Ezekiel 36:13

Comp. the report of the spies, Numbers 13:32, "the land is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof." The land whose population perishes of scarcity is regarded as itself devouring them. It is doubtful if there is any reference to such things as the unhealthy situation of the land (2 Kings 2:19), or even to the wars by which the country had been decimated. The true meaning is given Ezekiel 36:30.

bereaved thy nations thy nation, i.e. population, and so Ezekiel 36:14. The plur. could hardly refer to the two nations, Israel and Judah (Ezekiel 35:10), although it might possibly be used like "peoples" of the nation considered as made up of a number of portions (Hosea 10:14). The land of Israel was subject to droughts (Jeremiah 14:1; 1 Kings 17 seq., Amos 4:7), to blasting and mildew (Amos 4:9), as well as to the scourge of locusts (Joel 1). Comp. the struggles with famine which the returned exiles had, Haggai 1:10-11; Haggai 2:17.