Amos 3:4
in Amos 3Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl in his den if he has caught nothing?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
KJV
Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
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This verse in Amos 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThose who study the habits of wild beasts say that the lion, when it is in need of food, roams about powerfully through mountains and glens and forests, turning its eye this way and that, and seeking to catch something of the animals grazing in the woods. But when it sees something suitable for food, then it comes near and makes its attack, roaring terribly and harshly. Why then, He says, do you accuse God, because He makes the threat before the attack of terrible things?
This site's exposition
Can two walk together, except they be agreed
on Amos 3:3-6
A string of short proverbs builds a single argument by accumulation, two walking together only by agreement, a lion roaring only over prey already taken, a bird caught only where a snare was laid, a trumpet raising alarm only because danger is real. Each image insists that effect follows cause, and the last question presses the principle to its hardest edge, shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it, a line the bench reads as divine sovereignty over calamity as judgment rather than a claim that God authors moral evil, the distinction the older commentators are careful to draw. The whole run of questions defends the next section's claim, that Amos speaks because the Lord has spoken, not by his own choice.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 3 onwards) Will two walk together unless they have agreed? Does a lion roar in the forest unless it has prey? Does a lion's cub give a cry from its den without capturing something? Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground without a trapper? Does a trap spring up from the ground before catching something? If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, has not the Lord caused it?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey?.... He will not, unless he has it in his sight, or in his paws; he roars when he first sees it, whereby he terrifies the creature, that it cannot move till he comes up to it; and when he has got it in his paws, he roars over it, to invite others to partake with him.
Of the sins that were found among them, by which God was provoked thus to threaten, thus to punish, that they might justify God in his controversy with them, and, unless they repented and reformed, might expect no other than that God should proceed in his controversy,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? - Then, further, each question by itself suggests its own thought. Amos had already, in repeating Joel’s words, spoken of God’s Voice, under the image of a lion roaring (Amo 1:2; Hos 11:10 (add Hos 5:14; Hos 6:1; Hos 13:7); Jer 25:30). Hosea had likened Israel to “a silly dove without heat Hos 7:11; on the other hand, he had likened God’s loud call to repentance to the roaring of the lion, the conversion of Israel to the return of the dove to its home Hos 11:10-
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Where a corrupt nation is, there God's instruments of punishment are sure also to be. The lion roars loudly only when he has prey in sight. Will a young lion cry out . . . if he--the "lion," not the "young lion." have taken nothing?--The young lion just weaned lies silent, until the old lion brings the prey near; then the scent rouses him.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Can two walk together, except they be agreed?--Can God's prophets be so unanimous in prophesying against you, if God's Spirit were not joined with them, or if their prophecies were false? The Israelites were "at ease," not believing that God was with the prophets in their denunciations of coming ruin to the nation (Am 6:1, 3; compare 1Ki 22:18, 24, 27;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
WE have all felt grieved when reading our bills of mortality to observe the mysterious spread of cholera in our great city. It is high time that it should be made the subject of special prayer, and that the nation should seek unto the Lord for its removal. While as yet there has been but comparatively little of the evil, we should be humbled under it, that we may be spared a greater outbreak. There are different ways of looking at this disease.
WE have all felt grieved when reading our bills of mortality to observe the mysterious spread of cholera in our great city. It is high time that it should be made the subject of special prayer, and that the nation should seek unto the Lord for its removal. While as yet there has been but comparatively little of the evil, we should be humbled under it, that we may be spared a greater outbreak. There are different ways of looking at this disease. Men viewing it from one point of view have frequently despised those who have regarded it under another aspect. Occasionally Christian men indignantly express themselves concerning those who speak of cholera as the product of ascertained and governable causes to be checked and even prevented by due attention to the laws of health. I have never shared in that indignation. It seems to me that this disease is, to a great extent, in our own hands and that if all men would take scrupulous care as to cleanliness, and if better dwellings were provided for the poor, and if overcrowding were effectually prevented, and if the water supply could be larger, and other sanitary improvements could be carried out, the disease, most probably, would not occur. Or, if it did visit us occasionally, as the result of filth in other countries, it would be in a very mitigated form. I am thankful that there are many men of intelligence and scientific information who can speak well upon this point, and I hope they will never cease to speak until all men learn that the laws of cleanliness and health are as binding upon us as those of morality. So far from a Christian man being angry with those who instruct the people in useful secular knowledge, he ought rather to be thankful for them and hope that their teaching may be powerful with the masses.
Will a lion roar - Should I threaten such a judgment without cause?
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲיִשְׁאַ֤ג | hayishag | ¿ does it roar | H7580 → | 20 times |
| אַרְיֵה֙ | ʾaryeh | a lion | H738 → | 80 times |
| בַּיַּ֔עַר | baiyaar | in the forest | H3293 → | |
| וְטֶ֖רֶף | veteref | and prey | H2964 → | |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| ל֑וֹ | lo | [belongs] to it | ||
| הֲיִתֵּ֨ן | hayiten | ¿ does it give forth | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| כְּפִ֤יר | kefir | a young lion | H3715 → | |
| קוֹלוֹ֙ | kolo | voice its | H6963 → | 506 times |
| מִמְּעֹ֣נָת֔וֹ | mimeonato | from den its | H4585 → | |
| בִּלְתִּ֖י | bilti | except | H1115 → | |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| לָכָֽד׃ | lakhad | it has caught [something] | H3920 → | 121 times |
הֲיִשְׁאַ֤ג¿ does it roar
hayishagH7580 →20 times
אַרְיֵה֙a lion
ʾaryehH738 →80 times
בַּיַּ֔עַרin the forest
baiyaarH3293 →
וְטֶ֖רֶףand prey
veterefH2964 →
אֵ֣יןnot
ʾeinH369 →789 times
ל֑וֹ[belongs] to it
lo
הֲיִתֵּ֨ן¿ does it give forth
hayitenH5414 →2011 times
כְּפִ֤ירa young lion
kefirH3715 →
קוֹלוֹ֙voice its
koloH6963 →506 times
מִמְּעֹ֣נָת֔וֹfrom den its
mimeonatoH4585 →
בִּלְתִּ֖יexcept
biltiH1115 →
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
לָכָֽד׃it has caught [something]
lakhadH3920 →121 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Amos 1:2He said: “The LORD roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers.”
it leads to
- Joel 3:16
The LORD will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 25:30
So you are to prophesy all these words against them and say to them: ‘The LORD will roar from on high; He will raise His voice from His holy habitation. He will roar loudly…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joel 3:16
Through
Hosea 11:10They will walk after the LORD; He will roar like a lion. When He roars, His children will come trembling from the west.
it leads to
- Amos 1:2
He said: “The LORD roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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…
- Amos 1:2
Through
Hosea 5:14For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them…
it leads to
- Psalms 7:2
or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
- Micah 5:8
Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which…
- Psalms 7:2
Through
Amos 3:8The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?
it leads to
- Jeremiah 20:9
If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of…
- Acts 4:20
For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
- Jeremiah 20:9
About Amos
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 705: “The Voice Of Cholera” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Amos; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Amos; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.