Following a period of great prosperity, blessing, and population growth, a sudden and sharp reversal takes place. The primary approach among commentators is that this dramatic shift is a direct punishment from God. The people had allowed their wealth and abundance to make them arrogant, leading them to sin [רד״ק, מאירי, מצודת דוד, אלשיך]. However, another perspective suggests that this is not a sudden decline, but rather a look back in time to describe the difficult conditions the people originally faced [רש״י]. Additionally, some identify the subjects of this suffering as the nobility who are mentioned slightly later in the narrative [אבן עזרא].
As a result of this punishment, the people experience two major consequences. First, their population rapidly decreases [שטיינזלץ, רד״ק]. This decline happens either through widespread death [מלבי״ם] or a sudden halt in childbirth [אבן עזרא]. Second, their physical posture and spirit are broken. Instead of walking upright with pride, they become humiliated, gloomy, and bent down to the dust [רד״ק, מצודת ציון, מצודת דוד, שטיינזלץ].
The root of this grim situation stems from a combination of severe oppression, external hardships, and deep sorrow. The concept of oppression is understood in several ways. One approach views it as a harsh political reality, where the people are conquered and crushed under cruel foreign rule [רד״ק, מלבי״ם, מאירי]. Historically, this connects to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, a time when the nation's leaders were killed or exiled, leaving behind only the poorest citizens [מלבי״ם]. A second approach interprets the oppression biologically, viewing it as barrenness sent as a curse to shrink their numbers [אבן עזרא, מאירי]. A third perspective understands it simply as a state of intense distress, where endless troubles linger and trap them [שטיינזלץ, מצודת ציון, מצודת דוד].
The suffering they endure is not limited to a single type of pain, as the narrative carefully distinguishes between different layers of misery [רד״ק, אבן עזרא, מאירי]. They face external hardships, which include physical illness and the loss of their wealth. At the same time, they are overwhelmed by internal sorrow, marked by deep grief and heartache [רד״ק, אבן עזרא].