An impending disaster triggers a severe physical and emotional reaction, manifesting as intense psychosomatic pain driven by overwhelming anxiety [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This profound shock stems from the sheer magnitude of the approaching trouble [מצודת דוד], specifically reacting to the earlier call for Elam to launch an attack [אבן עזרא].
Who exactly is experiencing this agony? The primary approach among commentators is that the prophet is speaking on behalf of the people of Babylon or their king, Belshazzar. He takes up their lament, speaking as if Babylon itself is crying out in distress [רש"י, רד"ק, מצודת דוד]. However, another perspective suggests the prophet is describing his own reaction. Out of deep compassion, he shares in the sorrow of the Babylonians and sighs over the ruin coming upon the nations [רש"י בשם מדרש אגדה]. [שד"ל] supports this view, arguing that the context makes it impossible to read the lament as Babylon's own voice.
The reaction to this catastrophe is painted through vivid images of suffering. The body is overcome with a deep sense of trembling and shaking [מצודת ציון]. Intense agony takes hold, matching the sudden, gripping pain of a woman in labor [רש"י, מצודת ציון, מצודת דוד]. The Sages even noted a physiological connection, comparing these labor pains to the structural hinges and doors of a house giving way [רש"י]. The physical toll continues as the body bends and twists in a convulsive sickness [רש"י, מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Going deeper, [המלבי"ם] explains that this twisting is not merely physical; it reflects a state of mental confusion, madness, and a total collapse of both physical and emotional strength.
The crisis ultimately overwhelms the senses, though commentators differ on exactly how this happens. One approach explains that the body convulses simply from hearing the news of the tragedy, and the terror only deepens when witnessing the sheer scale of the destruction firsthand [מצודת דוד, רד"ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. In contrast, [שד"ל] and [אבן עזרא] describe a state of complete sensory paralysis caused by extreme fear. The individual is so physically contorted that they lose the ability to hear, and so consumed by panic that they are no longer able to see.