ירמיהו, פרק נ״א, פסוק ל״ח

A sudden outburst of loud, collective cries fills the air, echoing like the roars of a pride of lions. The exact nature of these intense sounds depends entirely on who is making them.

One perspective suggests that these are the voices of the people of Babylon. In this context, the sound is a bitter cry of pain and deep distress, much like the desperate roar of lions starving for food [מצודת דוד, רד״ק]. Alternatively, the roaring belongs not to the victims, but to the conquerors. This interpretation points to the Median army attacking Babylon, with their cries representing the fierce, aggressive roar of a sudden military assault [רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Taking a different path, the lion imagery can be traced to a specific historical moment: the grand feast of the Babylonian king Belshazzar. Here, the roar is an expression of false pride and arrogance during a night when the Babylonians celebrated what they thought was a victory over Darius. This approach highlights a deliberate contrast between small cubs and fully grown, mature lions [מצודת ציון, מלבי״ם]. Belshazzar was essentially as small and weak as a cub, yet he attempted to roar for prey and defeat the empires of Media and Persia as if he were a powerful, mature lion [מלבי״ם].

To emphasize the intensity of the noise, the event is described with a double expression of shouting and roaring [מצודת דוד, רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Yet, there is a subtle layer of irony in the description of this second cry. While it functions as a fierce roar, the underlying term is traditionally used by the sages to describe the braying of a donkey [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת ציון].