Ezekiel 19:2

2 and thou shalt say, Why thy mother, a lioness, lay among lions? In the midst of little lions she nourished her whelps, (and thou shalt say, Thy mother, a lioness, lay among the lions! In the midst of the little lions she nourished, or brought up, her cubs,)

Ezekiel 19:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 19:2

And say, what [is] thy mother?
&c.] That is, say so to the then reigning prince, Zedekiah, what is thy mother like? to what is she to be compared? by whom is meant, not the royal family of David only, or Jerusalem the metropolis of the nation, but the whole body of the people; and so the Targum interprets it of the congregation of Israel. The answer to the question is, a lioness;
she is like to one, not for her strength and glory, but for her cruelty and rapine; for her want of humanity, mercy, and justice: she lay down among lions;
that is, kings, as the Targum interprets it Heathen princes, the kings of the nations about them, as of Egypt and Babylon, ( Jeremiah 50:17 ) ; so called for their despotic and arbitrary power, tyranny, and cruelty: now this lioness, the people of the Jews, lay down among them, joined with them in leagues and marriages, and learned their manners, and became of the same temper and disposition: she nourisheth her whelps among young lions;
princes, as the Targum explains it; either the princes of Judah, who were become like young lions, fierce and cruel; or the princes of other nations, among whom the children of the royal family were brought up; or, however, they were trained up in the principles of such, even of arbitrary and despotic power, and were taught to oppress their subjects, and not execute justice and mercy among them.

Ezekiel 19:2 In-Context

1 And thou, son of man, take wailing on the princes of Israel; (And thou, son of man, take up a wailing for the princes of Israel;)

2 and thou shalt say, Why thy mother, a lioness, lay among lions? In the midst of little lions she nourished her whelps, (and thou shalt say, Thy mother, a lioness, lay among the lions! In the midst of the little lions she nourished, or brought up, her cubs,)

3 and led out one of her little lions; he was made a lion, and he learned to take prey, and to eat men.

4 And heathen men heard of him, and took him not without their wounds; and they brought him in chains into the land of Egypt. (And the heathen, or the nations, heard of him, and caught him in their pit; and they brought him in chains to the land of Egypt.)

5 Which mother when she had seen, that she was sick, and the abiding of him perished, took (another) one of her little lions, and made him a lion. (Which mother when she had seen, that her hope was gone, and her waiting was for nought, took another one of her little lions, and made him a lion.)