Discovery BoxPsalms 34:10
Context34:10 Even young lions sometimes lack food and are hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Job 38:39
Context38:39 “Do you hunt prey for the lioness,
and satisfy the appetite 1 of the lions,
Isaiah 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. 2
Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,
it is not afraid of their shouts
or intimidated by their yelling. 3
In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. 4
Ezekiel 19:2-14
Context19:2 and say:
“‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions!
She lay among young lions; 5 she reared her cubs.
19:3 She reared one of her cubs; he became a young lion.
He learned to tear prey; he devoured people. 6
19:4 The nations heard about him; he was trapped in their pit.
They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. 7
19:5 “‘When she realized that she waited in vain, her hope was lost.
She took another of her cubs 8 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.
19:7 He broke down 9 their strongholds 10 and devastated their cities.
The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.
19:8 The nations – the surrounding regions – attacked him.
They threw their net over him; he was caught in their pit.
19:9 They put him in a collar with hooks; 11
they brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him to prison 12
so that his voice would not be heard
any longer on the mountains of Israel.
19:10 “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, 13 planted by water.
It was fruitful and full of branches because it was well-watered.
19:11 Its boughs were strong, fit 14 for rulers’ scepters; it reached up into the clouds.
It stood out because of its height and its many branches. 15
19:12 But it was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground.
The east wind 16 dried up its fruit;
its strong branches broke off and withered –
a fire consumed them.
19:13 Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty land. 17
19:14 A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit. 18
No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.’
This is a lament song, and has become a lament song.”
Amos 3:4
Context3:4 Does a lion roar in the woods if he has not cornered his prey? 19
Does a young lion bellow from his den if he has not caught something?
[38:39] 1 tn Heb “fill up the life of.”
[31:4] 2 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] 3 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] 4 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.
[19:2] 5 sn Lions probably refer to Judahite royalty and/or nobility. The lioness appears to symbolize the Davidic dynasty, though some see the referent as Hamutal, the wife of Josiah and mother of Jehoahaz and Zedekiah. Gen 49:9 seems to be the background for Judah being compared to lions.
[19:4] 7 sn The description applies to king Jehoahaz (2 Kgs 23:31-34; Jer 22:10-12).
[19:5] 8 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.
[19:7] 9 tc The Hebrew text reads “knew,” but is apparently the result of a ר-ד (dalet-resh) confusion. For a defense of the emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. However, Allen retains the reading “widows” as the object of the verb, which he understands in the sense of “do harm to,” and translates the line: “He did harm to women by making them widows” (p. 282). The line also appears to be lacking a beat for the meter of the poem.
[19:7] 10 tc The Hebrew text reads “widows” instead of “strongholds,” apparently due to a confusion of ר (resh) and ל (lamed). L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284) favors the traditional text, understanding “widows” in the sense of “women made widows.” D. I. Block, (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:602) also defends the Hebrew text, arguing that the image is that of a dominant male lion who takes over the pride and by copulating with the females lays claim to his predecessor’s “widows.”
[19:9] 11 tn Or “They put him in a neck stock with hooks.” The noun סּוּגַר (sugar), translated “collar,” occurs only here in the Bible. L. C. Allen and D. I. Block point out a Babylonian cognate that refers to a device for transporting prisoners of war that held them by their necks (D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:597, n. 35; L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284). Based on the Hebrew root, the traditional rendering had been “cage” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[19:9] 12 tc The term in the MT occurs only here and in Eccl 9:12 where it refers to a net for catching fish. The LXX translates this as “prison,” which assumes a confusion of dalet and resh took place in the MT.
[19:10] 13 tc The Hebrew text reads “in your blood,” but most emend to “in your vineyard,” assuming a ב-כ (beth-kaph) confusion. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. Another attractive emendation assumes a faulty word division and yields the reading “like a vine full of tendrils, which/because…”; see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:607, n. 68.
[19:11] 14 tn The word “fit” does not occur in the Hebrew text.
[19:11] 15 tn Heb “and it was seen by its height and by the abundance of its branches.”
[19:12] 16 sn The east wind symbolizes the Babylonians.
[19:13] 17 sn This metaphor depicts the Babylonian exile of the Davidic dynasty.
[19:14] 18 tn The verse describes the similar situation recorded in Judg 9:20.
