'Lion' in the Bible

“Judah is a lion’s whelp;From the prey, my son, you have gone up.He couches, he lies down as a lion,And as a lion, who dares rouse him up?

“Behold, a people rises like a lioness,And as a lion it lifts itself;It will not lie down until it devours the prey,And drinks the blood of the slain.”

“He couches, he lies down as a lion,And as a lion, who dares rouse him?Blessed is everyone who blesses you,And cursed is everyone who curses you.”

Of Gad he said,“Blessed is the one who enlarges Gad;He lies down as a lion,And tears the arm, also the crown of the head.

Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him.

When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion.

So he scraped the honey into his hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.

So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down,“What is sweeter than honey?And what is stronger than a lion?”And he said to them,“If you had not plowed with my heifer,You would not have found out my riddle.”

But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,

Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.”

And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”

And even the one who is valiant, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will completely lose heart; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man and those who are with him are valiant men.

Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.

Now when he had gone, a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body.

And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the body; so they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.

Now when the prophet who brought him back from the way heard it, he said, “It is the man of God, who disobeyed the command of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.”

He went and found his body thrown on the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside the body; the lion had not eaten the body nor torn the donkey.

Then he said to him, “Because you have not listened to the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion will kill you.” And as soon as he had departed from him a lion found him and killed him.

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, mighty in deeds, struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion inside a pit on a snowy day.

“The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion,And the teeth of the young lions are broken.

“The lion perishes for lack of prey,And the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

‘Should my head be lifted up, You would hunt me like a lion;And again You would show Your power against me.

“The proud beasts have not trodden it,Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.

“Can you hunt the prey for the lion,Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

Or he will tear my soul like a lion,Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.

He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair;He lurks to catch the afflicted;He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.

He is like a lion that is eager to tear,And as a young lion lurking in hiding places.

They open wide their mouth at me,As a ravening and a roaring lion.

You will tread upon the lion and cobra,The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion,But his favor is like dew on the grass.

The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion;He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside;I will be killed in the streets!”

The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!A lion is in the open square!”

The wicked flee when no one is pursuing,But the righteous are bold as a lion.

Like a roaring lion and a rushing bearIs a wicked ruler over a poor people.

The lion which is mighty among beastsAnd does not retreat before any,

For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion.

And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;And a little boy will lead them.

Also the cow and the bear will graze,Their young will lie down together,And the lion will eat straw like the ox.

For the waters of Dimon are full of blood;Surely I will bring added woes upon Dimon,A lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon the remnant of the land.

The oracle concerning the beasts of the Negev.Through a land of distress and anguish,From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent,They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeysAnd their treasures on camels’ humps,To a people who cannot profit them;

For thus says the Lord to me,“As the lion or the young lion growls over his prey,Against which a band of shepherds is called out,And he will not be terrified at their voice nor disturbed at their noise,So will the Lord of hosts come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.”

No lion will be there,Nor will any vicious beast go up on it;These will not be found there.But the redeemed will walk there,

“I composed my soul until morning.Like a lion—so He breaks all my bones,From day until night You make an end of me.

The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the Lord.

“In vain I have struck your sons;They accepted no chastening.Your sword has devoured your prophetsLike a destroying lion.

“A lion has gone up from his thicket,And a destroyer of nations has set out;He has gone out from his placeTo make your land a waste.Your cities will be ruinsWithout inhabitant.

Therefore a lion from the forest will slay them,A wolf of the deserts will destroy them,A leopard is watching their cities.Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces,Because their transgressions are many,Their apostasies are numerous.

“My inheritance has become to MeLike a lion in the forest;She has roared against Me;Therefore I have come to hate her.

“He has left His hiding place like the lion;For their land has become a horrorBecause of the fierceness of the oppressing swordAnd because of His fierce anger.”

Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make him run away from it, and whoever is chosen I shall appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand against Me?”

“Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make them run away from it, and whoever is chosen I will appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand before Me?”

He is to me like a bear lying in wait,Like a lion in secret places.

As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle.

And each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

‘When she brought up one of her cubs,He became a lion,And he learned to tear his prey;He devoured men.

‘When she saw, as she waited,That her hope was lost,She took another of her cubsAnd made him a young lion.

‘And he walked about among the lions;He became a young lion,He learned to tear his prey;He devoured men.

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in the midst of her.

“Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him,‘You compared yourself to a young lion of the nations,Yet you are like the monster in the seas;And you burst forth in your riversAnd muddied the waters with your feetAnd fouled their rivers.’”

The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it.

For I will be like a lion to EphraimAnd like a young lion to the house of Judah.I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away,I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver.

They will walk after the Lord,He will roar like a lion;Indeed He will roarAnd His sons will come trembling from the west.

So I will be like a lion to them;Like a leopard I will lie in wait by the wayside.

For a nation has invaded my land,Mighty and without number;Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,And it has the fangs of a lioness.

Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?Does a young lion growl from his den unless he has captured something?

A lion has roared! Who will not fear?The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?

As when a man flees from a lionAnd a bear meets him,Or goes home, leans his hand against the wallAnd a snake bites him.

The remnant of JacobWill be among the nations,Among many peoplesLike a lion among the beasts of the forest,Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,Which, if he passes through,Tramples down and tears,And there is none to rescue.

Where is the den of the lionsAnd the feeding place of the young lions,Where the lion, lioness and lion’s cub prowled,With nothing to disturb them?

The lion tore enough for his cubs,Killed enough for his lionesses,And filled his lairs with preyAnd his dens with torn flesh.

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.

and one of the elders *said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”

and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices.

And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.