Rashi on the Prophets and Writings

brought darkness Heb. יָעִיב, brought darkness, as Scripture states (I Kings 18:45): “the heavens grew dark with clouds (בְּעָבִים).”
from heaven to earth After He lifted them up to heaven, He cast them to earth all at once, and not little by little, [as] from a lofty roof to a deep pit.
His footstool that is the Temple.

the habitations of Jacob Heb. נְאוֹת, the houses of Jacob, an expression of נָוֶה, a dwelling.
He has struck [them] to the ground He humbled them to the ground.
He has profaned the kingdom and its princes These are the Israelites, who were called (Exod. 19:6): “a kingdom of priests.”
and its princes There is a Midrash Aggadah (Lam. Rabbah 2:5) [that states that] these are the heavenly princes [whose assignments] He changed. The one appointed over fire He appointed over water, and He changed all the appointees because there were among the wicked of Israel those who knew the Ineffable Name, and they relied [upon the fact] that they could adjure the heavenly princes to save them from fire, from water and from the sword. Now, when he would adjure the prince of fire by his name, he would reply, “This dominion is not in my hands,” and similarly, all of them.

He has withdrawn His right hand He withdrew Himself as though withdrawing His right hand from waging war on behalf of His children.

He has bent His bow Heb. דרך lit. trod. Since this is the procedure of those who bend the bow, who are strong, to place their foot upon them when he bends them; it is therefore worded as an expression of treading.
He has poured out His fury like fire The arrangement of the words is as follows: He poured out His anger, which is like fire, for we do not find pouring of fire, except in conjunction with anger, as it is written (Ps. 79:6): “Pour out Your wrath upon the nations.”

and He increased in the daughter of Judah He increased in the congregation of Judah.
pain and wailing Heb. תַּאֲנִיָה וַאֲנִיָה, pain and wailing.
and He increased Heb. וַיֶרֶב. The “yud” is vowelized with a small “pattah” (seggol), which is an expression of increasing others. (Exod. 1:20): “and the people multiplied (וַיִרֶב) and became very strong,” is vowelized with a “hirik”, which is an expression meaning that he himself increased, and so every word whose radical ends with a “hey,” e.g. פנה, to turn, זנה to go astray, בכה, to weep, are vowelized in that manner when the “hey” is missing, when it speaks of itself [i.e., the simple (קַל) conjugation, not the causative], e.g. (Exod. 7:23): “And Pharaoh turned (וַיִפֶן).” But when he speaks of others [i.e, the causative conjugation (הפעיל)], it is vowelized with a small “pattah” (seggol), e.g. (Jud. 15:4): “and he turned (וַיֶפֶן) tail to tail”; (II Kings 25: 21): “And Judah went into exile (וַיִגֶל) from his land”; (ibid. 18:11): “and the king of Babylon (sic) exiled (וַיֶגֶל) Israel to Assyria.”

He stripped Heb. וַיַחְמֹס, an expression of cutting, and so (Job 15:33): “He will cast off (יַחְמֹס) like a vine”; (Jer. 13:22): “your steps were cut off (נֶחְמְסוּ).”
like a garden as they cut off the vegetables of a garden.
His Tabernacle Heb. שֻׂכּוֹ, His habitation. It is written שֻׂכּוֹ [with a “sin” rather than with a “sammech”, intimating] that He assuaged (שִּׁכֵּךְ) His anger against His children with the destruction of His House. Thus it is interpreted in the Midrash of Lamentations (Lam. Rabbah).
and laid in ruins His Meeting Place The Holy of Holies, where He would meet with His children, as it is said (Exod. 25:22): “And I will meet (וְנוֹעַדְתִּי) you there.”
king and priest King Zedekiah and Seraiah the High Priest.

He has abolished Heb. נִאֵר, and so, (Ps. 89:40): “You abrogated (נֵאַרְתָּה) the covenant of Your servant.”
as on a day of a festival For they were making merry and singing in its midst with a loud voice. So did the enemies let out a cry of joy when it was destroyed.

The Lord determined to destroy It is already many days since this entered His mind, as it is written (Jer. 32:31): “For this city has aroused My anger and My wrath until this day, to remove it from before My face.”
He stretched out a line of judgment to be punished for our iniquities.
rampart and wall a large wall and a small wall, a low wall opposite a high wall.

Her gates are sunk into the ground The Midrash Aggadah (Lam. Rabbah) states: Because they imparted honor to the Ark, as it is said (Ps. 24:9): “[You] gates, lift up your heads.” Therefore, no one had any power over them, and they sank into the ground (Lam. Rabbah). Our Sages (Sotah 9a) said that they were David’s handiwork; therefore, the enemies did not have any power over them.
there is no more teaching There is no one among them who gives instruction.

sit on the ground, etc. [This is to be understood] according to its apparent meaning. But the Midrash Aggadah (Lam. Rabbah) states: Nebuchadnezzar caused them to sit on the ground when Zedekiah rebelled against him and transgressed his oath. He came and stationed himself in Daphne of Antioch, and sent for the Sanhedrin, and they came toward him. He recognized that they were men of imposing appearance and sat them down in golden chairs. He said to them, “Recite your Torah for me chapter by chapter and translate it for me.” As soon as they reached the chapter dealing with vows, he said to them, “What if he wishes to retract, can he retract?” They said to him, “Let him go to a sage, and he will absolve him of it.” He said to them, “If so, you absolved Zedekiah of his oath.” He gave the order, and they pushed them off [their seats] and sat them on the ground. They then tied the hair of their heads to the tails of horses and dragged them.

my innards burn Heb. חֳמַרְמְרוּ, regrizi(l)lerent in Old French, have shriveled up. It is usual that when a person casts intestines into the fire, they shrivel up and burn.
faint Heb. בֵּעָטֵף, pa(s)mer in Old French, to faint, swoon.

What shall I testify for you? What shall I compare to you to say to you, “Why do you wonder about your destruction? Didn’t that also happen to such and such a nation, just like you?”
What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you When trouble befalls a person, [others] say to him, “This also happened to so-and-so.” These are consolations for him.

false and senseless visions words that have no taste, and in Old French aflestrimant, insipidity, sickliness.
and they have not exposed your iniquity to reprove you to your face about your way.
to straighten out your backsliding Heb. לְהָשִּׁיב שְׁבוּתֵךְ, an expression of (Jer. 8:5) שּׁוֹבְבָה (ibid. 3:14) שּׁוֹבְבִים, backsliding; (Isa. 57:17): “and he went rebelliously (שּׁוֹבָב).”
misleading oracles They misled you away from Me.

they hissed To blow with the mouth, siblir in Old French, to hiss, whistle. It is customary for a person to do this when he sees an important thing that was ruined.
the perfection of beauty All beauty was hers.

All your enemies have opened their mouths wide against you Why did Scripture place the “pey” before the “ayin”? Because they were saying with their mouths (פֶּה) what they did not see with their eyes (עַיִן).

He has carried out His word He completed His decree, like (Job 6:9): “let loose His hand and finish me off (וִיבַצְעֵנִי).”
which He decreed long ago that which is written in the Torah (Lev. 26: 18): “and I shall continue to chastise you sevenfold.”

respite Heb. פוּגַת, an expression of letting up, tresalemant in Old French, respite, let up, like (Gen. 45:26): “and his heart grew faint (וַיָפָג).”
the pupil of your eye the black area of the eye, which is called prunelle in French, pupil.

at the beginning of the watches [i.e., at the beginning of the final] two parts of the night, for the night is divided into three parts, as our Rabbis stated in Tractate Berachoth (3).
who faint pגmיs in French, faint, swooning.

children that are petted tender children, who are still being raised with their mothers’ pampering. And our Sages expounded on Doeg the son of Joseph, whose mother would measure him with [her] fists every day, to give gold to the Temple according to how much he grew, and she ultimately devoured him.
Will priest and prophet be slain in the Sanctuary of the Lord The holy spirit answers them, “Now was it proper for you that you slew Zechariah the son of Jehoiada?” as is written in (II) Chronicles (24:22), that he reproved them when they came and prostrated themselves to Joash, and deified him. (ibid. verse 20): “And the spirit of God enveloped Zechariah the son of Jehoiada.” He was a priest and a prophet, and they slew him in the forecourt.

You have summoned...as though it were a feast day Heb. תִּקְרָא, like קָרָאתָ, and this is the present tense.
my neighbors my evil neighbors, to gather about me to destroy.
those whom I dandled and reared, my enemy exterminated The children whom I dandled and reared, the enemy came and exterminated.