Cannibalism in the Bible

In the festive spirit of Halloween, I’d like to share with you some gruesome stories of cannibalism straight from scripture!

For starters, can anyone tell me what the purpose or moral of this story might be?

“And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.” 2 Kings 6:26 – 30

That’s all that is mentioned of these baby-eating women. This is their story, beginning to end. How does the king wearing a sackcloth resolve anything? WTF?

And if you think that might be an isolated or figurative case of flesh-eating, here are some more of my favorites:

“And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.” Leviticus 26:29

“And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters.” Deuteronomy 28:53

“And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them.” Deuteronomy 28:57

“Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm.” Isaiah 9:19-20

“And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine.” Isaiah 49:26

“And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend.” Jeremiah 19:9

“With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food
when my people were destroyed.” Lamentation 4:10

“Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers.” Ezekiel 5:10

“I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.” Zechariah 11:9

And don’t forget John 6:53-56: “Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.””

Hrmm, what’s you’re take on this verse, in light of the rest we’ve read?
“He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man.” Isaiah 66:3
Could it be that in this god’s eyes, killing and eating man is the same as killing and eating animals?

An interesting tidbit to note, when people eat their babies nowadays, they say it’s due to demonic possession. But the Bible says the Lord causes them to do so, and even goes as far as to call the women who cook and eat their children COMPASSIONATE! (You caught that too, ey?)

And finally, on a slightly different topic, did you know about the modern-day belief that digesting the placenta returns post-pregnancy body to health and reduces postpartum depression? Personally, I think it’s disgusting, but if you’re so inclined, watch as this man prepares and cooks up a dish featuring… you guess it, his wife’s placenta. *shudders* Happy Halloween!