ירמיהו, פרק ד׳, פסוק ל״א

A chilling cry of pain and despair rises from the ruins of Jerusalem. Many residents had remained in the city, holding onto the hope that its sheer beauty and splendor would shield them from the enemy. Instead, they experience a sudden, cruel shattering as the city walls are finally breached [מלבי״ם]. The agonizing sound echoing through the streets is likened by some to the groans of a person severely ill [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ], while others describe it as the intense cries of a woman in the throes of labor [רד״ק].

This profound distress is specifically compared to a mother delivering her firstborn. The primary approach among commentators notes that the pain and contractions of a first delivery are far more severe than any that follow. Beyond the physical suffering, this comparison holds a deep historical truth. Just as a first birth is an unprecedented event accompanied by bloodshed, the city of Zion, which had never before been conquered, is enduring the trauma of destruction for the very first time [מלבי״ם].

This sound is the collective voice of the congregation of Israel mourning her dead, breaking into wails, groans, and moans [רש״י, מצודת ציון, רד״ק]. Overwhelmed by grief, she spreads her hands. The prominent approach views this as a physical reaction to deep sorrow, describing how she wrings and crushes her hands together in agony [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון, רד״ק]. Alternatively, this gesture is seen as reaching her hands upward in a desperate plea of prayer and supplication [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Out of this absolute despair comes a bitter cry of immediate woe [מצודת ציון]. Her soul is entirely exhausted, no longer able to carry the heavy sorrow caused by the endless bloodshed and the overwhelming number of murderers surrounding her [מצודת דוד, רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This utter exhaustion reflects the horrific massacre carried out by Nebuzaradan, the chief executioner, during the brutal conquest of the city [מלבי״ם].