예레미야애가 1:6의 인용 해설

והאספסף, “and the rabble,” these people were the fellow travelers, they were not natural born Israelites. They were described elsewhere as ערב רב, “a mixed multitude.” The word אספסף, is a doubling of certain letters just as we find in the word סחרחר, or חמרמרו מעי in Psalms 38,11 (reeling) or in Lamentations 1,20 (my entrails are distressed).

Another allusion present in the upward and downward motion of these parts of the animal which after all represents its owner, is the concept of exile and redemption. The term מוליך used in the Talmud for the forward motion is reminiscent of the verse in Lamentations 1,6 וילכו בלא כח לפני רודף, “they could only walk feebly before the pursuer.” The backward motion symbolises redemption as the motion called מביא in the Talmud is reminiscent of the verse in Jeremiah 31,8: “here I will bring them in from the northland.” The reason upward and downward motions are performed also is to symbolise the One who raises His holy Presence Shechinah away from the Jewish people, reminding us of the verse in Ezekiel 11,23: “The Presence of the Lord ascended from the midst of the city.” The downward motion symbolises that this Shechinah will return to the Jewish people, i.e. descend to rest over us as promised in Isaiah 31,4 ”so the Lord will descend to make war against the mount and the hill of Zion (ushering in the final redemption).