And he went and found his body cast in the road, and the ass and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or torn the ass — The old prophet discovers the same tableau the passersby had witnessed. The crucial detail—that the lion has neither eaten the body nor harmed the donkey—is a sign of divine respect for the dead prophet and divine preservation of the means of his transport. The phrase לֹא־אָכַל הַלָּבִיא אֶת־הַנְּבֵלָה (lo-achal halabi et-hanevilah, the lion had not eaten the body) emphasizes the supernatural nature of the lion's behavior; it has served as an instrument of judgment, not a natural predator.

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