Yechezkel 19:5

5 Now when she saw that in vain she had waited, and her tikvah (hope) was lost, then she took another of her cubs, and made him a strong lion.

Yechezkel 19:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 19:5

Now when she saw
That is, his mother, as the Syriac version expresses it; not his natural mother; as the mother of Sisera looked out and waited for him; but the congregation of Israel, as Jarchi interprets it, the body of the Jewish people: that she had waited;
for the return of Jehoahaz out of Egypt, which was expected for some time: or, "that she was become sick"; or "weak" ^F23, and feeble, and brought to a low estate by his captivity, and by the tax the king of Egypt put upon her: [and] her hope was lost;
of his return to her any more, and so of being eased of the tribute imposed, and of being restored by him to liberty and glory; for the Lord had declared that he should return no more to his native country, but die in the place where he was carried captive, ( Jeremiah 22:10-12 ) ; then she took another of her whelps;
or sons, as the Targum: [and] made him a young lion:
a king, as the same Targum paraphrases it; that is, Jehoiakim, the brother of Jehoahaz, who before was called Eliakim, but his name was changed by Pharaohnecho; and though he is said to make him king, yet it was by the consent of the people of the Jews.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 (hlxwn yk) "quod infirmatus esset", Cocceius, Starckius.

Yechezkel 19:5 In-Context

3 And she brought up one of her cubs; it became a strong lion, and it learned to tear teref (prey); it devoured adam.

4 The Goyim also heard of him; he was trapped in their shachat (pit), and they brought him with hooks unto Eretz Mitzrayim.

5 Now when she saw that in vain she had waited, and her tikvah (hope) was lost, then she took another of her cubs, and made him a strong lion.

6 And he went up and down among the arayot (lions), he became a strong lion, and learned to tear the teref, and devoured adam.

7 And he destroyed their strongholds, and he laid waste their towns; and eretz and the fulness thereof became desolate, through the sound of his roaring.