And one 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:
Isa 9:18-21 Strophe 3. “For the wickedness burneth up like fire: it devours thorns and thistles, and burns in the thickets of the wood; and they smoke upwards in a lofty volume of smoke. Through the wrath of Jehovah of hosts the land is turned into coal, and the nation has become like the food of fire: not one spares his brother.
Commenting on Isaiah 9:18-21
20. 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.
hungry--not literally. Image from unappeasable hunger, to picture internal factions, reckless of the most tender ties (Isa 9:19), and insatiably spreading misery and death on every side (Jer 19:9). eat--not literally, but destroy (Psa 27:2; Job 19:22). flesh of . . . arm--those nearest akin: their former support (helper) (Isa 32:2) [MAURER].