Introduction: Proclaiming the Impending Destruction
Chapter 6 of Yirmiyahu continues the harsh tone of rebuke, but here the prophet shifts from general warning to a direct, sounding alarm: the enemy from the north is on his way, Jerusalem will offer no stronghold, and destruction is certain. The chapter is constructed of vivid parables - a shepherds' pasture trampled underfoot, a pampered woman asleep in her bed while the enemy scales her walls, a well pouring forth its own wicked waters - and all of them come to teach one fundamental principle: this evil is not merely an external decree, but the direct fruit of the people's own deeds.
"Gather to Flee, Children of Binyamin" - A Flight with Nowhere to Go
הָעִזוּ בְּנֵי בִנְיָמִן מִקֶּרֶב יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם וּבִתְקוֹעַ תִּקְעוּ שׁוֹפָר וְעַל־בֵּית הַכֶּרֶם שְׂאוּ מַשְׂאֵת כִּי רָעָה נִשְׁקְפָה מִצָּפוֹן וְשֶׁבֶר גָּדוֹל׃ - Gather to flee, children of Binyamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the shofar in Tekoa, and raise a signal fire over Beit HaKerem, for evil looks forth from the north, and great destruction.
"Ha'izu" (Gather to flee) - Radak explains that this denotes fleeing into shelter, as in the verse "Send and gather (ha'ez) your livestock" (Shemot 9:19), meaning to bring the livestock from the open fields into the houses for shelter. Here, the prophet says to the children of Binyamin residing in Jerusalem: flee with everything you possess from the midst of Jerusalem, and all the more so from the other cities, for even Jerusalem will be captured. The Malbim explains "ha'izu" as an expression of gathering together - flee from Jerusalem yourselves. The core idea is identical: do not imagine that walled Jerusalem will serve as a shelter and a refuge from the enemy. Jerusalem is about to fall, and whoever can escape must flee, and the sooner the better.
The Malbim notes that this is spoken by way of hyperbole, rather than as practical advice. Radak similarly points out: where could they possibly flee? The borders are sealed. Rather, the prophet seeks to convey the immense magnitude of the impending calamity - as if to say, whoever is able to flee should run. This is not meant as actionable counsel, but to illustrate just how terrifying and dire the situation will be.
Why does he address the children of Binyamin specifically, rather than the children of Yehudah and Binyamin together, given that Jerusalem belonged to both tribes? Radak explains: like a person crying out over his own relatives first, aching for them even more than for others. Yirmiyahu was from Anatot in the territory of Binyamin, and these people were his own kinsmen and family; therefore, he turns to them first. This also connects to what was said to him earlier, "For even your brothers and your father's house, even they have dealt treacherously with you" (Yirmiyahu 12:6) - his own family members, the people of Binyamin, had strayed from the proper path as well.
"And in Tekoa blow (tik'u) the shofar" - Tekoa is the name of a place, as in "Yoav sent to Tekoa" (II Shmuel 14:2), where the wise woman lived. Here the prophet employs poetic wordplay: in the place named Tekoa, blow (tik'u) the shofar. We find similar wordplay elsewhere in the Prophets, such as "Ekron shall be uprooted (te'aker)" (Zephaniah 2:4), and "With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps (chamor chamoratayim)" (Shoftim 15:16). The blast of the shofar was intended to sound the alarm so the people would flee, for enemies were coming to besiege the city.
"And raise a signal over Beit HaKerem" - the Malbim explains that Beit HaKerem is the name of a place. Radak, however, explains that Beit HaKerem refers to the watchtower constructed within a vineyard, as it says, "and he built a tower in its midst" (Yeshayahu 5:2); from this tall tower they would watch over and guard the vineyards, and it was thus called Beit HaKerem - the house in the vineyard. According to Radak, "raise a signal (mas'et)" is akin to lighting signal fires: kindle a fire so that everyone realizes a calamity has struck and will flee. The Malbim explains mas'et in the sense of a banner or flag, from the root of elevation ("when it is lifted up") - an elevated marker: raise a banner and sign to alert the people to flee. All this is for the same reason: "for evil looks forth from the north" - the north represents Babylon, and one can already gaze out and see the impending disaster approaching.
The Comely and Pampered Woman - The Parable of the Daughter of Zion
הַנָּוָה וְהַמְּעֻנָּגָה דָּמִיתִי בַּת־צִיּוֹן׃ - To a comely and delicate woman have I likened the daughter of Zion.
There are two explanations for the word "damiti." Rashi, as well as Radak's father, explain it as an expression of cutting down and destruction, as in "the peaceful pastures are silenced / destroyed (venadamu)" (Yirmiyahu 25:37), "Ashkelon is brought to ruin (nidmatah)" (ibid. 47:5), and "My people are destroyed (nidmu)" (Hoshea 4:6) - meaning, the daughter of Zion will be laid waste. The Malbim, however, explains it from the perspective of comparison and metaphor: I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate, pampered woman.
And what is the purpose of this duplication? The Malbim explains that there are two descriptions here: a description of the place, and a description of its inhabitants. "A dwelling place (naveh)" - from the term for an abode of shepherds and flocks, a pleasant and fine place with rich pasture. "And pampered (me'unagah)" - its inhabitants were like a pampered woman, refined and spoiled people.
אֵלֶיהָ יָבֹאוּ רֹעִים וְעֶדְרֵיהֶם תָּקְעוּ עָלֶיהָ אֹהָלִים סָבִיב רָעוּ אִישׁ אֶת־יָדוֹ׃ - Shepherds with their flocks will come against her; they will pitch tents around her, each grazing in his own sector.
Corresponding to the depiction of Jerusalem as a pasture of shepherds, the Malbim explains: the nations will come here and graze their flocks, pitching tents around her, each grazing in his own area and position - "around her, each grazing his sector." The underlying meaning is that they initially laid waste to the outskirts of Jerusalem. And once they finished grazing, having consumed all the grass and pastureland, so to speak - an idiom for completing their campaign of warfare in the surroundings of Jerusalem - they advanced against Jerusalem itself.
"Arise, and Let Us Go Up at Noon" - The Enemy Calculates His Moment
קַדְּשׁוּ עָלֶיהָ מִלְחָמָה קוּמוּ וְנַעֲלֶה בַצׇּהֳרָיִם אוֹי לָנוּ כִּי־פָנָה הַיּוֹם כִּי יִנָּטוּ צִלְלֵי־עָרֶב׃ - Prepare war against her: "Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day wanes, for the shadows of evening lengthen!"
Here the prophet depicts the inhabitant of Jerusalem as a pampered woman lying down for an afternoon rest, hiding inside her home from the sun, similar to what is said: "Where do you rest your flock at noon?" (Shir HaShirim 1:7), for flocks would lie down at noon on account of the heat (for those wishing to explore this further, see the series on Shir HaShirim). At night, too, she lies upon her bed. Seeing this, the enemies say: "Prepare war against her" - until now we operated in her surroundings, but from now on against her directly, against Jerusalem itself. "Arise, and let us go up at noon" - if she sleeps at noon, this is a wonderful opportunity, for she will not leave her home on account of the heat, and we will be able to conquer her effortlessly. This is the deeper meaning of the allegory: because of their pampered luxury they had no fear at all, and so the enemies said to one another that this was their moment.
Yet while organizing themselves, the enemies say to one another: "Woe to us, for the day wanes" - noon has already passed, sunset is approaching, and now the pampered woman will venture outside. And why? "For the shadows of evening lengthen" - she now has shade to shelter in, she no longer needs to hide indoors from the sun, and if they come outside, it will be much harder for us to conquer them.
Rashi interprets "Woe to us, for the day wanes, for the shadows of evening lengthen" as referring to the moment the fire was set to the Beit HaMikdash, for toward evening they set it ablaze. For the Beit HaMikdash was burned on the tenth of Av - meaning the fire was ignited toward evening on Tishah B'Av and burned throughout the entire tenth day. Thus, when the shadows of evening lengthened, the fire was kindled in the Beit HaMikdash.
קוּמוּ וְנַעֲלֶה בַלָּיְלָה וְנַשְׁחִיתָה אַרְמְנוֹתֶיהָ׃ - "Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces."
The enemies say: We wanted to attack at noon, when she was confined to her house because of the heat, but now the day has waned and she is already coming out. If so, a more fitting time is at night, when that pampered woman mentioned in verse 2 sleeps in her bed, and once again it will be easy for us to conquer her.
And what is the underlying meaning of all this? The Malbim explains: the people of Jerusalem did not resist the enemy at all. Whenever the enemy approached, they were so soft and pampered that they did not want to leave the house - it was too cold outside, too hot outside, uncomfortable outside. They were utterly unwilling to go out, fight, and defend their lives; instead, like a delicate, pampered woman lying in her bed, the enemy could practically stroll in and take Jerusalem.
Cut Down Her Trees and Cast Up a Siege Mound
כִּי כֹה אָמַר יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת כִּרְתוּ עֵצָהֿ וְשִׁפְכוּ עַל־יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם סֹלְלָה הִיא הָעִיר הׇפְקַד כֻּלָּהּ עֹשֶׁק בְּקִרְבָּהּ׃ - For so said the Lord of Hosts: Cut down her trees and cast up a siege ramp against Jerusalem; this is the city to be visited with punishment, it is wholly oppression within.
The commentators note that "eitzah" here does not have a mapik heh, and therefore it does not mean "her tree" - which would have been written with a mapik - but is rather in the collective pattern of "dagah," which denotes many fish. So too, "eitzah" means many trees. That is: cut down the many trees belonging to her.
The Malbim explains: Even though the Torah warned, "Do not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them," forbidding the use of the city's fruit trees to construct a siege ramp, "for you may eat of them," and "is the tree of the field a man to withdraw before you into the siege?" - and we have already explained that the rhetorical question means: is the tree of the field a human enemy that you should wage war against it? - here the opposite is commanded. Ordinarily the warning is not to destroy its trees, yet here the Holy One, blessed be He, says quite the reverse: cut down her trees and cast up a siege ramp against Jerusalem. And why? "This is the city to be visited with punishment" - the reckoning is upon the entire city to be utterly ruined, for "it is wholly oppression within," in the spirit of "For a stone from the wall will cry out... Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed." Since this is so, it must be completely devastated.
And what was this siege mound? There are two explanations. Radak explains: cut down trees to construct a dayek and cast up a mound against Jerusalem. A dayek is a siege engine used for hurling stones, and casting up the mound refers to hurling stones against Jerusalem to batter down its walls and towers. The more widely accepted explanation, however, is that of Targum Yonatan, which Radak cites as an alternate interpretation and which the Malbim also adopts: when an army wished to conquer a city whose walls were high, they would construct a ramp - bringing earth and timber to fill an inclined slope until a ramp was formed reaching from ground level to the top of the wall. The timber was indispensable, for if they used only earth it would scatter; thus, they would lay wooden beams to hold the earth in place, forming a supportive frame. The soldiers would then ascend the ramp, reach the top of the wall, lower themselves by ropes into the city, open the gates from within, and allow the entire army to enter.
This was by no means an easy feat, for those stationed on the ramparts would fiercely resist the builders: pouring boiling oil over them, hurling stones and catapult projectiles, and shooting arrows. The defenders held the high ground, while the builders below had to haul earth and wood while inching closer to the wall. But once the ramp was completed, the city lay exposed to conquest.
As a Well Gushes Its Water - The Evil Springs from Within Them
כְּהָקִיר בַּיִר מֵימֶיהָ כֵּן הֵקֵרָה רָעָתָהּ חָמָס וָשֹׁד יִשָּׁמַע בָּהּ עַל־פָּנַי תָּמִיד חֳלִי וּמַכָּה׃ - As a well gushes out its water, so she has gushed out her wickedness; violence and plunder are heard in her, sickness and wounds are continually before Me.
A side note: The Minchat Shai notes regarding this verse that it marks the midpoint of the book in its count of verses, as he found recorded in two manuscript Bibles.
The Malbim explains: The evil befalling Jerusalem is not an external calamity, but one she brought upon herself. We have previously discussed two categories of punishment. There is a penalty imposed from the outside - like telling a child: "If you do that, I will punish you." And there is a consequence that follows naturally - if you step into moving traffic you will be struck; if you thrust your hand into fire you will be burned. It is not an outside party inflicting the harm, but the act itself that produces it. So says the prophet: the evil striking Jerusalem is not coming from without; it is a tragedy you brought upon yourselves, as your own deeds are what generate it.
To this the prophet offers a parable: "As a well gushes its water" - like the fresh water a well produces, which does not flow in from somewhere else but bubbles up from its own internal spring, a private source feeding water into the well. The Malbim observes that the text uses "bayir," an alternate form of be'er (well), rather than bor (cistern), because a cistern merely collects runoff from elsewhere, whereas here the text speaks of a source that springs forth its own water, which is a true well.
"So she has gushed out her wickedness" - the distress and affliction that befell her likewise sprang from her own source. And what caused it? "Violence and plunder are heard in her, continually before Me." The Holy One, blessed be He, says: even though My Shechinah dwells in Jerusalem, this does not deter the perpetrators of violence and robbery from carrying out their crimes continually before My face, in the very presence of the Shechinah. The Malbim explains that the word "gushed" applies both to the cause and the consequence: the violence and robbery are what gushed forth and generated the sickness and the wounds. As Chazal taught: It is not the serpent that kills, but sin that kills. Your corrupt deeds are the spring from which the disease and the blow originate, and you therefore have none to blame but yourselves.
Be Disciplined, Jerusalem - Lest the Shechinah Depart
הִוָּסְרִי יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם פֶּן־תֵּקַע נַפְשִׁי מִמֵּךְ פֶּן־אֲשִׂימֵךְ שְׁמָמָה אֶרֶץ לוֹא נוֹשָׁבָה׃ - Be admonished, O Jerusalem, lest My soul become alienated from you; lest I make you desolate, a land uninhabited.
"Be admonished" - accept reproof. "Lest My soul become alienated [teka] from you" - lest My Divine Presence withdraw from you. The Malbim explains that teka comes from the root y-k-a, which denotes the dislodging of something from its place, as in "and the socket of Yaakov's hip was dislocated [vateka]" - meaning his hip joint shifted out of place. And why would the Shechinah depart? As we saw in the previous verse: "Violence and plunder are heard within her; before My face continually."
"Lest I make you desolate" - we have already explained that "in the light of Your countenance You gave us the Torah of life, love and lovingkindness, righteousness and mercy, blessing and peace" - everything depends on the light of the supreme King's countenance. When the Holy One, blessed be He, conceals His face, all damages, troubles, and darkness inevitably follow. Therefore, the moment "My soul becomes alienated from you," inevitably "I will make you desolate."
Not only that, but "a land uninhabited." There are places that were once settled, then destroyed and turned into a wasteland - the world has many ghost towns, cities that once bustled with settlement and ceased for various reasons. In such a reality, much of what once existed is still visible: infrastructure, signs, and ruins testifying to the past. But "a land uninhabited" [eretz lo noshavah] describes a completely desolate land where nothing exists - no infrastructure, no wells, nothing at all. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will make you desolate, and furthermore, you will be like a place that was never settled at all, and through this, the immense scale of the destruction will be evident.
They Shall Thoroughly Glean - Exile After Exile
כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת עוֹלֵל יְעוֹלְלוּ כַגֶּפֶן שְׁאֵרִית יִשְׂרָאֵל הָשֵׁב יָדְךָ כְּבוֹצֵר עַל־סַלְסִלּוֹת׃ - Thus says Hashem of Hosts: They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine; turn back your hand like a grape-gatherer upon the baskets.
The Malbim explains: Initially, they will glean the remnant of Israel just as one gleans a vine. After the grapes are harvested, olelot remain - those few defective clusters left behind, which the poor usually come and collect. Thus the verse says: even what remains after the primary harvest, even the gleanings, they will take. The allusion is that after only a meager remnant remains, Nevuchadnezzar will return and exile even those who were left behind.
"Turn back your hand like a grape-gatherer upon the baskets" - turn your hand back to the grapes that are already placed in the baskets, having already been harvested from the vine, and gather from them a second time. The moral is: after everyone is already in exile, he will exile them yet a second time. And so it actually happened: when they fled to Egypt after the destruction, the enemy overtook them there and exiled them from there as well. They were already in the baskets, yet it was as if he gathered them anew - they went into a first exile, and from there were exiled a second time to Babylon, and to Chalach and Chavor by the river Gozan, and to other places.
Rashi interprets this in light of the successive waves of exile: at first, Nevuchadnezzar exiled Yehoyakim and made Yechanyah king; after three months he returned and exiled him as well; and at the end of eleven years he returned and exiled Tzidkiyahu. Thus, "they shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine" - even the gleanings that remained here, he returned and took with him, leaving nothing behind.
Their Ear Is Uncircumcised - The Word of Hashem Is a Reproach
עַל־מִי אֲדַבְּרָה וְאָעִידָה וְיִשְׁמָעוּ הִנֵּה עֲרֵלָה אׇזְנָם וְלֹא יוּכְלוּ לְהַקְשִׁיב הִנֵּה דְבַר־יְהֹוָה הָיָה לָהֶם לְחֶרְפָּה לֹא יַחְפְּצוּ־בוֹ׃ - To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot listen; behold, the word of Hashem has become a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.
"To whom shall I speak" or "give warning" - these represent two modes of rebuke. "I speak" [adaberah] is the manner of a teacher, like someone coming to impart knowledge through intellect, to persuade rationally. "Give warning" [ve'aidah] is a term of formal warning, as in "Go down, warn the people," meaning to caution regarding punishments and warn against calamities and disasters. The prophet says: the intellectual path does not work; perhaps the path of punishments and warnings might help? Yet, "behold, their ear is uncircumcised."
An uncircumcised ear (ozen areilah) means a blocked ear, just as "their uncircumcised heart" means a sealed heart. An orlah always denotes an obstruction, and even with the foreskin of the flesh (orlat basar), the reference is to a covering over the organ. This is also the meaning of "their ears are plastered shut from hearing" - like someone who smeared plaster over them, as if they were completely sealed. If so, there is no one for me to speak to.
Furthermore: "Behold, the word of Hashem has become a reproach to them." When I come to deliver the prophecy of Hashem to them, it seems to them that I have come to insult them. For the things I speak of are sins they have committed, and when I say "you have done this and that" - and the prophet did not spare the rod of his tongue, as Hashem commanded him - it seems to them that I have come to shame them, as if saying, "you have come to remind me of my iniquity." A person who did nothing wrong is unfazed by what is said about him. But someone who knows he is truly guilty perceives whatever you say to him as a disgrace. And even though I do not come as one seeking their faults, but rather with the word of Hashem to warn them so that evil will not befall them, it seemed to them that I had something personal against them.
I Am Full of the Wrath of Hashem - It Is Not a Personal Matter
וְאֵת חֲמַת יְהֹוָה מָלֵאתִי נִלְאֵיתִי הָכִיל שְׁפֹךְ עַל־עוֹלָל בַּחוּץ וְעַל סוֹד בַּחוּרִים יַחְדָּו כִּי־גַם־אִישׁ עִם־אִשָּׁה יִלָּכֵדוּ זָקֵן עִם־מְלֵא יָמִים׃ - Yet I am full of the wrath of Hashem; I am weary of holding it in. Pour it out upon the infant in the street and upon the gathering of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with the full of days.
The Malbim explains: They consider the word of Hashem a disgrace, as though the prophet came to insult them personally. To this he replies: You do not understand - "I am full of the wrath of Hashem." The words I speak to you, the rebuke and the severe punishments I utter in my prophecy, fill me until I can no longer contain them, like a vessel that overflows. And I must express them, for a prophet who suppresses his prophecy is liable to the death penalty. "I am weary of holding it in" - I have no strength left to contain these things.
And how should they pour forth from me? To this the Holy One, blessed be He, answers him: "Pour it out upon the infant in the street" - this is Hashem's response: pour this wrath upon the infant outside. And not only upon the infants who are young, but "upon the gathering of young men together" - even upon the grown youths. "Gathering" (sod) refers to an assembly of many young men, as those who unite in one counsel and purpose, following the explanation of the Radak.
"For even the husband with the wife shall be taken" - having mentioned the infant and the youths, he says that their father and mother will also be trapped. "The aged with the full of days" - an elder is their grandfather, and "one full of days" is someone even older than an elder, in the sense of "behold, my days are fulfilled" or "an elder who has not fulfilled his days," a person whose days are already completed for death. That is, the grandfather and the great-grandfather. The rebuke thus indicates that the coming disaster will seize everyone, and nothing of the family will remain; rather, the entire family will perish.
It follows that there is no reason to hold resentment against the prophet for his words. There is no personal grudge here against them; rather, it is the wrath of Hashem that fills him, and regarding it he was commanded, "Pour it out upon the infant in the street" - so the Holy One, blessed be He, instructed him. Why, then, do they consider the word of Hashem to be a disgrace?
Their Houses Shall Be Turned Over - All in a Single Moment
וְנָסַבּוּ בָתֵּיהֶם לַאֲחֵרִים שָׂדוֹת וְנָשִׁים יַחְדָּו כִּי־אַטֶּה אֶת־יָדִי עַל־יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ נְאֻם־יְהֹוָה׃ - And their houses shall be turned over to others, fields and wives together; for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land, says Hashem.
The Malbim explains: It will not be like other situations, where when a person is taken captive, the court appoints a guardian (apotropos) over his houses, locking them up, and the guardian is responsible for collecting rent from those who move in to live there, while the fields are handed over to relatives who consume their produce - there is an orderly process for managing the property of a captive. But here, that will not be the reality. Rather, "and their houses shall be turned over to others": others will seize both the houses and the fields, and even the wives - they will not remain abandoned wives (agunot) whose husbands vanished into captivity.
And why? "For I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land, says Hashem" - everyone will fall and die, Heaven forbid, in a single moment. There will be no discussion at all about who will enter the field, who will rent the homes of those taken captive, or what will become of their wives, for everyone will perish at once. Through this, he informs them of what distress and what disaster are about to descend upon them.
From the Smallest to the Greatest - Everyone Sinned
כִּי מִקְּטַנָּם וְעַד־גְּדוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ בּוֹצֵעַ בָּצַע וּמִנָּבִיא וְעַד־כֹּהֵן כֻּלּוֹ עֹשֶׂה שָּׁקֶר׃ - For from the smallest of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain; and from prophet even to priest, everyone deals falsely.
The Radak explains: Just as everyone sinned, so everyone will be stricken. Do not wonder why the affliction will be so immense and all-encompassing - for indeed, everyone sinned.
"And from prophet even to priest, everyone deals falsely" - the prophet spoken of here is the false prophet, for one cannot say of a true prophet that he deals falsely; had he dealt falsely, the Holy One, blessed be He, would not have granted him prophecy. Targum Yonatan translates "and from the scribe", meaning the scribe who warns the people. Regarding the kohanim, there are two explanations: some explain this as referring to the priests of the Baal, while others interpret it as referring to the actual kohanim and Levi'im - and as we have seen that the prophets prophesied falsely and the priests abandoned Me, there was rebuke directed even at the kohanim of the Beis HaMikdash who betrayed their role.
From here the Malbim concludes: The people have no merit stemming from their leaders, for from the smallest to the greatest of them, all are greedy for gain. There is no hope that they will accept rebuke from the prophets or Torah from the kohanim, since all of them were untrustworthy individuals. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, says that there is no choice but to bring this affliction upon them.
Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace
וַיְרַפְּאוּ אֶת־שֶׁבֶר עַמִּי עַל־נְקַלָּה לֵאמֹר שָׁלוֹם שָׁלוֹם וְאֵין שָׁלוֹם׃ - And they heal the fracture of My people lightly, saying, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace.
Rashi explains "lightly" (al nekalah) - it is easy for the false prophets to utter from their mouths, saying, "You will have peace," and with this mere speech they supposedly heal the fracture that is about to come. Calamity is looming, yet they say casually: "It will be fine, there will be peace, don't worry, a 'New Middle East,' don't believe all of Yirmiyahu's apocalyptic prophecies about disasters and troubles; they always like to scare people - don't panic, everything will be fine." Yet here is a critical illness, a catastrophic fracture that would require extensive surgery, and they believe that empty talk will heal it.
The Malbim adds another explanation: "Al" is related to healing, as in the phrase "refu'at te'alah" (an effective cure). According to this, "and they heal the fracture of My people lightly" means: with a slight remedy, a meaningless cure. Like someone who encounters a patient with a severe illness and offers him paracetamol. With a trivial remedy they think they can heal the fracture of My people, proclaiming, "Peace, peace" - when in truth there is no peace.
They Were Not Ashamed at All
הֹבִישׁוּ כִּי תוֹעֵבָה עָשׂוּ גַּם־בּוֹשׁ לֹא־יֵבוֹשׁוּ גַּם־הַכְלִים לֹא יָדָעוּ לָכֵן יִפְּלוּ בַנֹּפְלִים בְּעֵת־פְּקַדְתִּים יִכָּשְׁלוּ אָמַר יְהֹוָה׃ - Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? They were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush; therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them they shall stumble, says the Lord.
Rashi explains, based on the Targum ("they ought to be ashamed"): Hovishu - they should have been ashamed, and hakhlim - they should have felt disgraced. The Radak, however, explains that this is stated as a question of astonishment: "Were they ashamed?" Did they feel any shame when they committed these abominations? Did they experience even the slightest discomfort? "Neither could they blush" - they felt no disgrace whatsoever over their wicked deeds, and even if someone rebuked and shamed them, they felt no humiliation. Sometimes a person commits a wrong deed and is rebuked, and at least he feels humiliated and uncomfortable - that is one thing. But for a hardened mobster, what use is shame over improper conduct? On the contrary: in all the terrible things he does - that is his glory.
The Malbim explains: "Were they ashamed" - they themselves should have felt shame over the abomination and repented; that is what should have happened. In reality, however, "they were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to feel humiliated." The distinction between inner shame (bushah) and disgrace from others (kelimah) has been explained several times based on the Malbim: bushah comes from within oneself, while kelimah comes from others, as in the verse "I hid not my face from humiliation." This is what the prophet means here: they feel no shame within themselves; none of them feels that he has done anything improper. And perhaps when someone humiliates them, does that at least have an effect? To this the verse says, "Nor did they know how to feel humiliated" - they do not even recognize that it is a rebuke. Sometimes a person jabs his fellow for an improper deed he did, and the other person still thinks he received a compliment. He fails to grasp the sting at all, not realizing that the remark was meant to express disgust at a disgraceful deed; instead, he thinks people are admiring his actions.
"Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them they shall stumble." When the rest of the fallen of the people of Israel fall, the false prophets and the priests of Baal will fall along with them; and at the time of their reckoning they will stumble - meaning, when the Temple and the city are destroyed, then I will punish their sin. Both the prophets and the priests, whose role was to awaken the people, will also stumble and fall.
The Malbim explains the phrasing "they shall fall among those who fall": When two people are walking along a path and one of them slips, the one following him will certainly be careful, for if the first slipped, it is a sign that there is something slippery there. But if the second person is blind, even if the cause of slipping is removed - say, oil had been spilled here and was wiped clean, so there is no longer any slippery factor - he will still fall, because he will trip over the body of the first person who fell.
The lesson: These people do not heed rebuke. Had they listened to rebuke, upon seeing those who fell, they would have said: This is a slippery path; look, these people slipped and fell - see what happened to them, the same will happen to you - and they would have turned back. But they learn nothing from this. And what will be the result? They will fall through those who fall: the corpses of the fallen will serve as a stumbling block for those coming after them. In other words, the prophets will be punished through the very people who fell through them. You, the false prophets and the priests, misled the people, and the people fell - and over their corpses you will stumble and fall as well. This is the principle: whoever caused his fellow to fall, his fellow will cause his fall. This is similar to what Chazal said, that his students should not be in Gehinnom while he is in Gan Eden - you corrupted him and led him to sin, so inevitably you must be together with him.
In summary:
Chapter 6 opens with an alarm to flee where there is nowhere to run - "Gather yourselves to flee, O children of Binyamin" - to illustrate the magnitude of the catastrophe coming from the north, and transitions to the parable of the daughter of Zion, delicate and dainty, who out of extreme refinement and softness does not go out to battle at all, to the point that the enemy leisurely calculates whether to attack her at noon or at night. Then Hashem commands the felling of trees and the heaping of a siege ramp against Jerusalem, teaching that the evil is not purely external, but springs from within her like a well gushing from its source: violence and robbery are what brought forth the sickness and the blow. The prophet pleads, "Be instructed, O Jerusalem," lest the Shechinah depart and the land become desolate, uninhabited, and warns that even the remnant will be gleaned and harvested again and again. Yet their ears are uncircumcised, and the word of Hashem is regarded by them as a personal disgrace, while the prophet himself is filled with the wrath of Hashem and can no longer contain it. And since from the smallest of them to the greatest of them everyone is greedy for gain, and the false prophets heal the wound with a superficial remedy by saying, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace, having neither shame within themselves nor humiliation from others - therefore they shall fall among those who fall, and whoever caused the people to fall will stumble over them and fall alongside them.