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:

And he shall turn to the right hand, and shall be hungry: and shall eat on the left hand, and shall not be filled: every one shell eat the flesh of his own arm: Manasses Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasses, and they together shall be against Juda.

and he snatcheth on the right hand, and is hungry, and eateth on the left hand; and they are not satisfied. They eat every man the flesh of his own arm:

And cutteth down on the right, and hath been hungry, And he devoureth on the left, And they have not been satisfied, Each the flesh of his own arm they devour.

On the right a man was cutting off bits and was still in need; on the left a man took a meal but had not enough; no man had pity on his brother; every man was making a meal of the flesh of his neighbour.

And he will turn toward the right, and he will be hungry. And he will eat toward the left, and he will not be satisfied. Each one will eat the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, and together they will be against Judah.

Rapiet quisque ad dexteram, et esuriet; comedet ad sinistram, et non saturabitur: quisque carnem brachii sui devorabit;

Every one shall snatch on the right hand. It is equivalent to a phrase in common use, prendre et ravir a toutes mains, to take and seize at all hands. This mode of expression denotes either insatiable covetousness or insatiable cruelty; for the eagerness to snatch excites to savage cruelty. That they will be insatiable he expresses more emphatically, by saying that, in consequence of being impelled by blind fierceness and inconceivable rage, they will suck their brother's blood as freely as they would devour the flesh which was their own property. The bitterness of the vengeance is greatly heightened by this circumstance, that the children of Abraham, and the holy posterity of the chosen race, break out into such beastly fury. Let us therefore remember that it is a dreadful proof of heavenly punishment, when brothers are hurried on, with irreconcilable eagerness, to inflict mutual wounds.

And he shall snatch - Hebrew, 'He shall cut off.' Many have supposed that this refers to a state of famine; but others regard it as descriptive of a state of faction extending throughout the whole community, dissolving the most tender ties, arid producing a dissolution of all the bonds of life. The context Isaiah 9:19, Isaiah 9:21 shows, that the latter is meant; though it is not improbable that it would be attended with famine. When it is said that he 'would cut off his right hand,' it denotes a condition of internal anarchy and strife.
And be hungry - And not be satisfied. Such would be his rage, and his desire of blood, that he would be insatiable. The retarder of those on one side of him would not appease his insatiable wrath. His desire of carnage would be so great that it would be like unappeased hunger.
And he shall eat - The idea here is that of contending factions excited by fury, rage, envy, hatred, contending in mingled strife, and spreading death with insatiable desire everywhere around them.
They shall eat - Not literally; but "shall destroy." To eat the flesh of anyone, denotes to seek one's life, and is descriptive of blood-thirsty enemies; Psalm 27:2 : 'When the wicked, even mine enemies and foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell;' Job 19:22 :
Why do ye persecute me as God,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Compare Deuteronomy 7:16; Jeremiah 10:25; Jeremiah 30:15; Jeremiah 50:17; Hosea 7:7; see Ovid's Metam. 8, 867:
Ipse suos artus lacero divellere morsu
Coepit; et infelix minuendo corpus alebat.
The flesh of his own arm - The Chaldee renders this, 'Each one shall devour the substance of his neighbor.' Lowth proposes to read it, 'The flesh of his neighbor.' but without sufficient authority. The expression denotes a state of dreadful faction - where the ties of most intimate relationship would be disregarded, represented, here by the appalling figure of a man's appetite being so rabid that he would seize upon and devour his own flesh. So, in this state of faction and discord, the rage would be so great that people would destroy those who were, as it were, their own flesh, that is, their nearest kindred and friends.

The flesh of his own arm "The flesh of his neighbor" - "Του βραχιονος του αδελφου αυτου, the Septuagint Alexand. Duplex versio, quarum altera legit רעו reo, quae vox extat, Jeremiah 6:21. Nam רע rea, αδελφος, Genesis 43:33. Recte ni fallor." - Secker. I add to this excellent remark, that the Chaldee manifestly reads רעו reo, his neighbor, not זרעו zeroo, his arm; for he renders it by קריביה karibeyh, his neighbor. And Jeremiah has the very same expression: ואיש בשר רעהו יאכלו veish besar reehu yochelu, "and every one shall eat the flesh of his neighbor," Jeremiah 19:9. This observation, I think, gives the true reading and sense of this place: and the context strongly confirms it by explaining the general idea by particular instances, in the following verse: "Every man shall devour the flesh of his neighbor;" that is, they shall harass and destroy one another. "Manasseh shall destroy Ephraim, and Ephraim, Manasseh;" which two tribes were most closely connected both in blood and situation as brothers and neighbors; "and both of them in the midst of their own dissensions shall agree in preying upon Judah." The common reading, "shall devour the flesh of his own arm," in connection with what follows, seems to make either an inconsistency, or an anticlimax; whereas by this correction the following verse becomes an elegant illustration of the foregoing. - L.

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 (r) flesh of his own arm:
(r) Their greediness will be insatiable, so that one brother will eat up another, as though he should eat his own flesh.

And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry,.... Either with his hand, and rob and plunder all within his reach; or, with his teeth, as cannibals, or beasts of prey, catch at, tear, and rend in pieces, whatever comes in their way; and yet hungry after more, and unsatisfied, as follows:
and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied; ravage and spoil on every side, and yet not content. The Targum is,
"he shall spoil on the south, and be hungry; and he shall destroy on the north, and not be satisfied:''
they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm; destroy their near relations, who are their own flesh and blood, or take away their substance from them; so the Targum,
"they shall spoil every man the substance of his neighbour:''
which will give some light to Revelation 17:16.

hungry--not literally. Image from unappeasable hunger, to picture internal factions, reckless of the most tender ties (Isaiah 9:19), and insatiably spreading misery and death on every side (Jeremiah 19:9).
eat--not literally, but destroy (Psalm 27:2; Job 19:22).
flesh of . . . arm--those nearest akin: their former support (helper) (Isaiah 32:2) [MAURER].