“What was your mother? - a lioness,
In the midst of the lions she couched - rearing her whelps,
And she brought up one of her whelps - he became a young lion,
And he learned to catch the prey - he devoured men.
The nations also heard of him - he was taken in their pits,
And they brought him with hooks into the land of Egypt.”
Israel (Judah) is likened to a lioness, strong and powerful, rearing her cubs. This was how she saw herself. And she was proud of her kings, and their warlike abilities, and looked to them to keep her safe.
Lions were a familiar feature of life in Palestine throughout the Old Testament and beyond. They were seen as fierce and noble beasts and were used to symbolise powerful control and rule (Genesis 49:9; Micah 5:8; Numbers 23:24; Numbers 24:9 compare 1 Kings 10:19-20). A royal lion was found on the seal of Shema from Megiddo.
So here Jehoahaz is likened to a lion descended from the lioness of Israel (Judah). Ezekiel is bringing out how Israel saw herself and her kings, in contrast with what happened to them. But Israel was wrong. He only reigned for three months before being carried off to Egypt by Pharaoh Necho (2 Kings 23:31-33) where he eventually died (Jeremiah 22:10-12), but the description is not of his reign but of how he was trained in warlike qualities. It explains that he was a warlike man, but that in spite of that he was made a captive. Why? Because he had forsaken Yahweh.
‘He was taken in their pits, and they brought him with hooks into the land of Egypt.' His defeat and capture is described in terms of the ancient lion hunt.