Thomas Aquinas Commentary Jeremiah 6:4-6

"Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out. Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces. For thus hath Jehovah of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her." — Jeremiah 6:4-6 (ASV)

Here, the prophet speaks of the attack to capture the city, and concerning this, he discusses three things.

1. The command to attack. Sanctify means to prepare, or to show that the war is sanctioned and just, as if undertaken by the will of God. This is the voice of the princes to the soldiers. If someone does not give them something to eat, they sanctify a battle against him (Micah 3:5).

2. The desire for battle, which is shown by their mutual exhortation: Arise—the words of the soldiers to one another—and let us go up to fight, as if the city were on a mountain. They are not deterred by the inconvenience of the time, whether by the heat of the day (at midday) or the terror of the night (in the night). They also complain about the shortness of time: Woe to us, because the day is far spent, even though daytime was the appropriate time to wage war.

   The phrase Made longer refers to the shadows: the more the sun approaches its zenith,Thomas Aquinas’s zenith capitis appears to be a direct translation of the original Arabic term, samt ar-ra’s: direction of the head. the longer the shadow then becomes on the opposite side. Be strong, it is yet day, to remain in Nobe (Isaiah 10:32). However, according to the Gloss, Woe to us is spoken from the perspective of the people, who are fearful of an ambush at night because they were barely able to resist at midday.Jerome, In Hieremiam, 2.81.

3. The manner of the attack. For thus says the Lord; this is as if to say, “We are able to fight with confidence, because the Lord has commanded it.” He commands them to cut wood to make siege engines and to cast up a mound.

   This phrase, cast up a mound, can be interpreted in two ways. It could mean destroying the defensive mound the city had built for its walls.The term agger is somewhat ambiguous. It generally means a mound raised around a besieged city by the enemy for the purpose of sustaining the various engines of war. However, the term can also refer to a defensive structure, something like a vallum. Or, it could mean raising a heap of earth upon which to mount the siege engines against the city. He himself will laugh at all your defenses, and raise a mound, and capture it (Habakkuk 1:10).