Misinterpretations often treat this verse as a timeless proverb on innate human selfishness or the perils of pampered living leading to cruelty, ignoring its specific role in the covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28 as hyperbolic prophecy of judgment on disobedient Israel during enemy sieges; it neither endorses nor generalizes such behavior universally but warns of supernatural consequences breaking social bonds, not a psychological truth applicable outside the theocratic context.
Deuteronomy 28:54
King James Version (1769)
54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:
Deuteronomy 28:54 depicts the profound moral and familial disintegration under God's curses for Israel's disobedience, portraying even the most tender and delicate man—accustomed to luxury—becoming so selfish in famine and siege that he begrudges food to his own brother, wife, and remaining children, emphasizing how divine judgment strips away compassion and humanity, reducing people to survivalist savagery within their households.