King James Version

Ezekiel 19:2

And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.

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Hebrew

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וְאָמַרְתָּ֗veamartaand sayאָמַרconjunction, verb, qal, sequential perfect, 2nd person, masculine, singular — “and say”, a completed action in a sequenceH559to say (used with great latitude)answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, [phrase] (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, [idiom] desire, determine, [idiom] expressly, [idiom] indeed, [idiom] intend, name, [id…מָ֤הmahhowמָהparticle, interrogative — “how”H4100properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senseshow (long, oft, (-soever)), (no-) thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.אִמְּךָ֙imkhamotherאֵםnoun, common, feminine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, masculine, singular — “mother”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH517a mother (as the bond of the family); in a wide sense (both literally and figuratively (like father))dam, mother, [idiom] parting.לְבִיָּ֔אleviyalionלָבִיאnoun, common, feminine, singular, absolute — “lion”, the ordinary formH3833to roar; a lion (properly, a lioness as the fiercer (although not a roarer;))(great, old, stout) lion, lioness, young (lion).בֵּ֥יןbeynbetweenבֵּיןpreposition — “between”H996between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles); also as a conjunction, either...oramong, asunder, at, between (-twixt...and), [phrase] from (the widest), [idiom] in, out of, whether (it be...or), within.אֲרָי֖וֹתarayotlionאֲרִיnoun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “lion”, the ordinary formH738a lion(young) lion, [phrase] pierce (from the margin).רָבָ֑צָהravatsahcrouchרָבַץverb, qal, perfect, 3rd person, feminine, singular — “crouch”, a completed actionH7257to crouch (on all four legs folded, like a recumbent animal); be implication, to recline, repose, brood, lurk, imbedcrouch (down), fall down, make a fold, lay, (cause to, make to) lie (down), make to rest, sit.בְּת֥וֹךְbetokhein amongתָּוֶךְpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “in among”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH8432a bisection, i.e. (by implication) the centreamong(-st), [idiom] between, half, [idiom] (there-, where-), in(-to), middle, mid(-night), midst (among), [idiom] out (of), [idiom] through, [idiom] with(-in).כְּפִרִ֖יםkefirimlionכְּפִירnoun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “lion”, the ordinary formH3715a village (as covered in by walls); also a young lion (perhaps as covered with a mane)(young) lion, village. Compare H3723 (כָּפָר).רִבְּתָ֥הribtahincreaseרָבָהverb, piel, perfect, 3rd person, feminine, singular — “increase”, a completed actionH7235to increase (in whatever respect)(bring in) abundance ([idiom] -antly), [phrase] archer (by mistake for H7232 (רָבַב)), be in authority, bring up, [idiom] continue, enlarge, excel, exceeding(-ly), be full of, (be, make) great(-er, -ly, [idiom] -ness), grow up, heap, incre…גוּרֶֽיהָgureyhawhelpגּוּרnoun, common, masculine, plural, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, feminine, singular — “whelp”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH1482a cub (as still abiding in the lair), especially of the lionwhelp, young one.

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

and say: How was thy mother a lioness; among lions she couched, in the midst of the young lions she reared her whelps!

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

and say, What was thy mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her whelps.

Young’s Literal Translation

and thou hast said: What [is] thy mother? — a lioness, Among lions she hath crouched down, In the midst of young lions she hath multiplied her whelps.

World English Bible

and say, ‘What was your mother? A lioness. She couched among lions, in the middle of the young lions she nourished her cubs.

Darby Translation

and say, What was thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps in the midst of the young lions.

Douay-Rheims

And say: Why did thy mother the lioness lie down among the lions, and bring up her whelps in the midst of young lions?

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

and say: How was thy mother a lioness; among lions she couched, in the midst of the young lions she reared her whelps!

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

and say, Why is thy mother become a whelp in the midst of lions? in the midst of lions she has multiplied her whelps.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

καὶ ἐρεῖς, τί ἡ μήτηρ σου σκύμνος ἐν μέσῳ λεόντων ἐγενήθη; ἐν μέσῳ λεόντων ἐπλήθυεν σκύμνους αὐτῆς.