Why does the Lord say he will fill the inhabitants of the land with drunkenness, and he will dash them one against another?

The Lord now explains the meaning of the parable. Comparing them to the wine jars he says he will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In other passages Jeremiah speaks of a cup filled with the wine of the Lord’s wrath and the same image is used elsewhere in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 25:15–16, Jeremiah 27:1–22; Jeremiah 48:12; Jeremiah 51:57; Psalm 60:3; Isaiah 51:22; Lamentations 4:21. That seems to be the image here too. The Lord is going to pour out his anger onto his people. No one will escape this judgment: the king, priests, prophets, and the people are all included. Much like drunkenness leads to a state of confusion and a lack of co-ordination and control, so the Lord will hand Judah over to internal disorder and instability.¹