How was your mother a lioness! How esteemed was your mother you, Zedekiah—that she was compared to a lioness!

Among the lions The princes of Judah.

And she raised up one of her cubs This lamentation was said regarding the sons of Josiah. The first is Jehoahaz.

he devoured men Heb. אָדָם. He robbed Israel, for Israel is called אָדָם, man, as is stated (below 34:31): “And you are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men,” and according to the allegory, any beast that tasted human flesh will always provoke humans.

Nations gathered around him Pharaoh the king of Egypt.

in their pit he was caught Heb. בְּשַּׁחְתָם. They dig pits and cover their openings with straw, and the beast falls into them.

and they brought him with hooks A sort of iron ring. They puncture his nose and pull him with them.

Now she saw His mother, the congregation of Israel.

that she had taken ill Heb. נוֹחַלָה, an expression of illness (חֹלִי).

and she took one of her cubs Jehoiakim.

and made him a young lion [i. e.,] a king. Every כְּפִיר in Scripture is a young and mighty lion.

And he was intimate with their widows He would rape the women and kill their husbands. Some interpret אַלְמְנוֹתָיו like אַרְמְנוֹתָיו [their palaces] and וַיֵדַע as an expression of destruction and ruin, as in (Ps. 138:6): “and He chastises (יְיֵדָע) the haughty from afar.”

and their cities he laid waste For he levied a tax on the land to give Pharaoh annually, as it is said in II Kings (23:35).

And nations gathered around against him from provinces (II Kings 24:2): “And the Lord incited against him bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, and bands of Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon.” “And nations gathered against him.”

וַיִתְּנוּ [is rendered by Jonathan as:] and they gathered.

into a collar Heb. בַּסוּגַר. Jonathan rendered: into a collar.

into strongholds to be imprisoned there.

Your mother is like a vine This is still part of the lamentation.

in your likeness Heb. בְּדַמְךָ, a term denoting a likeness and an analogy; i.e., you are like one whose mother was like a vine planted by water.

fruitful Heb. פֹּרִיָה, like (Deut. 29:17): “that bears (פּוֹרָה) gall,” [a word meaning:] produces fruit.

from many waters Through many waters.

sturdy rods for the scepters of the rulers Powerful rulers and mighty kings.

over between the interwoven branches The trees whose branches were many.

And it was scattered Heb. וַתֻּתֳּשּׁ. Every [expression of] נְתִישָּׁה or נְטִישָּׁה means something that lies scattered upon the face of the whole earth.

and the east wind Nebuchadnezzar.

dried up its fruit He slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah.

And fire came out of the staff of its sturdy branches From the iniquity of its kings and princes, the evil came to it.

It is a lamentation, and it will be a lamentation The prophecy is a lamentation, and it will be a lamentation.