This section contains five pictures of Jerusalem's condition.30
2:11-12 Jeremiah had exhausted his capacity for weeping and sorrowing over the destruction of his people; he felt drained emotionally. He observed small children and infants fainting in the streets for lack of food and drink. They were dying in their mothers' arms for lack of nourishment. Jerusalem was a place of starvation.
2:13 Jeremiah struggled to find adequate words to comfort his people because their ruin had been so devastating. Jerusalem was a place of no comfort.
2:14 The false prophets had misled the people (cf. Jer. 2:5; 10:15; 14:13; 16:19). They had not told them the truth that would have led them to return to God and spared them from captivity. Jerusalem was a place of perverted leadership.
2:15-17 Passersby expressed their amazement at Jerusalem's great destruction. They could hardly believe that it had been such a beautiful and happy place. Judah's enemies rejoiced to see the evidence of her fall. They took pride in seeing her destruction. Jerusalem's destruction was the fulfillment of the destruction that Yahweh had told His people was coming long ago (cf. Lev. 26:14-46; Deut. 28:15-68). He was ultimately responsible for it. He had showed no mercy in judging but had strengthened Judah's enemy against her and had caused him to rejoice at the city's overthrow. Jerusalem was a place of mocking enemies.
2:18-19 Judah's enemies called on the city to mourn perpetually because of the destruction that God had brought on her. The Jerusalemites should cry out to God and ask Him to spare their children who were dying of starvation. Jerusalem was a place of ceaseless wailing.
