God comes into focus, bow in right hand, poised to smite Israel. A powerful, invincible foe – God is twice designated enemy in this verse, followed by a third in the following verse – God carefully arranges and unleashes devastation. The same right hand from the previous verse, formerly taut and held in a willfully inactive posture, now releases and swings into controlled action, smiting Jerusalem’s precious inhabitants.

 

Courtesy of the Virtual Beit Midrash, Yeshivat Har Etzion