Verse 2 What is thy mother? A lioness - Judea may here be the mother; the lioness, Jerusalem. Her lying down among lions, her having confederacy with the neighboring kings; for lion here means king.

Eze 19:2

What is thy mother? etc.; better, with the Vulgate, LXX; and Keil, Why did thy mother, a lioness, lie down among lionesses? The image may have been suggested by Gen 49:9 and Num 23:24, or perhaps also by Nah 2:11, Nah 2:12. The lioness is Israel, the kingdom idealized and personified. The lionesses among whom she had lain down are the heathen kingdoms. The question asks why she had become as one of them and adopted their cruelty and ferocity.