10 Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.
(Verse 10.) Therefore, fathers will eat their sons in your midst, and sons will eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnants to every wind. This is in accordance with what was said before: Because you have surpassed the nations that surround you, or because your behavior is like the nations that surround you, you have not walked in my commandments and have not kept my judgments. This is why it is repeated for the third time. First, thus: Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am coming to you, and I myself will bring judgments in your midst. Second: Therefore, fathers will eat their sons in your midst. Third: Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God; if you have violated my sanctuary in all your offenses, and the rest. However, it should be noted that where there are beautiful and honorable things, and according to the merit of those who uphold them, God professes to act for their sake. But where there are sad and unworthy things for God, he indeed says that they happen, but not by his own doing, as at present: Therefore, fathers will eat their sons in your midst, and sons will eat their fathers. For he did not say, 'I will make the fathers eat their sons in your midst, and the sons eat their fathers.' But what was proper and not unworthy of the majesty of God, he says he will do. For it follows: 'And I will execute judgments in you, and I will scatter all your remnant to every wind.' We can expect such a thing to come in curses in Deuteronomy, especially in that place: 'Those who glorify me I will glorify, but those who despise me will be brought to nothing.' (Deuteronomy XXVIII). For he who glorifies himself, glorifies himself. But those who despise him will not be despised by the Lord, or be reduced to nothingness (for it followed that he said), but absolutely, they will be reduced to nothingness: not by God, but by their own merits and sins. We read in the Book of Kings, driven by the necessity of hunger, a mother devoured her son (2 Kings 6). Josephus also recounts many such acts in the siege of Jerusalem. However, the story does not tell when fathers eat their sons or when sons eat their fathers, except perhaps in many desperate situations, it must be believed that these things have also happened. This can also be applied to our Jerusalem: when teachers are against their students, that is, fathers against sons, and students against teachers, that is, sons against fathers, they are stirred up by mutual rebellion, and what is said by the Apostle is fulfilled: But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another (Gal. 5:15). And so the Prophet sang in mystical speech: When they drew near against me, who afflict me, to eat my flesh (Psalm 26:2). And Job speaks something similar: But if my handmaids have said: Who will give us of his flesh, that we may eat (Job 31). And concerning the leaders who seek profit from the disciples and have no concern for their salvation, it is said: Who devour my people as bread (Psalm 52:5). And concerning these, the Apostle says: 'And they devour the houses of widows' (Luke 20; Matthew 23). We can understand, fathers, that those who have eaten their children and children who have eaten their fathers, not only in Babylon, but also in the Roman siege. However, what is said, 'I will scatter all your remnants to every wind,' pertains more to the Roman captivity, when they were dispersed throughout the whole world. And this is the scattering to every wind of hair and beard.
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 5:10