ישעיהו, פרק ט׳, פסוק י״ט

A state of deep internal chaos, severe lack, and absolute self-destruction takes hold of a fractured society. Driven by despair and poverty, the people turn on one another in a bitter civil war, acting out an insatiable hunger that destroys them from the inside out.

The primary approach among commentators is that the violent snatching and tearing refers to rampant robbery, much like a thief violently ripping something away from its rightful place [מצודת ציון, רד״ק, שטיינזלץ]. Alternatively, this consuming force is viewed as a continuation of a destructive fire that ruins everything in its path [שד״ל]. The imagery of people wildly grabbing and eating in every direction serves as a metaphor for citizens endlessly looting and robbing each other [רש״י, רד״ק, שטיינזלץ].

Despite this constant mutual destruction and theft, the people remain starving and unsatisfied. This ongoing hunger exists either because the stolen spoils are simply too scarce to feed everyone [מצודת דוד, רד״ק], or because their desire has twisted into a sick craving that can never be fulfilled [מלבי״ם].

At the height of this desperation, the crisis reaches a horrifying peak. On a literal level, the starvation is so extreme that individuals are driven to consume their own flesh [מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם]. Metaphorically, however, this paints a tragic picture of civil war. Because the entire nation is viewed as a single, unified body [אבן עזרא], the people act both as individuals and as one collective group [שד״ל]. When they fight one another, they are like a person eating their own arm. They mistakenly believe that consuming it will give them strength, but in reality, they are destroying the main source of their own power and only making themselves weaker [מלבי״ם, שד״ל]. In practical terms, this means the despair is so deep that people are driven to steal from the property of their own family members and closest relatives [רש״י].