and say: ‘What was your mother? A lioness among the lions! She lay down among the young lions; she reared her cubs.
Parallel translations
- WEB and say, ‘What was your mother? A lioness. She couched among lions, in the middle of the young lions she nourished her cubs.
- KJV And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
- NKJV and say: ‘What is your mother? A lioness: She lay down among the lions; Among the young lions she nourished her cubs.
- NASB and say, ‘What was your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among young lions, She raised her cubs.
- NLT “What is your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among the young lions and reared her cubs.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The lament asks what the mother was: a lioness who raised her cubs among lions. Judah's royal house is pictured as a once-strong lion family.
Overview
The 'mother' represents Judah or the Davidic dynasty, and her 'cubs' are the kings. The imagery of strength and ferocity recalls the royal promise of Genesis 49:9. Yet the dirge form signals that this strength will end in captivity and grief.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Zeph 3:1–4Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled!
- Zech 11:3Listen to the wailing of the shepherds, for their glory is in ruins. Listen to the roaring of the young lions, for the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed.
- Ps 58:6O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.
- Isa 11:6–9The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat; the calf and young lion and fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them.
- Nah 2:11–12Where is the lions’ lair or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled with their cubs, with nothing to frighten them away?
- Job 4:11The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
- Isa 5:29Their roaring is like that of a lion; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they carry it away from deliverance.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 19:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.