They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
Parallel translations
- WEB They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.
- BSB They open their jaws against me like lions that roar and maul.
- NKJV They gape at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion.
- NASB They open their mouths wide at me, As a ravening and roaring lion.
- NLT Like lions they open their jaws against me, roaring and tearing into their prey.
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
His enemies open their mouths against him like roaring, ravening lions. They threaten to devour him with savage hostility.
Overview
The imagery shifts to lions tearing prey, intensifying the sense of deadly menace. The sufferer is hunted by foes eager to destroy him. Such vivid pictures of predatory enemies portray the violent opposition faced by the righteous sufferer, fulfilled in the malice directed against Christ at his trial and crucifixion.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Pet 5:8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
- Ps 35:21Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.
- Job 16:10They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.
- Ps 17:12Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
- Lam 3:46All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
- Lam 2:16All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.
- Matt 26:3–4Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,
- Matt 26:59–65Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
- Ps 7:2Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
- Ps 35:17Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.
- Ps 22:7All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
- Ezek 22:27–28Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
- Ps 22:21Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 22:13 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.