in the ninth year of Zedekiah.

the king of Babylon has besieged Today he besieged it.

Set the pot [Heb. שְׂפֹת, set.] On the mouth of the stove on the place where it is set. That is called שְׂפִיתָה in Mishnaic Hebrew, for our Rabbis said (Shab. 38b): “[A stove has] a place for the setting of ] שְׂפִיתַת[two pots.” We learned also (Beizah 34a): “If one sets the pot, one puts in water, and one puts in the condiments...” We learn that is the placing it on the mouth of the stove before they put anything into it. This figure represents Jerusalem, about which you said, “It is the pot.” Now the time has come for it to become a pot, and you will become the meat inside it, and Nebuchadnezzar is coming and will put in on the fire. Menachem (p. 179) explained it as an expression of placing.

and also pour water into it These [represent] the accessories for the siege. יִצֹק is like שְׁפֹךְ, pour.

Gather its pieces to it Out of fear of the siege, gather into it all its leaders and its princes.

every good piece Every mighty, awesome hero and every warrior.

Take the choice of the flocks You, Nebuchadnezzar, take the choicest of your armies around it. So did Jonathan render, but this does not fit with the idea of the pot. This must therefore be interpreted to mean that the choicest of Israel will come and enter into its midst.

and also arrange the limbs under it [Heb. דוּר,] an expression of arranging, and so (Isa. 22:18): “He shall wind you around like a turban, like a surrounding wall (כַּדוּר),” a row of surrounding troops. A row (דוּרָה) is translated into Aramaic as דַּרָא. However, Menachem explains it (p. 67) as (verse 9): “Even I shall enlarge the fire (הַמְדוּרָה) .”

make it boil well After they all are inside it, the siegeworks and the armaments will come near the city.

and its filth Its filth, which they remove from its surface by boiling it, is called escume in Old French, foam, ecume in Modern French. This means: the wicked within her have not come out.

limb by limb Exile after exile, who went out and defected to the Chaldeans, every man by himself.

no lot has fallen on it Not like other pots, whose pieces they take out all at once in order to place before each one his portion and his lot. Jonathan renders: because they did not repent within it. [Therefore,] the lot of the Omnipresent did not fall on it.

smooth [Heb. צְחִיחַ,] smoothness.

she did not pour it out on the ground, etc. Jonathan paraphrased: with willful wickedness and with an arm raised on high did she shed it; she did not shed it unintentionally to repent of it. Our Rabbis (Git. 57b, Pesikta d’Rav Kahana 122a) explained it as referring to the blood of Zechariah the son of Jehoiada. They did not treat it as the blood of the deer or the blood of the gazelle.

So that it might bring up fury before Me. I [therefore (Etz Chaim ms.)] commanded that blood not to be absorbed into the ground, in order that it might be remembered, so that My vengeance might be taken.

the fire [Heb. הַמְדוּרָה,] a great kindling, foaie in Old French, a pyre.

pile on the wood, kindle the fire And to pile on the wood, to kindle the fire.

and to consume the meat and prepare the mixture When the meat is consumed off the bones and it shrivels and becomes mingled with the liquid, and one stirs it with a spoon, it resembles a mixture of a compounding of spices, which they mix very thoroughly; and through the shriveling of the meat, its smoke is turned back into it, which is called aorser in Old French, to burn. And this is what [the following verse] says: and the bones will be scorched [Heb. יִחָרוּ.] They will be cooked and smoked, an expression of (Job 30:30): “dried out (חָרָה) from the heat.” Similarly (verse 11), “in order that it be heated, that its base be scorched (וְחַרָה),” as happens with a pot whose water has evaporated through its boiling: it heats up, its shards burn, and the cooked food spoils.

its filth shall be consumed [Heb. תִּתֻּם.] Its filth will end and be absorbed into its base. סִיר is [a pot] made of copper.

With guile she wearied [Heb. תְּאֻנִים הֶלְאָת.] With pretext and guile, she wearied the poor. Therefore, the wicked in her midst will not leave her, but they will perish in the fire of her retribution.

With your defilement With defilement of lewdness you will perish.

Since I purified you by reproving you through the prophets, and you did not become purified, etc.

I shall not nullify [Heb. לֹא אֶפְרַע.] I shall not nullify My decree.

nor shall I renege [Heb. וְלֹא אֶנָחֵם,] to turn back from My plans of evil, which I said I would execute upon you.

the desire of your eyes Your wife, as the context proves at the end [of the episode].

Melt [Heb. הֵאָנֵק,] melt in silence, soliles demoniz in Old French, to melt.

your glory Tefillin. All these commandments are for mourners, but you shall do the opposite. A mourner is forbidden to wear tefillin or shoes, he is required to wrap his head, and they serve him the first meal from food belonging to others.

as I had been commanded not to observe mourning.

what these mean to us What are these signs to us?

whom you have left over in Jerusalem, when you went out into exile.

And you shall do as I have done You shall not observe mourning because you have no consolers, for no one among you is not a mourner, and there is no mourning except where there are consolers. Another explanation: For you will be afraid to weep before the Chaldeans in whose midst you are.

upper lip [Heb. שָּׁפָם,] grenon in Old French, moustache.

and you will melt [Heb. וּנְמַקֹתֶם,] esere(y)z demoniz, and you will collapse.

when it comes When this evil comes.

the pride of their soul [Heb. מַשָׂא נַפְשָׂם.] Their soul is uplifted through them.

On that day It is impossible for the fugitive to come on the day of the destruction. Therefore this is the meaning: On that day, [on the day] that the fugitive will come to you to let you hear with your own ears, on that day, your mouth will be opened.

to let you hear with your own ears To announce the news that the city has been struck.

with the fugitive [Heb. אֶת הַפָּלִיט,] with the fugitive.

and you will speak and no longer be mute Because I said to you (3:26): “and you shall become mute, and you shall not be, etc.” From now on, they will see that your words are true, and you will no longer be mute from prophesying to them.