Yesaya 31:4

The Lord Will Defend Zion

31:4 Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me:

“The Lord will be like a growling lion,

like a young lion growling over its prey. ¹ 

Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,

it is not afraid of their shouts

or intimidated by their yelling. ² 

In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend

to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. ³ 

Mikha 5:3

5:3 So the Lord ⁴  will hand the people of Israel ⁵  over to their enemies ⁶ 

until the time when the woman in labor ⁷  gives birth. ⁸ 

Then the rest of the king’s ⁹  countrymen will return

to be reunited with the people of Israel. ¹⁰ 

[31:4]  ¹ tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.

[31:4]  ² tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”

[31:4]  ³ tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsbo’ ’al) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.

[5:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people of Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ⁶ tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ⁷ sn The woman in labor. Personified, suffering Jerusalem is the referent. See 4:9-10.

[5:3]  ⁸ sn Gives birth. The point of the figurative language is that Jerusalem finally finds relief from her suffering. See 4:10.

[5:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to the sons of Israel.” The words “be reunited with” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  sn The rest of the king’s brothers are the coming king’s fellow Judahites, while the sons of Israel are the northern tribes. The verse pictures the reunification of the nation under the Davidic king. See Isa 11:12-13; Jer 31:2-6, 15-20; Ezek 37; Hos 1:11; 3:5.