Jeremiah Gathers the Severed Fingers of the Exiles

Another interpretation: Jeremiah. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jeremiah, Either go down with them to Babylon and I will be here, or you be here and I will go down with them. Jeremiah said before the Holy One, blessed be He, Master of the worlds, if I do not go down, what benefit am I to them? Rather, let their Creator go down with them, for He benefits them. Three things did Nebuchadnezzar command Nebuzaradan concerning Jeremiah. He said to him, Take him and set your eyes upon him, do him no harm at all (Jeremiah 39:12). And Jeremiah would see a company of young men bound in iron collars, and he would go and put his hand in among them; and again he would see a company of elders bound in iron collars, and he would go and put his hand in among them. Nebuzaradan said to him, One of three things is in you: either you are a false prophet, or you scorn sufferings, or you are a shedder of blood. Either you are a false prophet, for here you have stood for so many years prophesying that this corner would be destroyed, and now I am destroying it, and it grieves you. Or you scorn sufferings, for I wish you no trouble and chains are reckoned as nothing to you. Or you are a shedder of blood, for if the king should hear what you are doing to yourself, and I have done nothing to you, he will send and lift off the head of this man. Rather, If it seems good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, hold off, and so forth (Jeremiah 40:4). And while he had not yet turned back (Jeremiah 40:5), the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed to him. This is what is written, The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan had let him go (Jeremiah 40:1). And he was bound in chains (Jeremiah 40:1). What is the meaning of and he [ve-hu]? Rabbi Aha said, As it were, he and He [were bound together]. What was that word? Rabbi Eleazar and Rabbi Yohanan. Rabbi Eleazar said, He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd his flock (Jeremiah 31:9). Rabbi Yohanan said, For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand of one stronger than he (Jeremiah 31:10). And on the way back he would see fingers of hands and feet, cut off and flung along the roads, and he would take them up and embrace them and kiss them and place them inside his cloak, and say to them, My children, did I not say this to you: Give glory to the LORD your God before it grows dark and before your feet stumble, and so forth (Jeremiah 13:16). Before the words of Torah grow dark upon you, before the words of prophecy grow dark.