Jeremiah 5:17 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Bible Comments

Which thy sons and thy daughters should eat. — There is no relative pronoun in the Hebrew, and the clause stands parallel with the others, they shall eat (i.e., destroy) thy sons and thy daughters, and is so translated in all the older versions. In the other clauses the verb is in the singular, “it (i.e., the invading army) shall eat.”

Impoverish. — Better, break down, or shatter. The “sword” is used, as in Ezekiel 26:9, for “battle-axes” and other weapons used in attacking cities.

Jeremiah 5:17

17 And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.