Yirmeyah 22:8

8 And Goyim rabbim shall pass by this city, and they shall say every ish to his re’a (neighbor), Why hath Hashem done thus unto this ir hagedolah (great city)?

Yirmeyah 22:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 22:8

And many nations shall pass by this city
After it is burned down and destroyed; that is, people out of many nations travelling that way: and they shall say every man to his neighbour;
as in company together, passing along the ruined walls of the city: wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city?
so fortified and so full of people; the metropolis of the whole nation; the greatest city in the east; yea, the joy of the whole earth; a city peculiarly dear to the Lord; greatly honoured by him with his presence, worship, and ordinances, and yet now in ruins; how comes this to pass? they see and acknowledge the hand of the Lord in it, having a better notion of things than the Jews themselves had.

Yirmeyah 22:8 In-Context

6 For thus saith Hashem unto the Bais Melech Yehudah: Thou art [in grandeur] Gil‘ad unto Me, and the summit of the Levanon; yet surely I will make thee a midbar, and towns which are not inhabited.

7 And I will prepare mashchitim (destroyers) against thee, every ish with his weapons; and they shall cut down thy choice arazim (cedars), and cast them into the eish.

8 And Goyim rabbim shall pass by this city, and they shall say every ish to his re’a (neighbor), Why hath Hashem done thus unto this ir hagedolah (great city)?

9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the Brit Hashem Eloheihem, and worshiped elohim acherim, and served them.

10 Weep ye not for the one dead, neither mourn him; but weep bitterly for him that goeth away [into the Golus]; for he shall return no more, nor see his eretz moledet (native land).