Greek word · G5612

ὠρύομαι

ōryomai

to roar

'To roar, howl', used of lions, wolves and dogs, and of people crying out wildly. Only here in the NT.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ὠρύομαι depon.,

[in LXX for שָׁאַג ;]

of animals (also of men, Hdt., al.), to roar, howl: λέων, 1 Peter 5:8.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Peter 5:8

Range of meaning

'To roar, howl', used of lions, wolves and dogs, and of people crying out wildly. Only here in the NT.

Against the English

Every version has 'roaring lion'. That is accurate. The trouble is only with the popular idea that the roar means he is harmless (see popular_drift).

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 22:13 (LXX 21:14), the psalm of the suffering righteous one: 'they opened their mouth against me like a lion, tearing and roaring (ὠρυόμενος)'. Lions roaring over prey: Amos 3:4, 8; Ezek 22:25 ('like a roaring lion tearing prey; they have devoured lives'). Prov 28:15 calls a wicked ruler over poor people 'a roaring lion'. Prov 19:12 and 20:2 compare a king's anger to a lion's roar.

Where it appears

1 Peter · 1

  1. 1 Peter 5:8 ὠρυόμενος roaring

    Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

    Here: The verb tense shows something happening now: the roar is going on as he moves. It echoes the Greek of Psalm 22:13, 'like a lion, tearing and roaring', so the image is menace and the moment of attack, not empty noise.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.