4:7 Like a lion that has come up from its lair 1
the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base. 2
He is coming out to lay your land waste.
Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.
5:6 So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them.
Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them.
Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities
and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. 3
For they have rebelled so much
and done so many unfaithful things. 4
1 tn Heb “A lion has left its lair.” The metaphor is turned into a simile for clarification. The word translated “lair” has also been understood to refer to a hiding place. However, it appears to be cognate in meaning to the word translated “lair” in Ps 10:9; Jer 25:38, a word which also refers to the abode of the
2 tn Heb “his place.”
3 tn Heb “So a lion from the thicket will kill them. A wolf from the desert will destroy them. A leopard will watch outside their cities. Anyone who goes out from them will be torn in pieces.” However, it is unlikely that, in the context of judgment that Jeremiah has previously been describing, literal lions are meant. The animals are metaphorical for their enemies. Compare Jer 4:7.
4 tn Heb “their rebellions are so many and their unfaithful acts so numerous.”