The prophet Amos described a man who fled from a lion, only to be attacked by a bear, and when he finally made it home and leaned against the wall, a snake bit him (Amos 5:19). The rabbis of SAFE0 Rabbah saw this as a parable for Israel's journey through four successive empires, each one waiting to strike the moment the previous one released its grip.
Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Aha identified the animals. The lion was Babylonia, based on Daniel's vision: "The first was like a lion" (Daniel 7:4). The bear was Media, matching "another beast, resembling a bear" (Daniel 7:5). Rabbi Yohanan added a twist, noting that the Hebrew word for "bear" (dov) could also be read as the Aramaic for "wolf" (dev), linking it to Jeremiah's prophecy: "A wolf of the deserts will plunder them" (Jeremiah 5:6). In Jeremiah's version, all four empires appear in sequence: the lion of the forest (Babylonia), the desert wolf (Media), the lurking leopard (Greece), and the beast that mauls everyone who passes (Edom, meaning Rome).
The midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) then overlays the Song of Songs onto the same pattern. When God calls to Israel, "Open for me, my sister, my love, my dove, my faultless one" (Song of Songs 5:2), each term of endearment corresponds to a different exile. "My sister" is Babylonia. "My love" is Media. "My faultless one" is Greece. "My dove" is Edom, because during the Greek period, the Temple still stood and Israel offered doves on the altar.
A second interpretation names specific rulers. The lion is Nebuchadnezzar. The bear is Belshazzar. And the snake is Haman, who crushed the people like a serpent. His descendants wrote letters to the Persian king urging him to halt the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra 4:8). When the king complied and canceled the work, the people screamed: "Woe!" And so the Book of Esther begins: "It was during the days of Ahasuerus" (Esther 1:1).