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 

Proverbs 20:2

20:2 The king’s terrifying anger ⁴  is like the roar of a lion;

whoever provokes him ⁵  sins against himself. ⁶ 

Proverbs 28:15

28:15 Like ⁷  a roaring lion or a roving bear, ⁸ 

so is a wicked ruler over a poor people. ⁹ 

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.” ¹⁰ 

Daniel 6:22

6:22 My God sent his angel and closed the lions’ mouths so that they have not harmed me, because I was found to be innocent before him. Nor have I done any harm to you, O king.”

Daniel 6:27

6:27 He rescues and delivers

and performs signs and wonders

in the heavens and on the earth.

He has rescued Daniel from the power ¹¹  of the lions!”

Hebrews 11:33

11:33 Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, ¹²  gained what was promised, ¹³  shut the mouths of lions,

Hebrews 11:1

People Commended for Their Faith

11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.

Hebrews 5:8

5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered. ¹⁴ 

Hebrews 5:2

5:2 He is able to deal compassionately with those who are ignorant and erring, since he also is subject to weakness,

Hebrews 2:9

2:9 but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, ¹⁵  now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, ¹⁶  so that by God’s grace he would experience ¹⁷  death on behalf of everyone.

[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.

[20:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “the terror of a king” (so ASV, NASB); The term “terror” is a metonymy of effect for cause: the anger of a king that causes terror among the people. The term “king” functions as a possessive genitive: “a king’s anger” (cf. NIV “A king’s wrath”; NLT “The king’s fury”).

[20:2]  ⁵ tn The verb מִתְעַבְּרוֹ (mit’abbÿro) is problematic; in the MT the form is the Hitpael participle with a pronominal suffix, which is unusual, for the direct object of this verb usually takes a preposition first: “is angry with.” The LXX rendered it “angers [or, irritates].”

[20:2]  ⁶ sn The expression “sins against himself” has been taken by some to mean “forfeits his life” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “endangers his life” (cf. NCV, NLT). That may be the implication of getting oneself in trouble with an angry king (cf. TEV “making him angry is suicide”).

[28:15]  ⁷ tn The term “like” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[28:15]  ⁸ sn The comparison uses animals that are powerful, terrifying, insensitive, and in search of prey. Because political tyrants are like this, animal imagery of this sort is also used in Dan 7:1-8 for the series of ruthless world powers.

[28:15]  ⁹ sn A poor nation under the control of political tyrants who are dangerous and destructive is helpless. The people of that nation will crumble under them because they cannot meet their demands and are of no use to them.

[2:30]  ¹⁰ 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.

[6:27]  ¹¹ tn Aram “hand.”

[11:33]  ¹² tn This probably refers to the righteous rule of David and others. But it could be more general and mean “did what was righteous.”

[11:33]  ¹³ tn Grk “obtained promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves.

[5:8]  ¹⁴ sn There is a wordplay in the Greek text between the verbs “learned” (ἔμαθεν, emaqen) and “suffered” (ἔπαθεν, epaqen).

[2:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “who was made a little lower than the angels.”

[2:9]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “because of the suffering of death.”

[2:9]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “would taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).