ישעיהו, פרק י״ג, פסוק ט״ז

A brutal and merciless wave of destruction sweeps through the land, striking at the very heart of human vulnerability: family and home. The sheer terror of the invasion is magnified by the complete helplessness of the victims, who are forced to watch unspeakable horrors unfold before their eyes without any power to stop them.

The invading forces show no pity toward the young. Small children are targeted [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ], with some noting that this specifically includes the children of foreign residents who lived in the city and failed to escape in time [מלבי״ם]. These children suffer a cruel death, as they are forcefully dashed against the ground or walls [רד״ק, מלבי״ם]. The violence is so severe that their bodies are split open and cut [רש״י, מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ], destroying them until they are completely unrecognizable [מלבי״ם]. All of this torture takes place in full view of their agonizing parents [מצודת דוד], who are ultimately killed as well [רד״ק].

Alongside the tragic loss of life, the attackers strip the survivors of their possessions, ruthlessly looting and robbing their homes [רד״ק, מצודת ציון, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The devastation then culminates in the brutal assault of the women. The prophetic text records this violence using a blunt and direct term for sexual violation. However, the primary approach among commentators is that the Sages established a tradition to read the word aloud using a gentler, more respectful term [אבן עזרא, שד״ל]. While the written word conveys a harsh and direct physical act, the spoken word serves as a clean euphemism, simply meaning to lie down together [מנחת שי, רד״ק]. Interestingly, the original written root is not necessarily vulgar in all contexts, as it is used elsewhere in the Bible as a respectful title for a queen [שד״ל], but its directness here prompted the softer public reading.