Where [is] the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, [even] the old lion, walked, [and] the lion's whelp, and none made [them] afraid?
Ver. 11. Where is the dwelling of the lions, &c.] Where is Nineveh, once so terrible, now so despicable? Leoni mortuo vel mus insultat. A dead lion or a lively mouse! Once none dared look at it or mute against it, now each passenger can insult over it, inquire where it stood, and not be afraid to take this lion by the beard. "God poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty," Job 12:21, when once they turn tyrants, and exercise regiment without righteousness, as Micah 3:2,3. Such a mighty hunter, or devourer of men and nations, was Nimrod (the first founder of this Assyrian monarchy), and became a proverb against all tyrants and persecutors, Genesis 10:9. Such a lion was Nero, 2 Timothy 4:17. Such a tiger Tiberius, of whom one saith, that he laid hold with his teeth on all the excellent spirits of his time; Domitian, who, not content with the blood of Christians, commanded all Jews that were of the stock of David to be sought out, and put to death; Diocletian, and the rest of the primitive persecutors; as also that man of sin, the whole pack of popes, successors to Boniface VIII (who came in like a fox, reigned like a lion, died like a dog), and to Benedict XII, who, when he died, had this epitaph made of him:
“ Hic situs est Nero, laicis leo, vipera clero:
Devins a vero, turba repleta mere. ”
And the feedingplace of the young lions ] Where the old ones provided prey for them till they could skill to do it for themselves; that which they would soon learn and practise, when once grown up. The Assyrian young princes were accustomed to rapine and cruelty from the first; being no better than young Tiberius, whom his tutor, Theodorus Gadareus, rightly characterized when he said, he was dirt kneaded with blood ( πηλος αιματι πεφυραμενος ); or than Nero the lion; of whom his father, Domitius, prophesied, that of himself and his wife, Agrippa (both notoriously naughty), no good man could be born. Mali corvi, malum ovum. The wicked ravens lay bad eggs. Of an ill breed, ne catulus quidem relinquendus, to leave not even a young dog behind, said the Romans, when they slew one of their tyrants together with his young son. It was Maximinus, if I mistake not.
Where the lion, even the old lion, walked] The courageous or hearty lion (named of Leo, a heart), walked and stalked with his whelps, and none made them afraid (Labi). But now his heart melteth, his knees knock together with fear and faintness, as Nahum 2:10, his city Nineveh, that was not only spoliarium latronum, but spelunca leonum (Calv.), is how nowhere; it shall live by fame only, time shall triumph over it. God will "stain the pride of all glory, and bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth," Isaiah 23:9. So Ovid. (Metam. lib. 15):
“ Clara fuit Sparte, magnae viguere Mycenae,
Vile solum Sparte est, altae cecidere Mycenae.
Oedipodioniae quid sunt nisi nomina Thebae? &c. ”