וְאֶתְכֶם֙ אֱזָרֶ֣ה בַגּוֹיִ֔ם וַהֲרִיקֹתִ֥י אַחֲרֵיכֶ֖ם חָ֑רֶב וְהָיְתָ֤ה אַרְצְכֶם֙ שְׁמָמָ֔ה וְעָרֵיכֶ֖ם יִהְי֥וּ חָרְבָּֽה׃
Kamu akan Kuserakkan di antara bangsa-bangsa, dan Aku akan menghunus pedang untuk mengejar kamu; negerimu akan menjadi sunyi sepi, dan kota-kotamu akan menjadi reruntuhan.
Rashi
וירק Its meaning is as the Targum takes it: “he girded”. Similar are (Leviticus 24:33) “And I will gird myself (והריקותי) with the sword against you", and (Exodus 15:9) “I will gird on (אריק) my sword”, and (Psalms 35:3) “Gird thyself (הרק) with the spear and battle axe”.
Kli Yakar
And the sound of a driven leaf shall pursue them. This is what is written: And they shall stumble one upon another, for this speaks of the division of hearts that is more common among Israel than among all other nations, as it is said: And I will scatter [literally, winnow] you among the nations. Like a winnower where no one [piece] clings to another, so too Israel — even when they are in the land of their enemies, they are separated from one another, even though it is the way of exiles to comfort each other. But Israel is not like this, for they are scattered and separated even in exile, and each one pushes his fellow with force and seeks to remove him from his position, to overthrow and fall upon him, as in the curse of Ahijah the Shilonite, as it is said: And the Lord shall strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water (First Kings 14:15). For every reed is pushed and shaken by the wind blowing through it, and in addition to the push of the wind, each reed pushes its fellow. Thus, each reed is pushed twice: once by the wind, and a second time by its neighboring reed that pushes against it, and so on from one to another until they all stumble and fall. So too, every person of Israel is pushed by the wind, that is, by the kingdoms, as in Daniel’s prophecy that compared all four kingdoms to wind — not the wind of God — as it is said: And behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea (Daniel 7:2). And perhaps this great sea alludes to the Red Sea [Yam Suf, literally Reed Sea], which has reeds and rushes, and his intention refers to Israel like the parable of the reeds: In addition to the pushing of the nations against Israel, each one pushes his fellow into his pitfalls. Therefore, here he compares them to a driven leaf, for the leaf is very weak and is blown by the wind that blows through it, and nevertheless, each leaf pushes its fellow and strikes it. So too, every person of Israel in exile is like a leaf driven by the aforementioned wind, and nevertheless, he pursues his fellow to strike him with the whip of his tongue, either in front of the nations or with evil speech in the Jewish quarter, which is the sound of a leaf. Therefore, it immediately says: And they shall stumble one upon another.