Jeremiah 19:9 — Is there any credible historical record apart from the Bible indicating that Jerusalem’s inhabitants resorted to cannibalism under siege?

Background of Jeremiah 19:9

Jeremiah 19:9 states: “I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and distress that their enemies and those who seek their lives will impose on them.” This verse is part of Jeremiah’s prophetic warning to the people of Jerusalem, foretelling the severe punishments they would face because of persistent idolatry and rejection of divine commands. The prophecy centers on the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem (ca. 588–586 BC), a time of extreme hardship and famine.

Scriptural Context and Parallel Passages

Jeremiah 19:9 is not the only biblical text that references the horrific possibility of cannibalism under siege conditions. Deuteronomy 28:53–57 foreshadows what would happen if Israel turned away from divine instruction, specifying that starvation during siege might become so dire that people would contemplate eating their own offspring. Later books, such as Lamentations, describe the aftermath of Jerusalem’s fall to the Babylonians. Lamentations 4:10 states, “The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.” These passages underscore the severity of judgment that fell on the beleaguered city.

Question of Extra-Biblical Evidence

The question arises: “Is there any credible historical record apart from the Bible indicating that Jerusalem’s inhabitants resorted to cannibalism under siege?” When focusing specifically on the Babylonian siege around 586 BC, surviving documentary evidence external to Scripture is limited. Contemporary Babylonian records (for instance, certain Babylonian Chronicle tablets) record military campaigns but do not include details of the personal, internal horrors endured by Jerusalem’s population.

However, an event centuries later offers a significant extra-biblical testimony to cannibalism within Jerusalem under siege conditions. While it dates to the Roman siege in AD 70 rather than the Babylonian siege in 586 BC, it supports the historical plausibility of Jeremiah’s grim prophecy and demonstrates that such desperate acts indeed occurred in the city under extreme starvation.

Josephus’ Account of Cannibalism (AD 70)

The most notable extra-biblical source describing cannibalism during a siege of Jerusalem is the 1st-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. In his work “The Wars of the Jews” (Book VI, sections 3–5), Josephus records the harrowing account of a woman named Mary who, driven by starvation, killed and consumed her own child. This event took place during the Roman siege in AD 70 under Titus.

Though Josephus’ testimony concerns a siege more than six centuries after Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry, it confirms that the city’s inhabitants, when faced with severe famine, were driven to the extremes of survival, including cannibalism. Therefore, Josephus’ account, while not a direct record of the Babylonian siege, illustrates that the biblical descriptions of cannibalism under siege are not implausible from a historical perspective. Such acts could—and did—occur in real-life situations of dire scarcity.

Other Historical and Archaeological Considerations

1. Babylonian Chronicle Tablets: Clay tablets detail the siege of Jerusalem from the perspective of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. These records typically highlight strategic or royal concerns (e.g., taking King Jehoiachin captive, installing Zedekiah as a vassal king), rather than personal accounts like famine or its extreme effects on the civilian population.

2. Lachish Letters: Discovered in the city of Lachish (southwest of Jerusalem), these ostraca (inscribed pottery fragments) mention the Babylonian threat in Judah but likewise do not describe the specific experiences of starvation or potential cannibalism in Jerusalem.

3. General Siege Warfare Realities: In the ancient Near East, extended sieges often led to widespread famine. Cities would be cut off from essential supplies for months, or even years. Such deprivation sometimes spiraled into catastrophic conditions, making Jeremiah’s warning about cannibalism tragically plausible. Extra-biblical records from other cultures (e.g., Assyrians, Egyptians, and even later Roman historians) document that besieged populations sometimes resorted to horrific measures when no food remained.

Scholarly Perspectives

Many historians and archaeologists note that firsthand, detailed accounts of civilian suffering in ancient sieges are rare, primarily because ancient records tend to focus on military conquests and rulership. The biblical record, complemented by Josephus’ documentation of a parallel scenario millennia later, reinforces the understanding that absolute desperation in siege situations could drive people to unimaginable lengths.

While no currently surviving non-biblical document specifically relates the Babylonian siege’s cannibalism in 586 BC, the cultural and environmental realities surrounding Jerusalem’s repeated sieges—whether by Babylonians or Romans—offer credibility that conditions described in Jeremiah 19:9 and Lamentations 4:10 were historically viable.

Conclusion

Although a precise extra-biblical account describing cannibalism in the Babylonian siege of 586 BC has not surfaced, the biblical narrative is consistent with documented siege warfare practices. Josephus’ graphic depiction from AD 70 demonstrates that, in times of extreme famine, Jerusalem’s inhabitants did resort to cannibalism. This later event affirms the plausibility of Jeremiah’s prophecy and Lamentations’ description.

Thus, while there is no direct external account from 586 BC matching Jeremiah’s exact statement, Josephus provides a profound historical precedent for cannibalism under siege that underscores and supports the biblical narrative’s historical reliability.