Verse 6
Therefore, the people of Judah would become prey for their savage, animal-like enemies (cf. Jeremiah 2:15; Jeremiah 4:7; Hosea 13:7-8; Habakkuk 1:8; Zephaniah 3:3).
"The lion represents strength, the desert wolf ravenousness, and the leopard swiftness-all traits of the Babylonians." [Note: Feinberg, p. 413.]
When the Judahites later tried to flee their towns, the foe would devour them. The reason was, they had transgressed Yahweh’s covenant greatly and had departed from Him many times (cf. Leviticus 26:22; Ezekiel 14:15). The eighth-century B.C. Sefire Treaties contain references to lions and leopards ravaging people in fulfillment of a treaty curse. [Note: See T. Wittstruck, "The Influence of Treaty Curse Imagery on the Beast Imagery of Daniel 7," Journal of Biblical Literature 97 (1978):100-102.] The Judahites were familiar with wild beasts attacking and killing humans outside their cities (cf. 2 Kings 17:25).
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