Commentary for Lamentations 3:16

He ground. [Meaning] and He broke; and an example is, “My soul is crushed גָּרְסָה,”¹³Tehilim 119:20. and similarly, “ground גֶּרֶשׂ when still fresh.”¹⁴Vayikra 2:14.

Pebblestones. Fine pebbles that are in the dust, for the exiles would knead their dough in the pits that they would dig in the ground, and the gravel would enter it, as the Holy One, Blessed Is He, said to Yechezkeil, “Make yourself implements for exile,”¹⁵Yechezkeil 12:3. in which to drink and in which to knead a small cake, so that they should learn and do likewise, as it is stated, “And Yechezkeil will be to you for a sign.”¹⁶Ibid., 24:24. But they ridiculed him and did not do so; at the end their teeth were broken.

He made me grovel. He turned me over in ashes like a vessel inverted on its mouth, adenter in O.F. [to throw flat on one’s face]. There is a similar [word] in the Mishnah, “Pishon the camel driver measured with a reversible measure.”¹⁷Maseches Yevamos 107b; he would invert the measure to his advantage, thereby shortchanging his customers.