54. It was also to lead to considerable strife _within the city_; even between members of the same family. And this, though by no means common in all sieges, was abundantly fulfilled in the case of Jerusalem. 55. And they were to grudge their nearest relatives a morsel of food; which again exactly agrees with Josephus, who says that parents would fight with their own children for pieces of food. 56. And all this was to be the fate, not only of the poor; but, what is very remarkable, and perhaps unique in the world's history, of the _wealthy_ also. It was even to include one instance at least (perhaps several) of a lady of high position. She is described as not _setting her foot upon the ground_; which means that she was accustomed to be carried about in a chair, or ride on an ass; and was therefore rich enough to buy anything that could be bought. 57. And she was to _eat her own children secretly_. Here was the climax of their sufferings. Yet this very detail, so unlikely to have occurred, and so unlikely to have been discovered if it did occur (as it was to be done secretly), is fully confirmed by Josephus. For he mentions one instance that actually was discovered, in which a lady _eminent for her family and wealth_ (Mary, the daughter of Eleazar) had secretly eaten half her own child.[137] [Footnote 137: Wars, vi. 3.] 58. And these miseries were to come upon the Jews for their disobedience of God's laws; and again Josephus says that their wickedness at this time was so great that if the Romans had not destroyed their city, he thinks it would have been swallowed up by the earth.[138] [Footnote: 138: Wars, v. 13.] 59. Moreover, the plagues of themselves, and of their seed, were to be _wonderful, even great plagues, and of long continuance_. And no one who has read the account of the siege, and the subsequent treatment of the Jews, will think the description at all exaggerated. 60. And the people are specially threatened with _the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of_, and this, as said in Chapter IX., implies that the passage was written soon after the people left Egypt, and therefore centuries before any siege or dispersion. 61. And it was to end, as it actually did end, in the destruction of the nation, _until thou be destroyed_. 62. While the Jews that survived were to be left comparatively _few in number_; which was certainly the case, even allowing that the statement of Josephus that 600,000 perished in the siege may be an exaggeration.