ירמיהו, פרק י״ד, פסוק ח׳

In times of severe crisis and famine, a profound sense of abandonment can take hold. A sharp contrast emerges between God's eternal nature as a savior and the painful reality where He appears hidden and distant. God is the constant source of salvation for the Israelites. While hope is often just an abstract feeling, in this context, it points directly to the specific source and address where that hope is directed [מלבי״ם]. The expectation is entirely focused on Him [רש״י, מצודת ציון]. Even when the people stray from the right path and face hardship as a punishment for their sins, they continue to look toward God in every generation, yearning for Him to show mercy and save them [רד״ק].

However, faced with unanswered prayers, human imagery is used to express the pain of this separation. God is asked why He acts like a stranger or a passing traveler [מצודת ציון]. These images convey a difficult feeling that His presence and interest in the land have become merely temporary [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. A foreigner does not live in the land and therefore does not naturally worry about its well-being. Similarly, a traveler stopping for the night at an inn, even if he is a citizen of the country, pays little attention to his surroundings because his stay is not permanent [מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם]. Through these comparisons, a picture is painted of a reality where God seems uninterested in watching over the land. It feels as though He has handed its care over to the forces of nature, or that He only pays attention briefly and occasionally [מלבי״ם].

Still, comparing God to a detached stranger or a passing traveler is simply a use of human language meant to help the mind grasp the depth of the despair. To ensure that God is not actually viewed as apathetic or flawed, early translators avoided a literal interpretation. Instead of applying these metaphors of the stranger and the traveler to God, they shifted the imagery, applying it directly to the Israelites themselves [רד״ק].