Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageAs he traveled home, a lion met him on the road and killed him. His body lay thrown in the road—the donkey standing beside it, the lion standing watch over the corpse.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GAs he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and slew him. His corpse lay flung in the road, while the donkey stood beside it and the lion stood beside the corpse.
KJV
King James VersionAnd when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleAs he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it.
Footnotes
Three details mark this scene as supernaturally ordered rather than randomly violent: the lion killed the man but did not devour the body; it did not scatter or harm the donkey; and it remained standing guard beside the corpse—an unnatural posture for a predator with a fresh kill. These details, confirmed in verse 28, signal divine agency. The judgment is measured with precision: death as pronounced, but the body preserved for burial. The lion becomes an instrument of *mishpat* (מִשְׁפָּט, justice), restrained at the exact boundary of its commission. This eerie restraint will prompt the old prophet's confession in verse 26—even the lion's behaviour becomes a sermon.