Joel 2:11

2:11 The voice of the Lord thunders ¹  as he leads his army. ² 

Indeed, his warriors ³  are innumerable; ⁴ 

Surely his command is carried out! ⁵ 

Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome ⁶ 

and very terrifying – who can survive ⁷  it?

Isaiah 42:13

42:13 The Lord emerges like a hero,

like a warrior he inspires himself for battle; ⁸ 

he shouts, yes, he yells,

he shows his enemies his power. ⁹ 

Jeremiah 25:30-31

25:30 “Then, Jeremiah, ¹⁰  make the following prophecy ¹¹  against them:

‘Like a lion about to attack, ¹²  the Lord will roar from the heights of heaven;

from his holy dwelling on high he will roar loudly.

He will roar mightily against his land. ¹³ 

He will shout in triumph like those stomping juice from the grapes ¹⁴ 

against all those who live on the earth.

25:31 The sounds of battle ¹⁵  will resound to the ends of the earth.

For the Lord will bring charges against the nations. ¹⁶ 

He will pass judgment on all humankind

and will hand the wicked over to be killed in war.’ ¹⁷ 

The Lord so affirms it! ¹⁸ 

Hosea 11:10

God Will Restore the Exiles to Israel

11:10 He will roar like a lion,

and they will follow the Lord;

when he roars,

his children will come trembling ¹⁹  from the west.

Amos 1:2

God Will Judge the Surrounding Nations

1:2 Amos ²⁰  said:

“The Lord comes roaring ²¹  out of Zion;

from Jerusalem ²²  he comes bellowing! ²³ 

The shepherds’ pastures wilt; ²⁴ 

the summit of Carmel ²⁵  withers.” ²⁶ 

Amos 3:8

3:8 A lion has roared! ²⁷  Who is not afraid?

The sovereign Lord has spoken! Who can refuse to prophesy? ²⁸ 

[2:11]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord gives his voice.”

[2:11]  ² tn Heb “before his army.”

[2:11]  ³ tn Heb “military encampment.”

[2:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “very large.”

[2:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “he makes his word powerful.”

[2:11]  ⁶ tn Or “powerful.” Heb “great.”

[2:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “endure.” The MT and LXX read “endure,” while one of the Qumran manuscripts (4QXXII^c) has “bear.”

[42:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “like a man of war he stirs up zeal” (NIV similar).

[42:13]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps, “he triumphs over his enemies” (cf. NIV); NLT “will crush all his enemies.”

[25:30]  ¹⁰ tn The word “Jeremiah” is not in the text. It is supplied in the translation to make clear who is being addressed.

[25:30]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Prophesy against them all these words.”

[25:30]  ¹² tn The words “like a lion about to attack” are not in the text but are implicit in the metaphor. The explicit comparison of the Lord to a lion is made at the end of the passage in v. 38. The words are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[25:30]  ¹³ sn The word used here (Heb “his habitation”) refers to the land of Canaan which the Lord chose to make his earthly dwelling (Exod 15:13) and which was the dwelling place of his chosen people (Jer 10:25; Isa 32:18). Judgment would begin at the “house of God” (v. 29; 1 Pet 4:17) but would extend to the rest of the earth (v. 29).

[25:30]  ¹⁴ sn The metaphor shifts from God as a lion to God as a mighty warrior (Jer 20:11; Isa 42:13; Zeph 3:17) shouting in triumph over his foes. Within the metaphor is a simile where the warrior is compared to a person stomping on grapes to remove the juice from them in the making of wine. The figure will be invoked later in a battle scene where the sounds of joy in the grape harvest are replaced by the sounds of joy of the enemy soldiers (Jer 48:33). The picture is drawn in more gory detail in Isa 63:1-6.

[25:31]  ¹⁵ tn For the use of this word see Amos 2:2; Hos 10:14; Ps 74:23. See also the usage in Isa 66:6 which is very similar to the metaphorical usage here.

[25:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the Lord has a lawsuit against the nations.” For usage of the term see Hos 4:1; Mic 6:2, and compare the usage of the related verb in Jer 2:9; 12:1.

[25:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “give the wicked over to the sword.”

[25:31]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[11:10]  ¹⁹ 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.”

[1:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he;” the referent (Amos) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:2]  ²¹ sn The Lord, in his role of warrior-king, is compared to a lion. See 3:4, 8.

[1:2]  ²² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:2]  ²³ tn Heb “gives his voice.”

[1:2]  ²⁴ tn Lexicographers debate whether there are two roots אָבַל (’aval), one signifying “mourn” and the other “be dry,” or simply one (“mourn”). The parallel verb (“withers”) might favor the first option and have the meaning “wilt away.” It is interesting to note, however, that the root appears later in the book in the context of lament (5:16; 8:8, 10; 9:5). Either 1:2 is a possible wordplay to alert the reader to the death that will accompany the judgment (the option of two roots), or perhaps the translation “mourns” is appropriate here as well (cf. KJV, NASB, NKJV, NJPS; see also D. J. A. Clines, “Was There an ’BL II ‘Be Dry’ in Classical Hebrew?” VT 42 [1992]: 1-10).

[1:2]  ²⁵ sn Carmel was a region known for its abundant plants and trees. See Isa 33:9; 35:2; Jer 50:19.

[1:2]  ²⁶ sn Loss of a land’s fertility is frequently associated with judgment in the OT and ancient Near Eastern literature.

[3:8]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ 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.