פּירוש אויף ירמיהו 2:10

“Cross over to the islands of the Kittim and look” [2:10]. The Holy One said: send messengers to the nations called Kittim, the Romans who bow down to the water and the Tatars who bow down to the fire. Even though those who worship and bow down to the fire know that water extinguishes the fire, yet each one remains with their own god. They do not exchange them, as you did with Me.¹Yalkut Shimoni, Jeremiah, Remez, 266.

the isles of the Kittites To the isles of the Kittites.

איי is (isles in French).

and send to Kedar And send to Kedar to see their custom.

and consider diligently And put your heart to it to consider the matter diligently.

whether Heb. הן, like אם, if. Whether either of those nations exchanged its god although they are no gods, yet My nation exchanged their glory, with which they were honored. The Kittites and the Kedarites were tent dwellers and cattle herders, who would travel, go, and wander from pasture to pasture and from desert to desert, and they carry their gods with them to the place where they encamp. But I carried you until I established you, yet you forsook Me. This is how Jonathan paraphrased it. Our Sages said however: The Kittites worshipped water and the Kedarites worshipped fire. And although they know that water quenches fire, they did not forsake their god.