the siege, and in the straitness with which thine enemy doth straiten thee in all thy gates.
so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children that he eateth, because he hath nothing left him in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.
Meaning in one sentence
Why does the curse include a father eating his own child? This verse reveals the complete dehumanization that results from abandoning God.
Context
This verse sits within the list of covenant curses in Deuteronomy 28, spoken by Moses to Israel as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. The chapter begins with blessings for obedience, then turns to an extensive series of curses for disobedience. These verses describe the horrors of a prolonged siege by a foreign enemy. The curse escalates from crop failure and disease to the ultimate breakdown of human affection: parents eating their own children. Verse 55 zeros in on a father who has cooked and eaten his child but refuses to share even a scrap with his remaining family. This is not a hypothetical, Moses presents it as a certain outcome if Israel forsakes their covenant with Yahweh. The surrounding verses (53-57) paint a complete picture of starvation, envy, and the collapse of every natural bond.
Key Words
Three Hebrew words anchor the force of this verse. The verb natan (נָתַן, H5414) means "to give," but here it is negated: lo yitten, "he will not give." The father withholds even a mouthful of the flesh of his own child, a shocking reversal of the care a parent should show. The word basar (בָּשָׂר, H1320) means "flesh", the same word used for kinship and blood relation. That a father would eat the basar of his own son is the undoing of every family tie. Then matsoq (מָצוֹק, H4689) means "distress" or "anguish," describing not just physical hunger but a crushing pressure that empties a person of humanity. Together these words show that the curse strips away everything that makes life human, generosity, kinship, and compassion, until only desperate selfishness remains.
How Christians Read This Verse
Christians across traditions have read this verse with soberness. Many see it as a literal warning, the Jewish historian Josephus recorded that during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in AD 70, mothers ate their own children (Gill cites this). Others, like the Cambridge Bible, note that the curses are not mere possibilities but are "predicted absolutely" because of Israel's actual failure. Matthew Henry connects the passage to the deeper spiritual truth: forsaking God leads to the loss of every natural comfort. The Geneva Bible emphasizes the fear that drives a man to hoard food even from his own family. Across traditions, the point is consistent: covenant breaking does not just bring external trouble, it corrupts the soul, unraveling the very bonds that make us human.
A common misunderstanding
Some readers think this verse describes God personally forcing a father to commit cannibalism, as if God directly pushes him to such an act. In fact, the curse language throughout Deuteronomy describes the natural consequences of sin working out under God's righteous judgment. The siege, the starvation, the breakdown of love, these are the bitter fruit of abandoning the covenant, not God overriding a man's will to commit evil. The verse shows us what happens when a people reject the God who is the source of all goodness and life: they are left to spiral into the worst that human sin can produce.
Main takeaway: Covenant breaking dehumanizes us, destroying even the most natural bonds of love leaving only desperate selfishness.
Questions People Ask
Did this curse actually happen in Israel's history?
Yes, historians record that during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in AD 70, the famine became so severe that parents did eat their children. The Jewish historian Josephus describes such horrors. The Old Testament book of Lamentations also mourns similar events during the Babylonian siege in 586 BC (Lamentations 4:10).
Does God really threaten cannibalism? How is that loving?
The curse in Deuteronomy 28 is presented as the consequence of persistent rebellion against a holy God. It is not God's desire for His people, He warned them so they would turn back. The horror of the curse reveals the seriousness of sin and the depth of the blessing they were leaving. God's love is shown in sending warnings, not in the curse itself.
Is this verse meant to be taken literally or symbolically?
Most Christian interpreters take it literally as describing real events that would happen during a siege. The language is vivid and specific. But it also carries symbolic weight: it shows us what happens when a people cut themselves off from God. The literal horror points to the spiritual horror of sin's consequences.
How does Jesus relate to this curse?
Jesus came to bear the curse of the law on behalf of His people (Galatians 3:13). The full weight of judgment that these verses describe, including separation from God and the breakdown of all good things, fell on Christ at the cross so that those who trust in Him would not face the curse themselves.
For pastors & researchers
Hebrew interlinear, 8 commentaries & word study