Ezekiel 39:19

Analysis & Commentary

Ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken—This graphic imagery intensifies the sacrificial feast metaphor. The Hebrew achlu chelev lasova (אֲכַלְתֶּם חֵלֶב לָשֹׂבַע, "eat fat to satiation") and shethitem dam lashikaron (שְׁתִיתֶם דָּם לְשִׁכָּרוֹן, "drink blood to drunkenness") uses covenantal prohibition (Leviticus 3:17, 7:23-27 forbid consuming fat and blood) to underscore the profane nature of this judgment.

The scavenger feast violates Torah, emphasizing these are not covenant sacrifices but divine wrath. My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you repeats from verse 17, the possessive pronoun emphasizing God's sovereign orchestration. This is not chaos or accident but Yahweh's deliberate judgment-sacrifice. The abundance imagery (satiation, drunkenness) depicts complete, overwhelming victory leaving nothing of God's enemies except memorial testimony.

Historical Context

Blood and fat were specifically reserved for God in Israelite sacrificial system (Leviticus 3:16-17, 17:10-14), making their consumption by scavengers deeply ironic. What should have been offered to God becomes carrion for vultures, signifying these warriors died outside covenant blessing.

Ancient warfare often featured birds and beasts consuming battlefield dead (1 Samuel 17:44,46; 1 Kings 14:11), considered the ultimate disgrace—denial of proper burial indicated divine curse. For exilic readers, this promised reversal: instead of Israel's corpses feeding scavengers (Jeremiah 7:33, 16:4), their enemies would suffer this fate. This eschatological imagery shapes Revelation 19:17-21, where birds gorge themselves on God's defeated enemies at Christ's return.

Questions for Reflection

• Why does God use imagery violating His own Torah (consuming blood and fat) to describe judgment on covenant-breakers?
• How does the completeness of this feast ("till full," "till drunken") demonstrate the finality of God's judgment against persistent rebellion?