and say, ‘What was your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among young lions, She raised 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.
- BSB and say: ‘What was your mother? A lioness among the lions! She lay down among the young lions; she reared her cubs.
- NKJV and say: ‘What is your mother? A lioness: She lay down among the lions; Among the young lions she nourished 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 her who is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing city!
- Zech 11:3A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! For their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions! For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.
- Ps 58:6Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
- Isa 11:6–9The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them.
- Nah 2:11–12Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion’s cubs, and no one made them afraid?
- Job 4:11The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.
- Isa 5:29Their roaring will be like a lioness. They will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar, and seize their prey and carry it off, and there will be no one to deliver.
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.