יחזקאל, פרק כ״ג, פסוק ל״ב

A chilling prophecy of doom unfolds through the powerful image of an overflowing cup of poison, illustrating the heavy, unavoidable punishment awaiting Jerusalem. Her fate will perfectly mirror the tragedy that already struck her sister city, Samaria. By drinking from this exact same cup, Jerusalem is destined to suffer an identical sentence of exile and complete destruction. This cup is deep and wide, a massive vessel filled with bitter water. It holds such a vast amount of poison that there is more than enough left over to force Jerusalem to drink deeply from it.

Drinking from this cup brings intense public humiliation, turning the city into an object of laughter and mockery as the surrounding nations watch the sheer force of the disaster strike [רד״ק]. The disgrace unfolds in a gradual, worsening progression. At first, there is laughter, which is often done quietly behind someone's back. However, this eventually escalates into mockery, a much harsher form of abuse thrown directly into the victim's face [מלבי״ם].

The immense volume of this suffering leads to different understandings of the cup's overflowing nature. The primary approach among commentators is that it refers to Jerusalem's inability to suffer and bear the pain. The mockery and agony will be so overwhelming that the city will simply collapse under the weight of her disgrace, unable to tolerate it. Alternatively, this vast capacity describes the cup itself, emphasizing that it is physically large and wide enough to hold an enormous, deadly amount of poisonous wine [רד״ק].

This worsening progression of punishment—moving from laughter to mockery, and finally reaching a completely unbearable state—reflects a historical process of three distinct exiles. Just as Samaria was exiled in three stages by Sennacherib, Jerusalem will suffer three waves of exile at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. The first exile will bring laughter from the nations, the second will invite direct mockery, and the third will be so devastatingly severe that Jerusalem will be completely unable to bear it, resulting in the total destruction of the city [מלבי״ם].