They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps.
Parallel translations
- WEB They will roar together like young lions. They will growl as lions’ cubs.
- BSB They will roar together like young lions; they will growl like lion cubs.
- NKJV They shall roar together like lions, They shall growl like lions’ whelps.
- NASB “They will roar together like young lions, They will growl like lions’ cubs.
- NLT Her people will roar together like strong lions. They will growl like lion 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 Babylonians roar and growl together like young lions. Their fierce, predatory strength is described just before God brings it down.
Overview
The lion imagery captures Babylon's ferocity and appetite as a devouring power. Yet the picture is set up only to be reversed in the next verses, where God turns their feasting into deadly drunkenness. The proud roar of the predator is no match for the Lord, whose judgment silences even the mightiest, pointing to the supremacy of Christ the true Lion of Judah.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Jer 2:15The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
- Nah 2:11–13Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid?
- Job 4:10–11The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
- Ps 58:6Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.
- Ps 34:10The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
- Isa 35:9No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
- Judg 16:20And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
- Zech 11:3There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 51:38 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.