John Gill Commentary Ezekiel 19:5

"Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion." — Ezekiel 19:5 (ASV)

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.