The young lions roared upon him, and yelled,.... Or, "gave out their voice" ; meaning the kings of the nations, as the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi explain it; and are to be understood of the kings of Assyria and Babylon, and particularly of Nebuchadnezzar; see Jer 50:17 compared to lions for their strength and cruelty; their "roaring" and "yelling design" the bringing forth of their armies against Israel, the noise of the battle, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war, and the voice of the warrior:and they made his land waste; all this is said as past, when it was yet to come, because of the certainty of it, and the sure accomplishment of these prophecies; for this respects the future desolation of the land of Israel at the Babylonish captivity:his cities are burnt without inhabitant; not only Jerusalem was burnt with fire, Jer 52:13, but other cities in the land of Israel, so that they were not inhabited: or, "they were desolate or destroyed" as the Septuagint version, so that none could dwell in them; and so the Targum,"her cities are desolate, without inhabitant.'
'Kimchi's father explains the word by wxmu, "budded", or brought forth herbs or plants; for desolate places bring up plants; where there is no inhabitant, grass grows. Mlwq wntn "dederunt vocem suam", Montanus, Pagninus; "edunt rocem suam", Schmidt.