Hear therefore, ye women, the word of the Lord: and let your ears receive the word of his mouth: and teach your daughters wailing: and every one her neighbour mourning.
כִּֽי־עָ֤לָה מָ֙וֶת֙ בְּחַלּוֹנֵ֔ינוּ בָּ֖א בְּאַרְמְנוֹתֵ֑ינוּ לְהַכְרִ֤ית עוֹלָל֙ מִח֔וּץ בַּחוּרִ֖ים מֵרְחֹבֽוֹת׃
3 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Instruct your daughters to grieve, and guide them to express their sorrow genuinely. When he previously stated to summon the mourners and allow them to gather, he emphasized that calling upon others to mourn is ultimately futile. It is more beneficial for you to understand this sorrow personally, for the support of many cannot adequately alleviate the pain of those who suffer.
Listen, therefore, women, to the word of the Lord, and allow your ears to truly hear the utterances from His mouth; instruct your daughters to mourn, and urge each of your neighbors to lament. For death has entered through our windows and has invaded our homes, seeking to claim the children from the public spaces and the young men from the streets. Earlier, it was stated to summon the mourners and hasten the craftsmen; but now He addresses them as if they have already arrived, issuing a rebuke to the priests, teachers, and all men. Since they have neglected to instruct the people, they must now listen to the word of the Lord and take to heart the teachings from His mouth.
They are to educate their daughters and their neighbors in mourning, revealing the reasons for their sorrow—that death has come through our windows and invaded our dwellings.
This could be interpreted spiritually, suggesting that the death of sins invades the soul through all the senses. However, it might also refer to the assault of the Babylonians, whose fierce and rapid advance will be such that they will not wait for the doors to open but will force their way in through windows and roofs, bringing devastation to the homes of Jerusalem. The children who are outside, and the young men to whom John writes, do not choose the narrow way that leads to life but instead wander in the streets, of whom it is said, ‘As the wide gate and the broad way leadeth unto destruction’ (Matthew 7:13).
I will disperse them into languages they do not understand, just as their ancestors did, and I will bring the sword upon them, until I bring about their destruction. This reflects a dual punishment: the devastation of war and the agony of exile, for those who survive the battle are taken into bondage. Heightening their anguish, He instructs that mourners be summoned, and that abundant tears be shed (Jeremiah 9:17). He also directs the wives, as joy is no longer appropriate, (Jeremiah 9:20) to teach their daughters to embrace mourning (Jer. 9:20).
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS