Psalms 22:21

22:21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lion, ¹ 

and from the horns of the wild oxen! ² 

You have answered me! ³ 

Jeremiah 2:30

2:30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.

They did not respond to such correction.

You slaughtered your prophets

like a voracious lion.” ⁴ 

Ezekiel 19:3-6

19:3 She reared one of her cubs; he became a young lion.

He learned to tear prey; he devoured people. ⁵ 

19:4 The nations heard about him; he was trapped in their pit.

They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. ⁶ 

19:5 “‘When she realized that she waited in vain, her hope was lost.

She took another of her cubs ⁷  and made him a young lion.

19:6 He walked about among the lions; he became a young lion.

He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.

Zephaniah 3:3

3:3 Her princes ⁸  are as fierce as roaring lions; ⁹ 

her rulers ¹⁰  are as hungry as wolves in the desert, ¹¹ 

who completely devour their prey by morning. ¹² 

Matthew 23:31-38

23:31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 23:32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ¹³ 

23:34 “For this reason I ¹⁴  am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, ¹⁵  some of whom you will kill and crucify, ¹⁶  and some you will flog ¹⁷  in your synagogues ¹⁸  and pursue from town to town, 23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, ¹⁹  whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 23:36 I tell you the truth, ²⁰  this generation will be held responsible for all these things! ²¹ 

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ²²  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ²³  How often I have longed ²⁴  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ²⁵  you would have none of it! ²⁶  23:38 Look, your house is left to you desolate!

Acts 7:52

7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors ²⁷  not persecute? ²⁸  They ²⁹  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ³⁰  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ³¹ 

[22:21]  ¹ sn The psalmist again compares his enemies to vicious dogs and ferocious lions (see vv. 13, 16).

[22:21]  ² tn The Hebrew term רֵמִים (remim) appears to be an alternate spelling of רְאֵמִים (rÿ’emim, “wild oxen”; see BDB 910 s.v. רְאֵם).

[22:21]  ³ tn Heb “and from the horns of the wild oxen you answer me.” Most take the final verb with the preceding prepositional phrase. Some understand the verb form as a relatively rare precative perfect, expressing a wish or request (see IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d). However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew. (See the discussion at Ps 3:7.) Others prefer to take the perfect in its usual indicative sense. The psalmist, perhaps in response to an oracle of salvation, affirms confidently that God has answered him, assuring him that deliverance is on the way. The present translation takes the prepositional phrase as parallel to the preceding “from the mouth of the lion” and as collocated with the verb “rescue” at the beginning of the verse. “You have answered me” is understood as a triumphant shout which marks a sudden shift in tone and introduces the next major section of the psalm. By isolating the statement syntactically, the psalmist highlights the declaration.

[2:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “Your sword devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.” However, the reference to the sword in this and many similar idioms is merely idiomatic for death by violent means.

[19:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man.”

[19:4]  ⁶ sn The description applies to king Jehoahaz (2 Kgs 23:31-34; Jer 22:10-12).

[19:5]  ⁷ sn The identity of this second lion is unclear; the referent is probably Jehoiakim or Zedekiah. If the lioness is Hamutal, then Zedekiah is the lion described here.

[3:3]  ⁸ tn Or “officials.”

[3:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “her princes in her midst are roaring lions.” The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as fierce as”) for clarity.

[3:3]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally “judges.”

[3:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “her judges [are] wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 128. The metaphor has been translated as a simile (“as hungry as”) for clarity.

[3:3]  ¹² tn Heb “they do not gnaw [a bone] at morning.” The precise meaning of the line is unclear. The statement may mean these wolves devour their prey so completely that not even a bone is left to gnaw by the time morning arrives. For a discussion of this and other options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 129.

[23:33]  ¹³ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”

[23:34]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “behold I am sending.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[23:34]  ¹⁵ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:34]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[23:34]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

[23:34]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[23:35]  ¹⁹ sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).

[23:36]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[23:36]  ²¹ tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”

[23:37]  ²² sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ²³ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[23:37]  ²⁴ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[23:37]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ²⁶ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[7:52]  ²⁷ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ²⁸ sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.

[7:52]  ²⁹ tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[7:52]  ³⁰ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.

[7:52]  ³¹ sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).