29 Their roaring will be like a lioness. They will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar, and seize their prey and carry it off, and there will be no one to deliver.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
His roaring shall be like that of a lion. This denotes fierceness and cruelty, for he compares the Chaldeans to lions, which, we know, are frightful to behold, and savage by nature; as if he had said that they would not be men who were moved by any feeling of compassion or tenderness, but rather that they would be savage beasts. He adds, that they will likewise possess great strength, so that none will venture to approach for rescuing their prey. He means that the Jews will have no defense for warding off their attacks, because the dread of their cruelty will keep all at a distance from them. It was God who employed their agency in punishing the Jews, and therefore it was necessary that they should be armed with formidable power, that this wayward people might at length acknowledge that they had to do not with men but with God, into whose hands it is a fearful thing to fall. (Hebrews 10:31.)
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; Exodus 32:18; Joshua 6:10, Joshua 6:16, Joshua 6:20; Jeremiah 50:15; 1-Samuel 17:20, 1-Samuel 17:52; 2-Chronicles 13:15; Job 39:25.
Like a lion - This comparison is common in the Bible; Jeremiah 51:38; Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:4; compare Numbers 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.
Their roaring [shall be] like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall (i) roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry [it] away safe, and none shall deliver [it].
(i) By which is declared the cruelty of the enemy.
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.
roaring--their battle cry.
"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 (Micah 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 (Isaiah 5:30) the object is still suppressed, as if the prophet could not let it pass his lips.
Roar - Which signifies both their cruelty, and their eagerness to devour the prey.
*More commentary available at chapter level.