5369. 'And the famine was over all the face of the earth' means when there was desolation even to the point of despair. This is clear from the meaning of 'famine' as desolation, dealt with above in 5360, 5361, 5364; and from the meaning of 'the earth' as the natural. When a famine is said to be 'over all the face of the earth' despair is meant, because in that case the desolation exists everywhere. For the fullest and uttermost degree of desolation is despair, 5279, 5280.