What is the meaning of Deuteronomy 28:57? The afterbirth that comes from between her legs • “The afterbirth” is the placenta—normally discarded without a thought. Yet Moses foresees a day when something that should be repulsive will be viewed as food. • Leviticus 26:29 forewarns, “You will eat the flesh of your sons and daughters.” This is the same covenant curse now expanded. • Such language is not symbolic; it is a sober, literal picture of how far hunger can drive people when God’s protection is withdrawn (2 Kings 6:26-29). And the children she bears • The verse continues, “…and the children she bears,” showing the horror reaches even to newborns. • Lamentations 4:10 records the fulfillment during Babylon’s siege: “Tenderhearted women cooked their own children.” • The maternal instinct—created by God as one of the strongest human bonds—will be overturned by desperate starvation (Isaiah 49:15 for the normal standard). Because she will secretly eat them • “Secretly” reveals shame and fear; even in depravity she knows the act is wrong (Romans 2:15). • Sin drives people into hidden darkness, just as Adam and Eve hid after eating the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:8). • Siege conditions expose the depth of human depravity apart from God’s sustaining grace. For lack of anything else • The cause is not appetite but absolute scarcity: no other food remains. • Deuteronomy 28:23-24 has already pictured the land as iron and the heavens as bronze—no rain, no crops. • When blessings are removed, even God-given natural resources dry up (Joel 1:10-12). In the siege and distress • “Siege” points to prolonged military encirclement, cutting off supplies. • Distress is the emotional and physical anguish that accompanies starvation (Jeremiah 19:9). • These are covenant consequences for deliberate disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:15). That your enemy will inflict on you within your gates • The judgment is external (enemy attack) and internal (moral collapse). • Gates symbolize security and commerce; when they are shut by siege, life grinds to a halt (Nahum 3:13). • God uses foreign armies as instruments of discipline, yet He remains sovereign over the outcome (Habakkuk 1:6). summary Deuteronomy 28:57 gives a chilling, literal snapshot of the covenant curse: during an enemy siege, starvation will grow so severe that even a tender mother will secretly eat both afterbirth and newborns. The verse underscores the horrific depth of judgment when God’s people reject His covenant, yet it also testifies to Scripture’s reliability—what Moses warned came to pass in Israel’s history. The passage calls us to heed God’s Word, cherish His blessings, and walk in obedience so that we never experience the devastating consequences of turning away from Him. |
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