ירמיהו, פרק כ״ט, פסוק י״ז

A harsh prophecy of wrath targets the people who remained in Jerusalem, carrying a sobering message for those already in exile. The severe warning is meant to shatter the false hopes of the exiled population, who believed they would quickly return to their homeland. The underlying logic is straightforward: if God is handing the current inhabitants of the land over to the enemy for total destruction, there is no chance the exiles will be returning there anytime soon [מצודת דוד]. Because the preceding statements were lengthy and detailed, the message restarts with a renewed, formal introduction from God to refocus attention on the impending judgment [מצודת דוד].

God declares that He is unleashing sword, famine, and plague against the remaining population. This act of sending disasters refers to actively inciting and stirring up the enemy forces and these deadly afflictions to strike the people [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון].

To illustrate their grim fate, the people left in Jerusalem are compared to rotten figs. This imagery builds upon an earlier prophecy where King Zedekiah and the surviving remnant were also likened to bad figs [רד״ק, מצודת דוד]. The description of these figs paints a picture of something deeply disgusting and repulsive, sharing a linguistic root with the concept of a scandal or outrage [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת ציון]. They are dirty [רד״ק] and spoiled [ביאור שטיינזלץ], so thoroughly ruined that they have become hateful, cast away from human contact, and completely unfit to be eaten [מצודת דוד].