בָּעֵת הַהִיא נְאֻם־ה' יוֹצִיאוּ אֶת־עַצְמוֹת מַלְכֵי־יְהוּדָה וְאֶת־עַצְמוֹת־שָׂרָיו וְאֶת־עַצְמוֹת הַכֹּהֲנִים וְאֵת עַצְמוֹת הַנְּבִיאִים וְאֵת עַצְמוֹת יוֹשְׁבֵי־יְרוּשָׁלָם מִקִּבְרֵיהֶם

At that time, when the land is destroyed – the utterance of the Lord – they, the invaders, will remove the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves. In the terrible destruction, old graves will not be respected and the bones will be thrown from those graves.

וּשְׁטָחוּם לַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וְלַיָּרֵחַ וּלְכֹל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם אֲשֶׁר אֲהֵבוּם וַאֲשֶׁר עֲבָדוּם וַאֲשֶׁר הָלְכוּ אַחֲרֵיהֶם וַאֲשֶׁר דְּרָשׁוּם וַאֲשֶׁר הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לָהֶם לֹא יֵאָסְפוּ וְלֹא יִקָּבֵרוּ לְדֹמֶן עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה יִהְיוּ

In a harshly ironic outcome, they will spread them out before the sun and the moon, and to the entire host of the heavens, which they, the Israelites, loved and which they worshipped, which they followed and which they sought, and to which they prostrated themselves. The prophet emphasizes the people of Judah’s multifaceted and enthusiastic attachment to idolatry. They will not be gathered, and they will not be buried; they will be as dung on the face of the earth.

וְנִבְחַר מָוֶת מֵחַיִּים לְכֹל הַשְּׁאֵרִית הַנִּשְׁאָרִים מִן־הַמִּשְׁפָּחָה הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת בְּכָל־הַמְּקֹמוֹת הַנִּשְׁאָרִים אֲשֶׁר הִדַּחְתִּים שָׁם נְאֻם ה' צְבָאוֹת

Death will be chosen over life by all the remnant that remains from this evil family, not only in the Land of Israel, but in all the remaining places where I have banished them – the utterance of the Lord of hosts. Life will be so difficult and miserable that people will prefer death without burial over their continued existence.

וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵיהֶם כֹּה אָמַר ה' הֲיִפְּלוּ וְלֹא יָקוּמוּ אִם־יָשׁוּב וְלֹא יָשׁוּב!

You will say to them: So said the Lord: Will they, people, fall and not arise forever? Will one stray [yashuv] from the proper path and not return [yashuv]? The two incidences of the identical word, yashuv, stem from two different roots. The first is from the root shin-beit-beit, meaning stray or deviate. The second is from the root shin-vav-beit, meaning return or repent. Why is it that after you have committed transgressions and strayed you do not repent, and that even after you have been called you do not respond? Alternatively, the verse can be understood as follows: Will one who strayed try to repent and not succeed? If the people of Israel repent, wouldn’t God revoke His decree of retribution? Others render it as saying: Even if they repent, it will not last, as they will quickly resume their wicked ways.

מַדּוּעַ שׁוֹבְבָה הָעָם הַזֶּה יְרוּשָׁלִַם מְשֻׁבָה נִצַּחַת ! הֶחֱזִיקוּ בַּתַּרְמִת מֵאֲנוּ לָשׁוּב

Why is this people deviant, Jerusalem an eternal deviance? They held onto the deceit of their idolatry and they refused to repent. They do not seem to be considering repentance at all.

הִקְשַׁבְתִּי וָאֶשְׁמָע – לוֹא־כֵן יְדַבֵּרוּ אֵין אִישׁ נִחָם עַל־רָעָתוֹ לֵאמֹר מֶה עָשִׂיתִי כֻּלֹּה שָׁב בִּמְרוּצָתָם כְּסוּס שׁוֹטֵף בַּמִּלְחָמָה

I listened and heard what they said. They speak untruthfully; no man regrets his evildoing, saying: What have I done? They are all steadfast in their course like a horse charging unchecked into battle. Horses harnessed to war chariots were a powerful weapon, but their flexibility of movement was limited. When the horses were charging forward they could not easily change direction. The prophet uses these horses as a metaphor for people who continue unchecked in the direction in which they have been going, without considering the possibility of stopping or changing paths. Some explain the verse differently: These horses would retreat after striking an enemy, but only for the purpose of charging at them again with even greater force. Similarly, the people might repent only in order to return to their sins with renewed vigor.

גַּם־חֲסִידָה בַשָּׁמַיִם יָדְעָה מוֹעֲדֶיהָ וְתֹר וְסִיס וְעָגוּר שָׁמְרוּ אֶת־עֵת בֹּאָנָה וְעַמִּי לֹא יָדְעוּ אֵת מִשְׁפַּט ה'

Even the stork in the heavens knows its appointed times, as its migration pattern is consistent, arriving in Israel in the spring and departing in the fall, and other migratory birds, the turtledove and the swift and the crane, observe the time of their arrival; but unlike these creatures, who maintain their natural patterns of behavior, My people do not know how to observe the ordinance of the Lord.

אֵיכָה תֹאמְרוּ חֲכָמִים אֲנַחְנוּ וְתוֹרַת ה' אִתָּנוּ! אָכֵן הִנֵּה לַשֶּׁקֶר עָשָׂה עֵט שֶׁקֶר סֹפְרִים

How can you say: We are wise, as we have traditions and books, and the law of the Lord is with us? Indeed, behold, he rendered it falsehood the deceitful pen of the scribes, since you do not affirm with your actions what the pen has written.

הֹבִשׁוּ חֲכָמִים חַתּוּ וַיִּלָּכֵדוּ הִנֵּה בִדְבַר־ה' מָאָסוּ וְחָכְמַת־מֶה לָהֶם!

The wise men are shamed, they were dismayed, bewildered, and captured, caught in their own deceit. Behold, they despised the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them? What wisdom do they retain, and of what value are those scholars and scribes if none of them will help return the nation to God?

לָכֵן אֶתֵּן אֶת־נְשֵׁיהֶם לַאֲחֵרִים שְׂדוֹתֵיהֶם לְיוֹרְשִׁים כִּי מִקָּטֹן וְעַד־גָּדוֹל כֻּלֹּה בֹּצֵעַ בָּצַע מִנָּבִיא וְעַד־כֹּהֵן כֻּלֹּה עֹשֶׂה שָּׁקֶר

Therefore, I will give their wives to others and their fields to those who will take possession, since they themselves will die, because from the simple to the great people, it, in its entirety, the nation, seeks ill-gotten monetary gain. Financial success is its top priority. From prophet to priest, it, the religious leadership, in its entirety, performs falsehood.

וַיְרַפּוּ אֶת־שֶׁבֶר בַּת־עַמִּי עַל־נְקַלָּה לֵאמֹר שָׁלוֹם שָׁלוֹם ואֵין שָׁלוֹם

They, those religious leaders, healed the injury of the daughter of My people casually by offering optimistic and opportune political forecasts, saying: Peace, peace, everything will work out; but ultimately there is no peace.

הֹבִשׁוּ כִּי תוֹעֵבָה עָשׂוּ גַּם־בּוֹשׁ לֹא־יֵבֹשׁוּ וְהִכָּלֵם לֹא יָדָעוּ לָכֵן יִפְּלוּ בַנֹּפְלִים בְּעֵת פְּקֻדָּתָם יִכָּשְׁלוּ אָמַר ה'

They, these religious leaders, are shamed, because not only did they falsely guarantee peace, but they actually performed an abomination. Yet they will not be ashamed of their actions, and they do not know humiliation, and consequently they have no impetus to change their ways. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen; at the time of their reckoning they will falter, said the Lord. Since they do not recognize the gravity of their sins and have taken no steps to improve their ways, there is no solution for their situation other than their utter downfall.

אָסֹף אֲסִיפֵם נְאֻם־ה' אֵין עֲנָבִים בַּגֶּפֶן וְאֵין תְּאֵנִים בַּתְּאֵנָה וְהֶעָלֶה נָבֵל וָאֶתֵּן לָהֶם יַעַבְרוּם

I will exterminate them – the utterance of the Lord – until nothing is left; there are no grapes on the vine, and there are no figs on the fig tree, and the leaf withers. The grapevine and fig tree represent affluence and serenity, as in the verse “But they shall sit each man under his vine and under his fig tree.” However, after their fruit has been picked, their leaves wither and the trees are left entirely bare. And that which I gave them will be removed from them [ya’avrum] to their enemies. Alternatively, this means that all this will happen to them because they transgressed [avru] the Torah that I gave them, or I will abandon them and their enemies will cause them to pass [ya’avirum] from the world.

עַל־מָה אֲנַחְנוּ ישְׁבִים הֵאָסְפוּ וְנָבוֹא אֶל־עָרֵי הַמִּבְצָר וְנִדְּמָה־שָּׁם כִּי ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ הֲדִמָּנוּ וַיַּשְׁקֵנוּ מֵי־רֹאשׁ כִּי חָטָאנוּ לַה'

At that time, people will say to one another: For what reason are we sitting here alone and defenseless while the enemy is about to arrive? Gather, and let us enter into the fortified cities, which served as places of refuge in times of war not only for their residents but for the entire surrounding area. The prophet adds to their words from his perspective: And we will be silent [nidma] there, for the Lord our God has silenced us and has given us gall water, a bitter and toxic liquid, to drink, because we sinned to the Lord. Alternatively, the term nidma means we will be destroyed. Either way, the prophet is saying that even if they gather in the fortified cities they will not be saved.

קַוֵּה לְשָׁלוֹם – וְאֵין טוֹב; לְעֵת מַרְפֵּה – וְהִנֵּה בְעָתָה

All hope for peace, but there is no good; they are waiting for a time of healing (see 14:19) or a respite, and behold, there is terror.

מִדָּן נִשְׁמַע נַחְרַת סוּסָיו מִקּוֹל מִצְהֲלוֹת אַבִּירָיו רָעֲשָׁה כָּל־הָאָרֶץ וַיָּבוֹאוּ וַיֹּאכְלוּ אֶרֶץ וּמְלוֹאָהּ עִיר וְישְׁבֵי בָהּ

The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan; from the sound of the neighing of his stallions the entire land quakes. The enemy invaded from the north with an enormous number of battle horses, as Jeremiah mentions elsewhere (see 1:14, 4:6–15, 6:23, 10:22). Consequently, the snorting of the horses could be heard as they galloped from the distant, northern region of Israel that belonged to the tribe of Dan. They came and consumed the land and everything that fills it, the city and its inhabitants.

כִּי הִנְנִי מְשַׁלֵּחַ בָּכֶם נְחָשִׁים צִפְעֹנִים אֲשֶׁר אֵין־לָהֶם לָחַשׁ וְנִשְּׁכוּ אֶתְכֶם נְאֻם־ה'

For behold, I am sending serpents, vipers, against you, for which there is no charm to ward them off or to heal their bites, and they will bite you – the utterance of the Lord.

מַבְלִיגִיתִי עֲלֵי יָגוֹן עָלַי לִבִּי דַוָּי

The prophet, speaking for himself, although not necessarily as a private individual, says: I struggle to overcome my sorrow, but I cannot because my heart aches within me.

הִנֵּה־קוֹל שַׁוְעַת בַּת־עַמִּי מֵאֶרֶץ מַרְחַקִּים הַה' אֵין בְּצִיּוֹן אִם־מַלְכָּהּ אֵין בָּהּ! מַדּוּעַ הִכְעִסוּנִי בִּפְסִלֵיהֶם בְּהַבְלֵי נֵכָר !

Behold, the sound of the cry of the daughter of my people is heard from a distant land, saying: Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in it? God has apparently abandoned Zion. God responds to this claim: Why did they anger Me with their idols and with the foreign futilities that they introduced to Zion? How could they expect My presence to remain there under such circumstances?

עָבַר קצִיר כָּלָה קָיִץ וַאֲנַחְנוּ לוֹא נוֹשָׁעְנוּ

The grain harvest has passed, and the summer [kayitz], or the fig harvest [ketzitza] a few months later, has ended. Time is passing, and yet we have not been saved.

עַל־שֶׁבֶר בַּת־עַמִּי הָשְׁבַּרְתִּי קָדַרְתִּי שַׁמָּה הֶחֱזִקָתְנִי

Because of the injury of the daughter of my people I too am injured. I have darkened with gloom, and astonishment, along with shock and emptiness, has gripped me.

הַצֳרִי אֵין בְּגִלְעָד ! אִם־רֹפֵא אֵין שָׁם – כִּי מַדּוּעַ לֹא עָלְתָה אֲרֻכַת בַּת־עַמִּי!

Is there no balm, which was highly valued in the production of herbal medicines (see 46:11), in the Gilad, in the vicinity of the Jordan valley, where this herb grows? Is there no doctor there? For why did the recovery of the daughter of my people not occur? Despite the availability of medicine, no one can heal this national tragedy.

מִי־יִתֵּן רֹאשִׁי מַיִם וְעֵינִי מְקוֹר דִּמְעָה וְאֶבְכֶּה יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה אֵת חַלְלֵי בַת־עַמִּי

The prophet sees the imminent destruction and hears the snorting of the enemy’s horses, and yet the people do not repent. There is no hope to rectify the situation and there is no recourse but to weep. Would that my head were mere water and my eyes would turn into a source of tears, and I would weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.