יחזקאל, פרק כ״ג, פסוק ל״ה

The nation's suffering is a direct, measure-for-measure consequence of its complete alienation from God. The primary reason for all the agony brought upon the people is their total forgetting of Him, much like an unfaithful wife who completely abandons and erases all memory of her husband [מלבי״ם].

This profound rejection is described through the imagery of the nation intentionally casting God behind her body [מצודת ציון] or back [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This metaphor illustrates a person throwing something out of sight to ensure they never look at it or remember it again [רד״ק, מצודת דוד]. It reflects a grim reality where the nation is entirely consumed by its own affairs, deliberately discarding God from its daily existence [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Because of this deliberate betrayal, strict justice is applied. The nation must now suffer and carry the heavy burden of its own immoral actions [מצודת ציון]. The commentators agree on the nature of this retribution: just as the nation alienated itself from God, and just as God patiently endured her disgrace until this point, she must now bear the consequences herself. She is left to suffer the punishment for her betrayal and pay the full debt of her sinful deeds.