Bible Strands
Isaiah 31:4
For this is what the LORD has said to me: “Like a lion roaring or a young lion over its prey—and though a band of shepherds is called out against it, it is not terrified by their shouting or subdued by their clamor—so the LORD of Hosts will come down to do battle on Mount Zion and its heights.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh delivers this oracle to the prophet Isaiah during a crisis when Judah is seeking military alliance with Egypt. The statement immediately precedes the declaration that Egyptian forces will fall when the Lord acts.
The words — יֶהְגֶּה (yeh.Geh) translates as "it growls" or "roars," paired with הָ/אַרְיֵה (ha./'ar.Yeh), "the lion." The text uses these terms to describe a predator that remains unmoved by the shouting of shepherds.
The thread — The lion roar motif appears in Hosea 11:10, where Yahweh's roar draws trembling children from the west, and in Amos 3:8, where the roar demands fearful response and prophetic proclamation. Isaiah 42:13 also depicts Yahweh roaring in triumph as a warrior.
Why it lands — The text asserts that divine intervention operates independently of human military strength or protest. Readers must abandon reliance on earthly alliances and accept that God's actions are final and unshakable.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
Cross-references
- Hosea 11:10 They will walk after the LORD; He will roar like a lion. When He roars, His children will come trembling from the west.
- Amos 3:8 The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?
- Isaiah 42:13 The LORD goes forth like a mighty one; He stirs up His zeal like a warrior. He shouts; yes, He roars in triumph over His enemies:
- Zechariah 2:5 For I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.’”
- Zechariah 12:8 On that day the LORD will defend the people of Jerusalem, so that the weakest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD going before them.
- Zechariah 14:3 Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.
- Revelation 5:5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
- Numbers 24:8 God brought him out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox, to devour hostile nations and crush their bones, to pierce them with arrows.
- 2 Chronicles 20:15 And he said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, for the battle does not belong to you, but to God.
- Psalms 125:1 A song of ascents. Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion. It cannot be moved; it abides forever.