The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
Parallel translations
- WEB The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.
- KJV The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion’s whelps are scattered abroad.
- NKJV The old lion perishes for lack of prey, And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
- NASB “The lion perishes for lack of prey, And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
- NLT The fierce lion will starve for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness will be scattered.
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 aged lion starves and its cubs are scattered, picturing the downfall and broken legacy of the wicked. It reinforces Eliphaz's claim that evildoers and their families come to ruin.
Overview
Eliphaz completes the lion image: not only the beast but its young are scattered, suggesting the wicked leave no enduring household. He hints that Job's loss of children points to such judgment. While Scripture does warn that sin can ruin families, Eliphaz's rigid retribution theology cannot account for the righteous sufferer, a tension the book will resolve only in God's own voice and ultimately at the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 34:10Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
- Gen 49:9Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?
- Job 1:19when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
- Ps 7:2or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
- Num 24:9He crouches, he lies down like a lion; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.”
- Job 38:39Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions
- Jer 4:7A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.
- Hos 11:10They will walk after the LORD; He will roar like a lion. When He roars, His children will come trembling from the west.
- 2 Tim 4:17But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the lion.
- Job 27:14–15Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; and his offspring will never have enough food.
- Num 23:24Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.”
- Job 8:3–4Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 4:11 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.