Discovery BoxIsaiah 31:4
Context31:4 Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me:
“The Lord will be like a growling lion,
like a young lion growling over its prey. 1
Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,
it is not afraid of their shouts
or intimidated by their yelling. 2
In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. 3
Genesis 49:9
Context49:9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah,
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches and lies down like a lion;
like a lioness – who will rouse him?
Numbers 24:9
Context24:9 They crouch and lie down like a lion,
and as a lioness, 4 who can stir him?
Blessed is the one who blesses you,
and cursed is the one who curses you!’”
Jeremiah 4:7
Context4:7 Like a lion that has come up from its lair 5
the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base. 6
He is coming out to lay your land waste.
Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.
Jeremiah 49:19
Context49:19 “A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan 7
scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it. 8
So too I will chase the Edomites off their land. 9
Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose. 10
For there is no one like me, and there is no one who can call me to account. 11
There is no 12 ruler 13 who can stand up against me.
Jeremiah 50:17
Context50:17 “The people of Israel are like scattered sheep
which lions have chased away.
First the king of Assyria devoured them. 14
Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones. 15
Hosea 11:10
Context11:10 He will roar like a lion,
and they will follow the Lord;
when he roars,
his children will come trembling 16 from the west.
Amos 3:8
Context3:8 A lion has roared! 17 Who is not afraid?
The sovereign Lord has spoken! Who can refuse to prophesy? 18
Zechariah 11:3
Context11:3 Listen to the howling of shepherds,
because their magnificence has been destroyed.
Listen to the roaring of young lions,
because the thickets of the Jordan have been devastated.
[31:4] 1 tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.
[31:4] 2 tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”
[31:4] 3 tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsbo’ ’al) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.
[24:9] 4 tn On the usage of this word see HALOT 517 s.v. לָבִיא.
[4:7] 5 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
[49:19] 7 tn See the study note on Jer 12:5 for the rendering of this term.
[49:19] 8 tn “The pasture-ground on the everflowing river” according to KBL 42 s.v. I אֵיתָן 1. The “everflowing river” refers to the Jordan.
[49:19] 9 tn Heb “Behold, like a lion comes up from the thicket of the Jordan into the pastureland of everflowing water so [reading כֵּן (ken) for כִּי (ki); or “indeed” (reading כִּי as an asseverative particle with J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 719, n. 6)] I will suddenly chase him [Edom] from upon it [the land].” The sentence has been restructured to better conform with contemporary English style and the significance of the simile drawn from the comparison has been spelled out for the sake of clarity. The form אַרְגִּיעָה (’argi’ah) is functioning here as an adverbial modifier in a verbal hendiadys (cf. GKC 386 §120.g).
[49:19] 10 tn For the use of the interrogative מִי (mi) in the sense of “whoever” and functioning like an adjective see BDB 567 s.v. מִי g and compare the usage in Prov 9:4, 16.
[49:19] 11 tn For the meaning of this verb in the sense of “arraign” or “call before the bar of justice” compare Job 9:19 and see BDB 417 s.v. יָעַד Hiph.
[49:19] 12 tn The interrogative מִי (mi) is rendered “there is no one” in each of the last three occurrences in this verse because it is used in a rhetorical question that expects the answer “no one” or “none” and is according to BDB 566 s.v. מִי f(c) equivalent to a rhetorical negative.
[49:19] 13 tn The word “shepherd” (רֹעֶה, ro’eh) has been used often in the book of Jeremiah to refer metaphorically to the ruler or leader (cf. BDB 945 s.v. I רָעָה Qal.1.d(2) and compare usage, e.g., in Jer 2:8; 23:1).
[50:17] 14 sn The king of Assyria devoured them. This refers to the devastation wrought on northern Israel by the kings of Assyria beginning in 738
[50:17] 15 tn The verb used here only occurs this one time in the Hebrew Bible. It is a denominative from the Hebrew word for “bones” (עֶצֶם, ’etsem). BDB 1126 s.v. עֶָצַם, denom Pi, define it as “break his bones.” HALOT 822 s.v. II עָצַם Pi defines it as “gnaw on his bones.”
[11:10] 16 tn When the verb חָרַד (kharad, “to tremble”) is used with prepositions of direction, it denotes “to go or come trembling” (BDB 353 s.v. חָרַד 4; e.g., Gen 42:28; 1 Sam 13:7; 16:4; 21:2; Hos 11:10, 11). Thus, the phrase מִיָּם…וְיֶחֶרְדוּ (vÿyekherdu…miyyam) means “to come trembling from the west.” Cf. NAB “shall come frightened from the west.”
[3:8] 17 sn The roar of the lion is here a metaphor for impending judgment (see 1:2; cf. 3:4, 12). Verses 7-8 justify Amos’ prophetic ministry and message of warning and judgment. The people should expect a prophetic message prior to divine action.
[3:8] 18 sn Who can refuse to prophesy? When a message is revealed, the prophet must speak, and the news of impending judgment should cause people to fear.
