Job 4:10,11

The sudden destruction of the wicked is thrown by Eliphaz into another graphic figure, the breaking-up and dispersion of a den of lions. There are five words used for lion in these verses, some of which are epithets taken from the characteristics of the lion; they are: lion, roaring lion (rather than, fierce lion), young lion, Job 4:10, and strong (or, old) lion, and lioness the whelps of the lioness, Job 4:11. Between the lion and the wicked whom Eliphaz describes there are two points of resemblance; first, their strength or power; and second, their inherent violence of nature. This is the kind of men on whom afflictions fall that are final. The picture of the breaking-up of the lion's home is very graphic; in the midst of the strong lion's roaring and tearing of his prey by a sudden stroke his roaring is silenced and his teeth dashed out; thus disabled he perishes for lack of prey; and the whelps having no provider are scattered abroad. The reality of the figure is seen in the breaking-up of the home of the wicked, ch. Job 5:2-5.