It thus appears to refer to a time of famine, when teeth were clean because there was nothing to eat. Evidently, Jehovah had expressed his disapproval of the idolatrous ten - tribe kingdom by sending famine to the land, even as he had warned long before.
כפי הנראה, יהוה ביטא את אי ־ שביעות ־ רצונו מממלכת ־ ישראל, בת עשרת ־ השבטים, עובדת ־ האלילים, בכך ששלח רעב לארץ, ממש בתואם עם אזהרתו זמן רב קודם לכן.