Judea hath mourned, and the gates thereof are fallen, and are become obscure on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
אָבְלָ֣ה יְהוּדָ֔ה וּשְׁעָרֶ֥יהָ אֻמְלְל֖וּ קָדְר֣וּ לָאָ֑רֶץ וְצִוְחַ֥ת יְרוּשָׁלַ֖͏ִם עָלָֽתָה׃
2 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Judah mourned deeply. He referred to the gate rather than the square, as the absence of anyone leaving stands as a poignant testament to the devastation. The lament of Jerusalem rose to the heavens. They cried out to God; in their affliction, they turned to Him for help.
Judah mourned, and her gates became desolate upon the earth, while the lament of Jerusalem ascended. The elders dispatched the younger members of the community to fetch water; they approached the wells but found none, returning with their vessels unfilled, feeling shame and discouragement, covering their heads due to the barrenness of the land. Rain did not fall upon the territory, leaving the farmers perplexed, leading them to also hide their faces. In times of drought, when the people face a famine of hearing and teaching the Word of God, Judea, once proud of her genuine faith honoring God, now weeps, her gates laying in ruins and representing the faculties through which the soul is nurtured.
The darkness prevails, and within Jerusalem, logic and divine teaching are replaced by tumult and disorder. The elders, who should have sought to draw forth wisdom, instead send the younger ones, lacking in experience, to the wells where the patriarchs previously found sustainment. They return with their vessels empty, not due to a lack of water, but because they were unable to locate it. Troubled and shamed, they cover their heads, unable to speak with the apostle; yet we all gaze with unveiled faces at the glory of the Lord. The desolation of the earth and its produce, through which we gain knowledge of God, has diminished, and the reason is clear: no rain fell upon the land, as it was ordained that the clouds refrain from bringing moisture. The farmers, to whom it is said, "God's work, God's building is yours," and in another verse, "we are God's coworkers," find themselves troubled and ashamed, aware that without God's grace and assistance, their efforts are futile.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS