when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket?
Parallel Translations
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when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket?
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When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
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When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (1)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Job 38:40 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 37:8 Then the animals take cover, and remain in their dens.
- Genesis 49:9 Judah is a lion’s cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Who will rouse him up?
- Numbers 23:24 Behold, a people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”
- Numbers 24:9 He couched, he lay down as a lion, as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Everyone who blesses you is blessed. Everyone who curses you is cursed.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (6 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 38:40 When they couch in [their] dens, [and]…
Job 38:40 When they couch in [their] dens, [and] abide in the covert to lie in wait?
Ver. 40. When they couch in their dens, &c.] When both by might and sleight they provide for themselves. Hunters with all their pains and means cannot catch a beast as soon as the lion can. An ape he hateth in a special manner, as being too crafty for him; and yet he feareth man (although as the poet Ennius saith),
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Simia quam similis furpissima bestia nobis,
whereof no other probable reason can be given, but the small remnant of God’s image left as yet in man, who once had dominion over all the creatures, and is still feared by the fiercest of them.
And abide in the covert to lie in wait?] Where they crouch, counterfeit themselves asleep, lie quiet and close, as cats that would catch mice, or foxes birds. But if this way they speed not, Basil saith they set up a loud roar, whereby the beasts are so amazed, that they have no power to stir out of the place they stand in, till the lions have taken them.
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 When through age and infirmity they cannot range abroad…
When through age and infirmity they cannot range abroad for prey, as the young lions do; but lie still in their dens, as if they were expecting their food from God, from whom also they receive it.
To lie in wait; watching till some beast come that way upon which they may prey.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 40. When they couch in their dens] Before…
Verse 40. When they couch in their dens] Before they are capable of trusting themselves abroad.
Abide in the covert] Before they are able to hunt down the prey by running. It is a fact that the young lions, before they have acquired sufficient strength and swiftness, lie under cover, in order to surprise those animals which they have not fleetness enough to overtake in the forest; and from this circumstance the כפירים kephirim, "young lions, or lions' whelps," have their name: the root is כפר caphar, to cover or hide. See Clarke on Job 4:11, where six different names are given to the lion, all expressing some distinct quality or state.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain When they couch in their dens - For the…
When they couch in their dens - For the purpose of springing upon their prey.
And abide in the covert to lie in wait? - The usual posture of the lion when he seeks his prey. He places himself in some unobserved position in a dense thicket, or crouches upon the ground so as not to be seen, and then springs suddenly upon his victim. The common method of the lion in taking his prey is to spring or throw himself upon it from the place of his ambush, with one vast bound and to inflict the mortal blow with one stroke of his paw. If he misses his aim, however, he seldom attempts another spring at the same object, but deliberately returns to the thicket in which he lay in concealment. See the habits of the lion illustrated in the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, “Mazology.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain lie in wait?--for their prey (Psa 10:9).
lie in wait?--for their prey (Psa 10:9).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain When they couch in their dens, and abide in…
When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait. (comp. Psa_10:9, 10 17:12)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.