a land that eats up the inhabitants/ a land that devour the inhabitants thereof.
A land that endangers the lives of those who dwell in it. A land where it is difficult to live.
("And they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Israel, saying: The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eats up its inhabitants" - Numbers 13:32 (the spies sent by Moses to the Israelites), and also: "Woe unto you, O land that eats up its inhabitants / and like a lion devours creatures with its fangs" - Ezekiel the Babylonian (18th century) / the struggle of man with his land, and also: "A land whose inhabitants it devours / and flowing with milk and honey and sky-blue" - Natan Yonatan / Song of the Land)
Translation
Expression (Hebrew)
אֶרֶץ אֹכֶלֶת יוֹשְׁבֶיהָ, ארץ אוכלת יושביה
Definition (Hebrew)
אֶרֶץ הַמְּסַכֶּנֶת אֶת חַיֵּי הַמִּתְגּוֹרְרִים בָּהּ. אֶרֶץ שֶׁקָּשֶׁה לִחְיוֹת בָּהּ.
("וַיּוֹצִיאוּ דִּבַּת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר תָּרוּ אֹתָהּ אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר עָבַרְנוּ בָהּ לָתוּר אֹתָהּ אֶרֶץ אֹכֶלֶת יוֹשְׁבֶיהָ הִוא"- בְּמִדְבַּר יג לֵב (הַמְּרַגְּלִים שֶׁשָּׁלַח מֹשֶׁה לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל ), וְכֵן:"אוֹיָה לְךָ אֶרֶץ אוֹכֶלֶת יוֹשְׁבֶיהָ/ וּכְלָבִיא טוֹרֶפֶת אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת בְּנִיבֶיהָ"- יְחֶזְקֵאל הַבָּבְלִי (הַמֵּאָה הי"ח)/ וִכּוּחַ הָאָדָם עִם אַדְמָתוֹ, וְכֵן:"אֶרֶץ שֶׁיּוֹשְׁבֶיהָ הִיא אוֹכֶלֶת/ וְזָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ וּתְכֵלֶת"- נָתָן יוֹנָתָן/ שִׁיר אֶרֶץ)