Job 38:39–41
God asks Job who prepares the lioness's prey and the raven's food
Study it word by word39Can you hunt prey for the lioness, or the appetite of the young lions fill,
40when they crouch in their dwellings and lie in the thicket in ambush?
41Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young cry for help to El and wander without food?
In its context
37Who can count the clouds with wisdom? And the wineskins of the heavens, who can tip them over,
38when the dust is poured into a mass, and the clods stick together?
…
Its words in the original
- תָצוּדtatsud· hunt
Hunt; figuratively, hunt people.
- לָבִיאlavi· lioness
Lioness (or full-grown lion).
- טָרֶףtaref· prey
Prey: the animal a wild beast hunts; food.
- חַיַּתchayat· living, animal, life
Living, alive; also fresh (of water). As a noun, "living thing" or "animal" (above all wild animals); in the plural, "life".
- כְּפִירִיםkefirim· young lion, village
Young lion, already strong and able to hunt. The same form can also mean a village.
- תְּמַלֵּאtemale· fill, be full
Fill or be full; also fulfill or complete (a time, a word given).
- יָשֹׁחוּyashochu· bow down, sink
To bow down, to sink, to be brought low.
- מְּעוֹנוֹתmeonot· dwelling, refuge
Dwelling, a place in which to take refuge; also a lair.
- יֵשְׁבוּyeshvu· sit, dwell
Sit, sit down; from there stay in a place, live, dwell. In the causative form, settle someone, make to dwell. Also sit as judge or as king.
- סֻּכָּהsuka· booth, shelter
Booth, shelter made of branches.
- לְמוֹlemo· to, for
A poetic form of the preposition "to," "for."
- אָרֶבarev· lair, ambush
A lair, a hiding place from which one lies in wait.
- יָכִיןyachin· be firm, prepare
Be firm, be set, be ready; in the causative form, set up, establish, prepare, make ready.
- עֹרֵבorev· raven
Raven.
- צֵידtsed· game
Game, what is hunted; hunting.
- יְלָדָיyeladay· child, boy
Child, boy, young man; offspring.
- אֵלel· El, God, god
"El", an ancient Hebrew word for "God". Alone or with another title it is a name of the God of Israel: El Elyon (God Most High), El Shaddai (God Almighty). Neighboring peoples used the same word for their gods; then this translation writes "god" in lower case. It also means "mighty".
- יְשַׁוֵּעוּyeshaveu· cry for help
To cry out for help, to call aloud to be rescued.
- יִתְעוּyitu· wander, go astray
Wander, go astray, be lost; in the causative form, make wander, lead astray.
- בְלִיveli· without; not
Without; not; nothing.
- אֹכֶלochel· food
Food, provisions.