Isaiah 5:29

Isa 5:29 Their roaring [shall be] like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry [it] away safe, and none shall deliver [it].

Ver. 29. Their roaring shall be like a lion.] At whose terrible roar the beasts of the field are said to stand as amazed.

They shall lay hold on the prey.] Not of wealth only, but of persons, and shall hold their own when they have gotten 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.

Whereby is declared the cruelty of the enemy.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

roaring--their battle cry.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

29. Their roaring …] Or, he has a roar like that of a lioness, he roars like young lions and growls seizing the prey, &c. Two words are here used of the lion’s roar, the first is perhaps that uttered as he searches for prey, the second the low growl with which he springs on his victim.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Their roaring shall be like a lion,.... When engaged in war, just seizing on their prey. The phrase denotes their fierceness and cruelty, and the horror they should inject into the hearts of their enemies:

they shall roar like young lions; that are hungry, and almost famished, and in sight of their prey; see Job 4:10,

yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey; seize it with great noise and greediness:

and shall carry it away safe; into their own den, the country from whence they come:

and none shall deliver it; this shows that respect is had; not to the Babylonish captivity, from whence there was a deliverance in a few years; but the Roman captivity, from thence there is no deliverance as yet to this day.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Their roaring ... - Their battle cry, or their shout as they enter into an engagement. Such a “shout,” or cry, was common at the commencement of a battle. War was very much a personal conflict; and they expected to accomplish much by making it as frightful and terrible as possible. A shout served not only to excite their own spirits, but to produce an impression of their numbers and courage, and to send dismay into the opposite ranks. Such “shouts” are almost always mentioned by Homer, and by other writers, in their accounts of battles. They are often mentioned, also, in the Old Testament; Exo 32:18; Jos 6:10, Jos 6:16, Jos 6:20; Jer 50:15; 1Sa 17:20, 1Sa 17:52; 2Ch 13:15; Job 39:25.

Like a lion - This comparison is common in the Bible; Jer 51:38; Hos 11:10; Amo 3:4; compare Num 23:24.

Like young lions - This variation of the expression, from the lion to the young lion, is very common. It is the Hebrew form of poetry, where the second member expresses little more than the first. Here the description is that of a lion, or more probably a “lioness” and her whelps, all ravenous, and all uniting in roaring for prey. The idea is, that the army that would come up would be greedy of plunder; they would rush on to rapine in a frightful manner.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lion. Nabuchodonosor is compared to one, ver. 26., and Jeremias iv. 7.

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).

They shall roar like young lions; which signifies both their cruelty, and their greediness and eagerness to catch and devour the prey.

None; neither the Jews themselves, nor the Egyptians, to whose help they will trust, nor any of their confederates.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Their roaring shall be like a lion; rather, like a lioness, which the Hebrews appear to have regarded as fiercer than a lion. (see Gen_44:9 Num_24:9 Hab_2:11) The Assyrian armies probably advanced to the combat with loud shouts and yells. (see Jer_2:15) Yea, they shall roar; rather, growl. The word is different from the one used previously, and may express the "deep growl" with which the lion springs upon his prey (see Dr. Kay"s note, ad loc.). Shall carry it away safe. Sennacherib says in one of his inscriptions, that he carried off to Nineveh 200, 150 captives on his first expedition against Jerusalem (Oppert, "Inscriptions des Sargonides," pp. 45, 46).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Roar - Which signifies both their cruelty, and their eagerness to devour the prey.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

"Roaring issues from it as from the lioness: it roars like lions, and utters a low murmur; seizes the prey, carries it off, and no one rescues." The futures, with the preceding לו שׁאגה which is equivalent to a future, hold each feature in the description fast, as if for prolonged contemplation. The lion roars when eager for prey; and such is now the war-cry of the bloodthirsty enemy, which the prophet compares to the roaring of a lion or of young lions (Cephirim) in the fulness of their strength. (The lion is described by its poetic name, לביא; this does not exactly apply to the lioness, which would rather be designated by the term לביּה.) The roar is succeeded by a low growl (nâham, fremere), when a lion is preparing to fall upon its prey.

(Note: In Arabic, en-nehem is used to signify greediness (see Ali's Proverbs, No. 16).)

And so the prophet hears a low and ominous murmur in the army, which is now ready for battle. But he also sees immediately afterwards how the enemy seizes its booty and carries it irrecoverably away: literally, "how he causes it to escape," i.e., not "lets it slip in cruel sport," as Luzzatto interprets it, but carries it to a place of safety (Mic 6:14). The prey referred to is Judah. It also adds to the gloomy and mysterious character of the prophecy, that the prophet never mentions Judah. In the following v. also (Isa 5:30) the object is still suppressed, as if the prophet could not let it pass his lips.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

By a sudden transition, the enemy are here represented as lions, roaring, growling, seizing their prey, and carrying it off without resistance; a lively picture, especially to an oriental reader, of the boldness, fierceness, quickness, and success of the attack here threatened. “He has a roar like the lioness, and he shall roar like the young lions, and shall growl, and seize the prey, and secure it, none delivering (i.e., and none can rescue it).”

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Isaiah continues to describe the army that will attack Judah. (See: Isaiah 05:26)

Their roaring will be like a lion; they will roar like young lions

Both of these phrases mean basically the same thing. Isaiah compares the enemy army to a lion to imply how the sound of their attack will cause the people of Judah to be very afraid. AT: "When their army shouts in battle they will sound like a roaring lion" (See: Parallelism and Simile)

young lions

A young age is a metonym for strength. AT: "the strongest lions" (See: Metonymy)

They will growl and seize the prey

Isaiah compares the enemy killing the people of Judah to a lion killing a weaker animal. Possible meanings are 1) lions make a sound not as loud as a roar just before they strike, or 2) the writer is using two words to mean the same thing. (See: Metaphor and Doublet)

prey

animals that another animal wants to catch and kill

with none to rescue

"and no one will be able to save them"

will roar ... sea roars

These are the same word translated "growl" in verse 29. Use your language's word for the sound of waves in a storm or heavy rain or some other frightening natural sound.

even the light will be made dark by the clouds

Here darkness represents suffering and disaster. This metaphor can be stated in active form. AT: "the dark clouds will completely block the light of the sun" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)

translationWords

day of the Lord

darkness

light

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

He has a roar like a lion His fear will be upon you like a lion.

and he will retrieve He will save it from all those who try to save it. יַפְלִיט is esmoucer in O.F. [to seize].

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

וינהום And he shall roar. Irregular form; because regularly the guttural letter widens the vowel, and causes the form of the future to be like,יִפְעַל the second radical of the verb פעל being a guttural; in the conjugation tables, however, no notice is taken of this property, else we should not have in the paradigm the standard form of the future ויפליט

יִפְצוֹל And he lets escape. He lets escape the prey, as I think, in order to see whether there is any one to deliver it.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.