And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Job highlights a terrifying, relentless pursuit, not just a swift attack, but a renewed onslaught. The phrase "and again" emphasizes that God's actions aren't a one-time event, but a cycle of "wonders" (often interpreted as terrible, incomprehensible deeds) that keep him trapped and tormented.
And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Job is in the depths of despair, questioning God's justice and power. He feels relentlessly pursued by God, comparing the divine hunt to a ferocious lion’s attack that doesn't just kill but inflicts ongoing, wondrous torment. This verse reflects Job's feeling that even if he dared to lift his head in hope or defiance, God would simply strike him down again, compounding his suffering in ways he cannot comprehend.
Imagine being stalked by a lion. Now imagine that lion is God. Job feels pursued with a terrifying intensity, and he can't escape.
Job uses the vivid image of a fierce lion hunting its prey to describe God's pursuit. This isn't a casual chase; it's relentless and furious.
A Devouring Predator
The lion in this imagery is a predator that hunts with eagerness and attacks with great fury. It represents an unstoppable force intent on destruction.
God as the Hunter
Job feels God is actively hunting him, not passively observing. This pursuit is characterized by its intensity and aggression. It's as if God is relentlessly bringing Job down, like a lion bringing down its prey.
What's worse than repeated suffering? Suffering that is designed to be 'wondrous' and unending. Job feels God's actions are not just severe, but bewildering.
Job adds another layer to his torment: God doesn't just attack; God 'again shows Himself marvelous against me.' This phrase speaks to the bewildering and unique nature of his suffering.
Beyond Ordinary Pain
Unlike a lion that quickly ends its prey's suffering, Job feels God prolongs and intensifies his agony in ways that are 'marvelous'—meaning strange, wonderful, and incomprehensible. His plagues are extraordinary in their severity, variety, and persistence.
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Incomprehensible Ways
'Marvelous' here doesn't mean good. It points to actions so unusual and overwhelming that Job cannot understand God's motives or methods. He feels God is displaying His power in devastating and bewildering ways, leaving Job utterly confounded.
Understand the original words
ro'sh · Hebrew Noun
The figurative representation of one's dignity, pride, or state of being. To have one's head lifted up is to be honored or to possess confidence, whereas Job here contrasts this with being hunted.
shachal · Hebrew Noun
A powerful predator used metaphorically in Scripture to describe a fierce, relentless pursuer or an enemy who destroys without mercy. In this context, it illustrates God's perceived overwhelming power directed against Job.
pala' · Hebrew Noun
Extraordinary deeds, signs, or miracles. In this context, Job uses the term ironically to describe the 'miraculous' way God is relentlessly targeting him, implying that God’s power is being used for his destruction.
This passage echoes Job's cry, likening God to a lion that could tear the speaker apart if not for divine intervention and justice.
Jeremiah 25:38This verse uses the powerful imagery of a lion leaving its den to represent God's judgment and wrath descending upon the earth, mirroring Job's sense of being relentlessly pursued.
Hosea 5:14Here, God is depicted as a lion ready to attack and tear apart, with no one to deliver the prey, which resonates with Job's feeling of helpless suffering under divine power.
Psalm 22:1Job's lament about God forsaking him and not hearing his cry is powerfully reflected here, where the psalmist questions why God is so distant, even as troubles mount like a lion's attack.
pooleJob 10:16: "For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me."
As a fierce lion; which hunteth after his prey with great eagerness, and when he overtakes it, falls upon it with great fury. And again thou showest thyself marvellous upon me, Heb. and thou returnest and showest thyself marvellous upon, or in , or against me . The lion tears its prey speedily, and so ends its torments; but thou renewest my calamities again and again, and makest…
ellicottJob 10:16: "For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me."
(16) For it increaseth. —This verse is very obscure. Some understand it thus: “But is it so glorious a thing that Thou shouldst hunt me like a fierce lion, and then again show Thyself mysterious and wonderful towards me? hunting me like a lion, and yet hiding alike Thy person and Thy motive from me?” Or the subject is the head of the former verse, “And if it exalt itself, Thou hu…
Job highlights a terrifying, relentless pursuit, not just a swift attack, but a renewed onslaught. The phrase "and again" emphasizes that God's actions aren't a one-time event, but a cycle of "wonders" (often interpreted as terrible, incomprehensible deeds) that keep him trapped and tormented.
Job is in the depths of despair, questioning God's justice and power. He feels relentlessly pursued by God, comparing the divine hunt to a ferocious lion’s attack that doesn't just kill but inflicts ongoing, wondrous torment. This verse reflects Job's feeling that even if he dared to lift his head in hope or defiance, God would simply strike him down again, compounding his suffering in ways he cannot comprehend.
Job is in the depths of despair, questioning God's justice and power. He feels relentlessly pursued by God, comparing the divine hunt to a ferocious lion’s attack that doesn't just kill but inflicts ongoing, wondrous torment. This verse reflects Job's feeling that even if he dared to lift his head in hope or defiance, God would simply strike him down again, compounding his suffering in ways he cannot comprehend.
"And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion and again work wonders against me." — Job highlights a terrifying, relentless pursuit, not just a swift attack, but a renewed onslaught. The phrase "and again" emphasizes that God's actions aren't a one-time event, but a cycle of "wonder…
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Last reviewed October 2026