The brutal conquests and staggering wealth of the Assyrian empire and its capital, Nineveh, are captured through the vivid imagery of a fierce wild lion caring for its pride. The leaders of Nineveh are compared to a mighty lion that hunts relentlessly to provide for its family, hoarding stolen loot within its dens.
The primary approach among commentators is that this imagery serves as a metaphor for the king of Nineveh, his ministers, and his nobles, who constantly plundered the surrounding nations and brought immense spoil back to their city. The lion hunts either to meet the exact needs of its pride [רד״ק, אבן עזרא, אברבנאל, ביאור שטיינזלץ] or to gather an overwhelming abundance of wealth [רש״י, מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון]. The prey is gathered for the lion cubs, which represent the king's children and the members of his household [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת דוד, אברבנאל]. As the hunt continues, the lion strangles and kills other wild animals [רד״ק, מצודת ציון, אברבנאל, ביאור שטיינזלץ] to feed the lionesses, symbolizing the queens and the wives of the royal ministers [רד״ק, מצודת דוד]. Finally, the lion fills its caves and hidden dens [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. In reality, these hiding places represent the treasuries, palaces, and lands of Nineveh, which were packed to the brim with the vast riches stolen from conquered peoples [רש״י, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ].
In sharp contrast, a radically different and much darker interpretation suggests that the imagery does not depict a leader providing for his family, but rather acts of internal cruelty and self-destruction during the city's final collapse [מלבי״ם]. According to this view, as the city falls, the king of Nineveh murders his own young children with his bare hands, tearing their limbs apart, and strangles his wives, possibly as thick smoke from the burning city surrounds them. This perspective also notes a gender distinction in the destruction: the male children are killed and discarded in small, dark rooms, while the women meet their end within the grand palaces.