דברים, פרק כ״ח, פסוק נ״ד

The terror of a prolonged siege and severe famine strips away the very fabric of human morality and natural compassion. Under the crushing weight of starvation, even the most refined and sensitive individuals descend into madness, committing acts of unimaginable cruelty against those they love most.

Commentators explore the nature of the exceptionally gentle man driven to such extremes. One perspective views him as an individual raised in extreme luxury, accustomed to the finest things and naturally repulsed by anything unsavory [רש״י, מזרחי]. He is considered the most pampered person in the entire nation [ביאור יש״ר]. This level of indulgence is particularly striking in a man, as such delicate living is more commonly associated with women, making his condition an extreme phenomenon [כלי יקר]. Another perspective suggests that his gentleness is not physical, but emotional. He is a deeply tender-hearted and compassionate person, highly sensitive to the pain of others, and known for his boundless generosity even toward strangers [רש״י, כלי יקר, ביאור יש״ר, שטיינזלץ].

As the agonizing hunger takes hold, this man's core identity violently reverses, driving him to consume the flesh of his own children. For the pampered man, starvation so severely distorts his senses that he finds this horrific meal sweet, outright refusing to share it [מזרחי]. For the deeply compassionate man, his profound empathy twists into bottomless cruelty [רש״י], leading him to selfishly hoard the meat from his brother and his wife [שפתי חכמים]. In this dark reality, a stark social dynamic emerges. While a starving wife might eat in secret out of fear of her husband's authority, the man possesses the power and ability to share food with his brother, yet he willingly chooses to withhold it [כלי יקר].

The depths of this selfishness reach an even darker level of calculation. The father may refuse to share food with his brother and his remaining children specifically hoping they will starve to death, ensuring he will have their flesh to consume later. This represents a state of total insanity, reducing a human being to the level of a wild beast [ביאור יש״ר]. As for these surviving children, they are either the tragic few who remain after the father has already slaughtered their siblings for food [רש״י, מזרחי], or those who somehow managed to survive the enemy's weapons and the horrors of the siege, perhaps by being kept in hiding [אבן עזרא, חזקוני].