He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.
Parallel translations
- WEB He is to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.
- BSB He is a bear lying in wait, a lion hiding in ambush.
- NKJV He has been to me a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in ambush.
- NASB He is to me like a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in secret places.
- NLT He has hidden like a bear or a lion, waiting to attack me.
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
He pictures God as a lurking bear and a hidden lion ready to attack. It expresses feeling hunted by God himself.
Overview
The sufferer compares God to a predatory bear and lion lying in ambush, an image of sudden, dangerous attack. Such bold language reflects the depth of his felt distress under judgment. Remarkably, the same God who seems a lion here is, in the fuller revelation of Scripture, the Lion of Judah who conquers as the slain Lamb to save his people (Revelation 5:5-6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 10:9He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
- Hos 6:1Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
- Amos 5:18–20Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
- Isa 38:13I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
- Hos 5:14For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.
- Job 10:16For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.
- Hos 13:7–8Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:
- Ps 17:12Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The weeping over a ruined city and the steadfast mercies that are new every morning point to the man of sorrows who wept over Jerusalem and whose mercy rises new from the grave.
How Lamentations 3:10 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.