THEOSISCyrill of Alexandria
When the Roman army ravages all of Judea and lays siege to Jerusalem, there will be an outpouring of grief among its inhabitants akin to the sorrow of a farmer mourning a pomegranate orchard destroyed. This tree, known for its beauty, produces sturdy and long branches. When it bears fruit, it inspires great admiration. The delightful pomegranate, with its natural allure, hangs from the branches, encasing its precious seeds within a reddish shell. It is grievous, indeed, to see such a tree cut down alongside its fruit. The Jewish people, similarly, were to experience a parallel fate; their leaders, representing rightful authority, were comparable to the fruitful pomegranate.
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Some rulers from the tribe of Judah sat near the throne of glory, while others from the tribe of Levi, adorned with high priestly honors, were esteemed and celebrated. What shall we say of the judges, lawyers, and those honored in other ways? Yet, due to their enmity towards Christ, they were surrendered to their adversaries. When Vespasian and Titus devastated their land and besieged Jerusalem, famine took hold of all within it, leading to overwhelming sorrow and tears.
Josephus corroborates this account in his writings about the captivity, noting that the city was filled with wailing, and the lamentations spread far and wide—echoing his description of Jerusalem as Lebanon and a forest. He wrote, "Open thy doors, O Lebanon, and let the fire girdle thy cedars; let the pines weep, for the cedar has fallen; for the nobles are greatly impoverished; weep for the oaks of the Bashan, for the oak tree that was planted is cut down." Similarly, he depicts it as a garden to be felled. The gospel writer Matthew also affirms this message by warning the people of Judea, "Even the axe is already at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire" (Matthew 3:10). Thus, he foretells immense weeping, like that over a fruitful pomegranate orchard suddenly laid waste.
Furthermore, "the earth shall weep for the tribes, and their wives shall weep for themselves." It is not the blessed prophet's intention to depict a scene where men and women of each tribe weep separately; that would seem unnecessary and unmeaning. Rather, he imparts that each tribe, along with its wives, has particular reasons for sorrow. He specifies that "the tribe of the house of David for themselves, and their wives for themselves." We can then consider the grief experienced by each tribe. Some from the tribe of David or Judah lament the loss of their kingdom, grieving deeply for such a splendid glory now gone. Others, from the tribe of Levi, who have been stripped of priestly honors, will also cry alongside their wives. Those from the tribe of Nathan, who was a prophet—though not deemed a true prophet—also mourn, as they can no longer prophesy falsehoods or speak deceit from their hearts (Jeremiah 23:16), misleading the unwary as if their words were divine.
Tradition holds that judges were selected from the tribe of Simeon, men known for their understanding of the law and their superior adherence to it. This is why the tribe of Simeon mourned for themselves, reflecting on their failures. They suffered their own grief for having administered justice poorly, failing to live in accordance with divine statutes, instead becoming selfish and exceedingly corrupt, as the prophet declares, "her judges are like the wolves of the desert" (Zephaniah 3:3). Other tribes shared in this weeping, having been stripped of their cherished customs and places, with death looming over them, as famine approached like the sword of an enemy.