They will roar together like young lions. They will growl as lions’ cubs.
Parallel Translations
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They will roar together like young lions. They will growl as lions’ cubs.
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They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps.
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They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions' whelps.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 51:38 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 2:15 The young lions have roared at him and yelled. They have made his land waste. His cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
- Judges 16:20 She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke out of his sleep, and said, “I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free.” But he didn’t know that Yahweh had departed from him.
- Job 4:10-11 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions, are broken. The old lion perishes for lack of prey. The cubs of the lioness are scattered abroad.
- Psalms 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
- Psalms 58:6 Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
- Isaiah 35:9 No lion will be there, nor will any ravenous animal go up on it. They will not be found there; but the redeemed will walk there.
- Nahum 2:11-13 Where 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? The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with the kill, and his dens with prey. “Behold, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
- Zechariah 11:3 A 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.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here, by another figure, Jeremiah expresses what he had…
Here, by another figure, Jeremiah expresses what he had said of the destruction of Babylon, even that in the middle of the slaughter, they would have no strength to resist: they would, at the same time, perish amidst great confusion; and thus he anticipates what might have been advanced against his prophecy. For the Babylonians had been superior to all other nations; how then could it be, that a power so invincible should perish? Though they were as lions, says the Prophet, yet that would avail nothing; they will indeed roar, but roaring will be of no service to them; they will roar as the whelps of lions, but still they will perish.
We now, then, understand the object of this comparison, even that the superior power by which the Babylonians had terrified all men would avail them nothing, for nothing would remain for them in their calamity except roaring. It follows, —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 51:38 They shall roar together like lions: they…
Jer 51:38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps.
Ver. 38. They shall roar together like lions.] When hunger bitten. The Babylonians terrified, and the Persians tumultuating together. The old Latin version hath it, They shake their shaggy hair.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain It is uncertain whether this be to be understood…
It is uncertain whether this be to be understood of the Medes, making horrible roarings and noises when they took Babylon; or of the Babylonians, who upon the taking of their city (as is usual) made horrid outcries, as being a people quite undone: some think it referreth to the drunken noises of the Babylonians at their festival, during the celebration of which we are told their city was taken; but to this one would think the comparison of
lions’ whelps (which ordinarily yell for want of victuals, or for some mischief done them, not when their bellies are full) should not so well agree.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain I will bring them down like lambs to the…
I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,.... To the place of slaughter; who shall be able to make no more resistance than lambs. This explains what is meant by being made drunk, and sleeping a perpetual sleep, even destruction and death:
like rams with he goats; denoting the promiscuous destruction of the prince and common people together.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain They - The Babylonians, upon the taking of their…
They - The Babylonians, upon the taking of their city.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Yell - Or, growl.
Yell - Or, growl.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Roar. They shall retain their haughty air and threaten…
Roar. They shall retain their haughty air and threaten others, when they themselves shall fall (Calmet) in the midst of their feasting, Daniel v. 30. (Xenophon vii.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The capture of Babylon was effected on the night…
The capture of Babylon was effected on the night of a festival in honor of its idols.
roar . . . yell--The Babylonians were shouting in drunken revelry (compare Dan 5:4).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain PICTURE OF BABYLON’S RUIN, Jer_51:38-49.
PICTURE OF BABYLON’S RUIN, Jer_51:38-49.
38, 39. They… roar — Not shall roar. The scene is that of a carousal, in the midst of which the blow falls. Whether the language here is a prophecy of the way in which Babylon was taken by Cyrus or not, it is certainly evident that it is quite suitable to it.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (38) They shall roar together like lions . .…
(38) They shall roar together like lions . . .—The words are not a continuation of the picture of the preceding verse, but carry us to the scene of revelry that preceded the capture of the city. The princes of Babylon were as “young lions” (Amo_3:4) roaring over their prey. The first clause as well as the second conveys this meaning, and there is probably a reference to the youth of rulers like Belshazzar.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 38-49. Fall of Babylon; joy of the whole…
Vers. 38-49. Fall of Babylon; joy of the whole world.
Vers. 38, 39. They shall roar .... In their heat; rather, They may roar... (yet) when they wax warm (with lust) I will prepare. The banquet which Jehovah will prepare is the "cup of bewilderment" spoken of in Psa_60:3; comp. Isa_51:17 (i.e. a calamitous judgment).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 loud sound made by a lion
roar
loud sound made by a lion
Read full note →
growl
a sound animals make to frighten other animals
become happy
As a soldier is happy when he defeats a strong enemy. Another possible meaning is "are very drunk" .
sleep an unending sleep and not wake up
They will be dead. (See: Euphemism)
this is Yahweh's declaration
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 1:8. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
like lambs ... male goats
Lambs and goats do not know before it happens that people are going to slaughter them, and the Babylonians will not know before it happens that Yahweh is going to destroy them. (See: Simile)
translationWords
lions
feast
drunk
asleep
send
lamb
slaughter
ewe
goat
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 51:38-40 The Lord proclaimed that he would use wine…
51:38-40 The Lord proclaimed that he would use wine to turn the lion that once terrorized and destroyed nations (5:6; 25:38; 49:19) into an easily subdued lamb. Wine as an instrument of wrath was usually figurative (25:15-29), but here it was literal (see Dan 5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.