“The dead bodies of this people will be food.” It was considered a horrible tragedy for a person not to be buried, which showed honor and respect for the dead. It was even believed by many people that if a person was not buried their soul wandered the earth (see commentary on Jer. 14:16).

“the birds of the air.” The Hebrew is literally, “the birds of the heavens,” but the Hebrew word “heavens” is always plural, there is no singular word “heaven” in Hebrew.