Reference: Lion
American
The well-known and noble king of beasts, frequently spoken of in Scripture. He often exceeds eight feet in length and four feet in height; and his majestic and dauntless aspect, his prodigious strength and agility, and his peculiar roar, make him the terror of the forests. Lions were common in Palestine, (See JORDAN,) and the Hebrews had seven different names for them, to distinguish the different ages, etc. Five of these occur together in Job 4:10-11. See also Na 2:11-12. The psalmist alludes to the stealthy creeping of the lion till he can spring upon his prey, when he says of the crafty wicked man, "He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den;....he croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones." The Bible reader will remember the exploits of Samson and of David, Jg 14:5-6; 1Sa 17:34-36, the story of the disobedient prophet slain by a lion, 1Ki 13:28, and of the obedient Daniel, safe in the lion's den, Da 6; also the sublime image of Jehovah's care for his people, in Isa 31:4.
The Lion of the tribe of Judah, Re 5:5, is Jesus Christ, who sprung from the tribe of Judah and the race of David, and overcame death, the world, and the devil. It is supposed that a lion was the device of the tribe of Judah; whence this allusion, Ge 49:9.
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Judah is a lion's whelp. From spoil, my son, thou art come on high: he laid him down and couched himself as a lion, and as a lioness. Who dare stir him up?
Then went Samson and his father and his mother down to Timnah. And when they came to the vineyards of Timnah, behold, a young lion roared upon him. And the spirit of the LORD came upon him. And he tare him, as a man would rent a kid, and yet had nothing in his hand. Nevertheless he told not his father and mother what he had done.
And he went and found the body cast along in the way, and the ass and the lion standing thereby. And the lion had not eaten the carcass nor hurt the ass.
The roaring of the lion, the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the lion's whelps are broken. The lion perisheth, for lack of prey, and the lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, "Like as the lion or lion's whelps roareth upon the prey that he hath gotten, and is not afraid though the multitude of shepherds cry out upon him, neither abashed for all the heap of them: So shall the LORD of Hosts come down from the mount Zion, and defend his hill.
Where is now the dwelling of the lions, and the pasture of the lion's whelps? Where the lion and the lioness went with the whelps, and no man frayed them away? But the lion spoiled enough for his young ones, and devoured for his lioness: he filled his dens with his prey, and his dwelling place with that he had ravished.
And one of the elders said unto me, "Weep not. Behold, a lion being of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath obtained to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
Fausets
ariy, 'arieh ("the bearer," Umbreit); guwr, "the whelp" (Ge 49:9); kephir, "the young lion" in adolescent vigour, his "great teeth" grown (Ps 58:6), having his own covert (Jer 25:38); labiy, in adult maturity (Ge 49:9); libyah, "lioness"; la'ish, "an old (rather strong, from an Arabic root) lion": Job 4:11, where the five different terms occur; shachal is "the roaring lion"; labiy appears in the German lowe. The variety of names shows the abundance of lions in the regions of Scripture at that time. Now there are none in Palestine. But the names Lebaoth (Jos 15:32), Arieh (2Ki 15:25), Ariel for Jerusalem (Isa 29:1-2,7), Laish (Jg 18:7), incidentally, and so undesignedly, confirm the Scripture assertions as to their former existence.
The forests and tangled thickets have been almost swept away which were their former lair. Jordan's wooded banks, its "pride" (as some translated, but others "swelling"), gave cover to lions (Jer 49:19), "a lion from the swelling (so Calvin, the overflow forcing the lion from the woody banks) of Jordan." The Asiatic lion has a short curly mane, and is shorter and rounder than the African. It laid waste villages (2Ki 17:25-26; Pr 22:13) and slew men (1Ki 13:24; 20:35-36). Shepherds, as David, sometimes singly encountered it, and prevailed (1Sa 17:34-35; Am 3:12); oftener in bands, frightening him with shouts into a pit covered over with reed or branches lightly, to entrap it (Eze 19:4,8-9). Benaiah slew one in a pit or cistern, in which it had taken refuge in a snowstorm (2Sa 23:20).
Samson slew one at Timnath (Jg 14:5-6). Lion hunting is depicted as the amusement of the Ninevite kings, who followed the great hunter Nimrod's example. Captured lions were caged, which illustrates the image in Eze 19:9. The lion symbolizes bravery, so the faces of the warriors of Gad who joined David are designated "the faces of lions" (1Ch 12:8); also might and royalty, as in the winged lion figures with human heads in the Assyrian palace remains, and in Solomon's steps to his throne (1Ki 10:19-20); so the royal tribe Judah had the lion as its standard. Messiah is "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David," yet also the Lamb, combining opposites. The first of the four living creatures was like a lion (Re 4:7, compare Eze 1:10), the kingly aspect of Messiah in Matthew.
Nineveh is compared to a lion's den, full of remains of its prey, appropriately, as lion figures abounded in the Assyrian palaces, Na 2:11-12, "where is," etc.? i.e. God will so destroy it that its site will be hard to find; fulfilled to the letter (Na 1:8). Lions haunted dens in Lebanon and Hermon (Song 4:8). Balaam compares Israel to "a great lion (labiy) and a young lion" ('arieh): Nu 23:24; 24:9. Am 3:4, "will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey?" i.e., God would not threaten wrath if there were not; a guilty nation, its object (Mt 24:28); "will a young lion cry out of his den if he (the old lion) have taken nothing?" The young lion lies silent until the parent lion brings the prey near, then the scent rouses him; so the prophet would not speak against Israel if God did not reveal to him Israel's sin requiring Israel's punishment.
Satan is the "roaring lion" as well as the subtle serpent (1Pe 5:8). Sha'ag is the lion's roar in seeking prey (Ps 104:21); naham his cry when seizing it (Isa 5:29, compare Pr 19:12); hagah his growl defying any effort to snatch from him his prey (Isa 31:4); na'ar the cry of the young lion (Jer 51:38); rabats is his crouching in his lair (Ge 49:10); shacah and yashab (Job 38:40) his lying in wait; 'arab his secretly doing so (Ps 10:9); ramas his stealthily creeping after prey (Ps 104:20); zinneq his leap, flinging himself on it (De 33:22) (Smith's Bible Dictionary).
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Judah is a lion's whelp. From spoil, my son, thou art come on high: he laid him down and couched himself as a lion, and as a lioness. Who dare stir him up?
Judah is a lion's whelp. From spoil, my son, thou art come on high: he laid him down and couched himself as a lion, and as a lioness. Who dare stir him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a ruler from between his legs, until Shiloh come, unto whom the people shall hearken.
Behold, the people shall rise up as a lioness and heave up himself as a lion; and shall not lie down again, until he have eaten of the prey and drunk of the blood of them that are slain!"
He couched himself and lay down as a lion and as a lioness; who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee."
And unto Dan he said, "Dan is a lion's whelp, he shall flow from Bashan."
Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: all these cities are twenty and nine with their villages.
Then went Samson and his father and his mother down to Timnah. And when they came to the vineyards of Timnah, behold, a young lion roared upon him. And the spirit of the LORD came upon him. And he tare him, as a man would rent a kid, and yet had nothing in his hand. Nevertheless he told not his father and mother what he had done.
Then the five men departed and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, and after the manner of the Sidonians: still, and without casting of perils, and that no man made any trouble in the land or usurped any dominion, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no business with any nation.
Then said David unto Saul, "As thy servant kept his father's sheep, there came a Lion and likewise a Bear, and took a sheep out of the flock. And I went out after him and smote him, and took it out of his mouth. And when he arose against me, I caught him by the beard and smote him and slew him.
Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada the son of a lusty man valiant in acts of Kabzeel, he slew two lions of Moab. He went down and slew a lion in a pit in time of snow.
And the seat had six steps. And the top of the seat was round behind his back with pommels on either side on the place where he sat, and two Lions standing beside the pommels. And there stood twelve lions on the steps, six on a side. There was none like seen in any kingdom.
And as he journeyed, a lion met him by the way and slew him, and his carcass lay along in the way and the ass stood thereby, and the lion stood by the corpse also.
Then a certain man of the children of the Prophets said unto his fellow, with the word of the LORD, "Smite me, I pray thee." And the man would not smite him. And he said, "Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD: behold, as soon as thou art departed from me a lion shall slay thee." And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him and slew him.
And Pekah, the son of Remaliah, a lord of his, conspired against him and slew him in the palace of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh and fifty men with him that were Gileadites: and when he had killed him, reigned in his room.
But at the beginning of their dwelling, they feared not the LORD. Wherefore the LORD sent lions upon them, which slew them. Then men told the king of Assyria, saying, "The nations which thou hast translated and put in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land, and therefore he hath sent lions upon them, which slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land."
And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David, when he kept a hold in the wilderness, men of might and men apt for war and could handle shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were thereto as swift as the roes of the mountains:
The lion perisheth, for lack of prey, and the lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
living in their dens, and lurking in their couches?
For he lieth waiting secretly; even as a lion lurketh he in his den, that he may ravish the poor. He doth ravish the poor when he getteth him into his net.
Break their teeth, O God, in their mouths; smite the jawbones of the lions, O LORD.
Thou makest darkness, that it may be night, wherein all the beasts of the forest do move. The lions, roaring after their prey, do seek their meat from God.
The king's disfavor is like the roaring of a Lion, but his friendship is like the dew upon the grass.
The slothful body sayeth, "There is a lion without, I might be slain in the street."
Come to me from Lebanon, O my spouse, come to me from Lebanon: come soon the next way from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, and from the mountains of the leopards.
Their cry is as it were of a lion, and the roaring of them like lion's whelps. They shall roar, and haunch up the prey, and no man shall recover it or get it from them.
Woe be unto thee O Ariel, thou city that David won. Take ye yet some years, and let some feasts yet pass over: then shall Ariel be besieged, so that she shall be heavy and sorrowful, and shall be unto me even as an altar of slaughter.
And the multitude of all nations that fight against Ariel shall be as a dream seen by night; even so shall all they be that make war against it, and strongholds to overcome it.
For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, "Like as the lion or lion's whelps roareth upon the prey that he hath gotten, and is not afraid though the multitude of shepherds cry out upon him, neither abashed for all the heap of them: So shall the LORD of Hosts come down from the mount Zion, and defend his hill.
They shall forsake their folds like as a lion: for their lands shall be waste, because of the wrath of the destroyer, and because of his fearful indignation.
Behold, like as the Lion cometh up from the pleasant meadows of Jordan unto the green pastures of Etham, so will I drive him, and make him run against her. But who is the young man that I will ordain thereto? Who is like unto me? What is he that will strive with me? What shepherd may stand in my hands?
They shall roar together like lions, and as the young lions when they be angry, so shall they bend themselves.
Upon the right side of these four, their faces were like the face of a man, and the face of a Lion: But upon the left side, they had the face of an ox and the face of an eagle.
The heathen heard of him, and took him in their nets, and brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.
Then came the heathen together on every side out of all countries against him, laid their nets for him, and took him in their pit. So they bound him with chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: which put him in prison, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
So they bound him with chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: which put him in prison, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
Doth a lion roar in the woods, except he have prey? Or crieth a Lion's whelp out of his den, except he have gotten something?
Thus sayeth the LORD, 'like as a herdsman taketh two legs or a piece of an ear out of the lion's mouth: Even so the children of Israel that dwell in Samaria, having their couches in the corner, and the beds at Damascus, shall be plucked away.
when the flood runneth over, and destroyeth the place; and when the darkness followeth still upon his enemies.
Where is now the dwelling of the lions, and the pasture of the lion's whelps? Where the lion and the lioness went with the whelps, and no man frayed them away? But the lion spoiled enough for his young ones, and devoured for his lioness: he filled his dens with his prey, and his dwelling place with that he had ravished.
For wheresoever a dead carcass is, even thither will the eagles resort.
Be sober, and watch. For your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
And the first beast was like a lion, the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
Hastings
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Judah is a lion's whelp. From spoil, my son, thou art come on high: he laid him down and couched himself as a lion, and as a lioness. Who dare stir him up?
Judah is a lion's whelp. From spoil, my son, thou art come on high: he laid him down and couched himself as a lion, and as a lioness. Who dare stir him up?
Judah is a lion's whelp. From spoil, my son, thou art come on high: he laid him down and couched himself as a lion, and as a lioness. Who dare stir him up?
Behold, the people shall rise up as a lioness and heave up himself as a lion; and shall not lie down again, until he have eaten of the prey and drunk of the blood of them that are slain!"
Behold, the people shall rise up as a lioness and heave up himself as a lion; and shall not lie down again, until he have eaten of the prey and drunk of the blood of them that are slain!"
He couched himself and lay down as a lion and as a lioness; who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee."
And unto Dan he said, "Dan is a lion's whelp, he shall flow from Bashan."
and came up and told his father and his mother, and said, "I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. And now give her me to wife."
And the spirit of the LORD came upon him. And he tare him, as a man would rent a kid, and yet had nothing in his hand. Nevertheless he told not his father and mother what he had done.
And within a short space after, as he went thither again to take her to wife, he turned out of the way, to see the carcass of the Lion. And behold, there was a swarm of bees in the carcass of the Lion and honey.
Then said David unto Saul, "As thy servant kept his father's sheep, there came a Lion and likewise a Bear, and took a sheep out of the flock.
And as he journeyed, a lion met him by the way and slew him, and his carcass lay along in the way and the ass stood thereby, and the lion stood by the corpse also.
Then a certain man of the children of the Prophets said unto his fellow, with the word of the LORD, "Smite me, I pray thee." And the man would not smite him.
The roaring of the lion, the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the lion's whelps are broken.
The roaring of the lion, the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the lion's whelps are broken. The lion perisheth, for lack of prey, and the lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
The lion perisheth, for lack of prey, and the lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
Wherefore hast thou brought me out of my mother's womb? O that I had perished, and that no eye had seen me.
Thou shalt go upon the Lion and Adder, the young Lion and the Dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet.
The king's disfavor is like the roaring of a Lion, but his friendship is like the dew upon the grass.
The king ought to be feared as the roaring of a lion; whoso provoketh him unto anger, offendeth against his own soul.
Your beasts have born burdens upon their backs toward the South, through the way that is full of peril and trouble, because of the lion and lioness; of the Cockatrice and shooting dragon. Yea the Mules bare your substance, and the Camels brought your treasure, upon their crooked backs, unto a people that cannot help you.
For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, "Like as the lion or lion's whelps roareth upon the prey that he hath gotten, and is not afraid though the multitude of shepherds cry out upon him, neither abashed for all the heap of them: So shall the LORD of Hosts come down from the mount Zion, and defend his hill.
"'Therefore tell them all these words, and say unto them: The LORD shall cry from above, and let his voice be heard from his holy habitation. With a great noise shall he cry from his regal court. He shall give a great voice, like the grape gatherers, and the sound thereof shall be heard unto the ends of the world.
Behold, like as the Lion cometh up from the pleasant meadows of Jordan unto the green pastures of Etham, so will I drive him, and make him run against her. But who is the young man that I will ordain thereto? Who is like unto me? What is he that will strive with me? What shepherd may stand in my hands?
Behold, like as the Lion cometh up from the pleasant meadows of Jordan unto the green pastures of Ethan, so will I drive them forth, and make them run against her. But whom shall I choose out, and ordain to such a thing? For who is like me, or who will strive with me? Or what shepherd may stand against me?
and say, "Wherefore lay thy mother, that lioness, among the lions, and nourished her young ones among the lion's whelps?
and say, "Wherefore lay thy mother, that lioness, among the lions, and nourished her young ones among the lion's whelps?
I am unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a lion's whelp to the house of Judah. Even I, I will spoil them, and go my way. I will take them with me, and no man shall rescue them.
The LORD shall roar out of Zion, a cry out of Jerusalem; that the heavens and the earth shall quake withal. But the LORD shall be a defense to his own people, and a refuge for the children of Israel.
When a lion roareth, who will not be afraid? Seeing then that the LORDE God himself speaketh, who will not prophesy?
Thus sayeth the LORD, 'like as a herdsman taketh two legs or a piece of an ear out of the lion's mouth: Even so the children of Israel that dwell in Samaria, having their couches in the corner, and the beds at Damascus, shall be plucked away.
Yea, the residue of Jacob shall be among the gentiles and the multitude of people, as the lion among the beasts of the wood, and as the Lion's whelps among a flock of sheep: which, when he goeth through, treadeth down, teareth in pieces, and there is no man that can help.
Men may hear the shepherds mourn, for their glory is destroyed. Men may hear the lion's whelps roar, for the pride of Jordan is wasted away.
Be sober, and watch. For your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
And one of the elders said unto me, "Weep not. Behold, a lion being of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath obtained to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
Morish
There are several Hebrew words translated 'lion,' the principal of which is ari, from 'to tear.' The lion is declared to be the "strongest among beasts and turneth not away for any." Pr 30:30. This shows that the lion may be taken as a symbol of 'strength,' and as such the Lord is called the lion of the tribe of Judah, to which is attached the symbol of royalty, for Judah held the sceptre. Ge 49:9-10; Re 5:5. Satan also has a kingdom and is called a strong one, Mt 12:26; and he is the 'lion' seeking whom he may devour. He is compared to a 'roaring lion,' because he is like that animal, which roars when it is sure of its prey: cf. Am 3:4. The Lord knows how to deliver His servants even out of the mouth of the lion.
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Judah is a lion's whelp. From spoil, my son, thou art come on high: he laid him down and couched himself as a lion, and as a lioness. Who dare stir him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a ruler from between his legs, until Shiloh come, unto whom the people shall hearken.
Doth a lion roar in the woods, except he have prey? Or crieth a Lion's whelp out of his den, except he have gotten something?
So if Satan cast out Satan, then is he at variance within himself. How shall then his kingdom endure?
And one of the elders said unto me, "Weep not. Behold, a lion being of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath obtained to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
Smith
Lion.
The most powerful, daring and impressive of all carnivorous animals, the most magnificent in aspect and awful in voice. At present lions do not exist in Palestine; but they must in ancient times have been numerous. The lion of Palestine was in all probability the Asiatic variety, described by Aristotle and Pliny as distinguished by its short and curly mane, and by being shorter and rounder in shape, like the sculptured lion found at Arban. It was less daring than the longer named species, but when driven by hunger it not only ventured to attack the flocks in the desert in presence of the shepherd,
but laid waste towns and villages,
and devoured men.
Among the Hebrews, and throughout the Old Testament, the lion was the achievement of the princely tribe of Judah, while in the closing book of the canon it received a deeper significance as the emblem of him who "prevailed to open the book and loose the seven seals thereof."
On the other hand its fierceness and cruelty rendered it an appropriate metaphor for a fierce and malignant enemy.
and hence for the arch-fiend himself.
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Then said David unto Saul, "As thy servant kept his father's sheep, there came a Lion and likewise a Bear, and took a sheep out of the flock.
And as he journeyed, a lion met him by the way and slew him, and his carcass lay along in the way and the ass stood thereby, and the lion stood by the corpse also.
And he said, "Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD: behold, as soon as thou art departed from me a lion shall slay thee." And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him and slew him.
But at the beginning of their dwelling, they feared not the LORD. Wherefore the LORD sent lions upon them, which slew them. Then men told the king of Assyria, saying, "The nations which thou hast translated and put in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land, and therefore he hath sent lions upon them, which slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land."
lest he devour my soul like a lion, and tear it in pieces, while there is none to help.
Save me from the lion's mouth, and hear me from among the horns of the unicorns.
I lie with my soul among the cruel lions; even among the children of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
The slothful body sayeth, "There is a lion without, I might be slain in the street."
The slothful sayeth, "There is a leopard in the way, and a lion in the midst of the streets."
For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, "Like as the lion or lion's whelps roareth upon the prey that he hath gotten, and is not afraid though the multitude of shepherds cry out upon him, neither abashed for all the heap of them: So shall the LORD of Hosts come down from the mount Zion, and defend his hill.
Be sober, and watch. For your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
And one of the elders said unto me, "Weep not. Behold, a lion being of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath obtained to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
Watsons
LION, ???, or ???, Ge 49:9; De 33:22; Ps 7:2; 22:13; Ho 13:8; Mic 5:8; a large beast of prey, for his courage and strength called the king of beasts. This animal is produced in Africa, and the hottest parts of Asia. It is found in the greatest numbers in the scorched and desolate regions of the torrid zone, in the deserts of Zaara and Billdulgerid, and in all the interior parts of the vast continent of Africa. In these desert regions, from whence mankind are driven by the rigorous heat of the climate, this animal reigns sole master. His disposition seems to partake of the ardour of his native soil. Inflamed by the influence of a burning sun, his rage is tremendous, and his courage undaunted. Happily, indeed, the species is not numerous, and is said to be greatly diminished; for, if we may credit the testimony of those who have traversed those vast deserts, the number of lions is not nearly so great as formerly. Mr. Shaw observes that the Romans carried more lions from Libya in one year for their public spectacles, than could be found in all that country at this time. The lion was also found in Palestine, and the neighbouring countries. The length of the largest lion is between eight and nine feet, the tail about four, and its height about four feet and a half. The female is about one-fourth part less, and without a mane. As the lion advances in years, his mane grows longer and thicker. The hair on the rest of the body is short and smooth, of a tawny colour, but whitish on the belly. Its roaring is loud and dreadful. When heard in the night it resembles distant thunder. Its cry of anger is much louder and shorter. The attachment of a lioness to her young is remarkably strong. For their support she is more ferocious than the lion himself; makes her incursions with greater boldness; destroys, without distinction, every animal that falls in her way, and carries it reeking to her cubs. She usually brings forth in the most retired and inaccessible places; and when afraid that her retreat should be discovered, endeavours to hide her track by brushing the ground with her tail. When much disturbed or alarmed, she will sometimes transport her young, which are usually three or four in number, from one place to another in her mouth; and, if obstructed in her course, will defend them to the last extremity. The habits of the lion and the lioness afford many spirited, and often sublime, metaphors to the sacred writers.
The lion has several names in Scripture, according to his different ages or character:
1. ???, a little lion, a lion's whelp, De 33:22; Jer 51:38; Eze 19:2; Na 2:13.
2. ????, a young lion that has done sucking the lioness, and, leaving the covert, begins to seek prey. for himself. So Eze 19:2-3: "The lioness hath brought up one of her whelps; it became a chephir; it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men." See Ps 91:13; Pr 19:12.
3. ???, a grown and vigorous lion, having whelps, eager in pursuit of prey for them, Na 2:12; valiant, 2Sa 17:10; arrogantly opposing himself, Nu 23:24. This is, indeed, the general name, and occurs frequently.
4. ??? one in the full strength of his age; a black lion, Job 4:10; 10:16; Ps 91:13; Pr 26:13; Ho 5:14; 13:7.
5. ???, a fierce or enraged lion, Job 4:11; Pr 30:30; Isa 25:6. A regard to these characteristics and distinctions is very important for illustrating the passages of Scripture where the animal is spoken of, and discovering the propriety of the allusions and metaphors which he so often furnishes to the Hebrew poets. The lion of the tribe of Judah, mentioned Re 5:5, is Jesus Christ, who sprung from the tribe of Judah, and overcame death, the world, and the devil. The lion from the swelling of Jordan, Jer 50:44, is Nebuchadnezzar marching against Judea, with the strength and fierceness of a lion. Isaiah, describing the happy time of the Messiah, says, that then the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling should lie down together; and that a little child should lead them; and that the lion should eat straw like the ox, Isa 11:6-7, which is hyberbolical, and signifies the peace and happiness which the church of Christ should enjoy. "The lion hath roared, and who shall not fear?" Am 3:8. "The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion. Who provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul," Pr 19:12; 20:2; that is, he seeketh his own death. Solomon says, "A living dog is better than a dead lion," Ec 10:4; showing that death renders those contemptible who otherwise are the greatest, most powerful, and most terrible.
Then went Samson down, and, behold, a young lion roared against him, and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand, Jg 14:5-6. An instance in quite modern times of an unarmed man attempting to combat a lion is related by Poiret: "In a douar, or a camp of Bedouin Arabs, near La Calle, a French factory, a young lion had seized a cow. A young Moor threw himself upon the savage beast, to tear his booty from him, and as at were to stifle him in his arms, but he would not let go his prey. The father of the young man hastened to him, armed with a kind of hoe; and aiming at the lion, struck his son's hand, and cut off three of his fingers. It cost a great deal of trouble to rescue the prey from the lion. I saw this young man, who was attended by Mr. Gay, at that time surgeon to the hospital of La Calle." David, according to 1Sa 17:34, had, when a shepherd, once fought with a lion, and another time with a bear, and rescued their prey from them. Tellez relates, that an Abyssinian shepherd had once killed a lion of extraordinary size with only two poles. "Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong," Jer 49:19. The comparison used by the prophet in these words will be perfectly understood by the account which Mr. Maundrell gives of the river Jordan: "After having descended," says he, "the outermost bank of Jordan, you go about a furlong upon a level strand, before you come to the immediate bank of the river. This second bank is so beset with bushes and trees, such as tamarisks, willows, oleanders, &c, that you can see no water till you have made your way through them. In this thicket anciently, and the same is reported of it at this day, several sorts of wild beasts were wont to harbour themselves, whose being washed out of the covert by the over-flowings of the river gave occasion to that allusion: 'He shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan.'" "He shall be cast into the den of lions," Da 6:7. "In Morocco," says Host, "the king has a lions' den, into which men, particularly Jews, are sometimes thrown; but the latter generally come off unhurt; because the keepers of these animals are Jews, who may safely be with them, with a rod in the hand, if they only take care to go out backward, as the lion does not suffer any one to turn his back upon him. The other Jews do not let their brethren remain longer than a night among the lions, as they might otherwise become too hungry; but ransom them with money, which is, in fact, the king's object." In another place in the same work we find the following description of the construction of this lions' den: "At one end of the royal palace there is a place for ostriches and their young; and beyond the other end, toward the mountains, there is a large lions' den, which consists of a large square hole in the ground, with a partition, in the middle of which there is a door, which the Jews, who are obliged to maintain and keep them for nothing, are able to open and shut from above, and can thus entice the lions, by means of the food, from one division to the other, to clean the other in the mean time. It is all in the open air, and a person may look down over a wall, which is a yard and a quarter high."
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Judah is a lion's whelp. From spoil, my son, thou art come on high: he laid him down and couched himself as a lion, and as a lioness. Who dare stir him up?
Behold, the people shall rise up as a lioness and heave up himself as a lion; and shall not lie down again, until he have eaten of the prey and drunk of the blood of them that are slain!"
And unto Dan he said, "Dan is a lion's whelp, he shall flow from Bashan."
And unto Dan he said, "Dan is a lion's whelp, he shall flow from Bashan."
Then went Samson and his father and his mother down to Timnah. And when they came to the vineyards of Timnah, behold, a young lion roared upon him. And the spirit of the LORD came upon him. And he tare him, as a man would rent a kid, and yet had nothing in his hand. Nevertheless he told not his father and mother what he had done.
Then said David unto Saul, "As thy servant kept his father's sheep, there came a Lion and likewise a Bear, and took a sheep out of the flock.
By the reason whereof, the best men thou hast whose hearts are as the hearts of lions, shall shrink thereat. For all Israel knoweth that thy father is a man, and that they which be with him be children of activity.
The roaring of the lion, the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the lion's whelps are broken. The lion perisheth, for lack of prey, and the lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
Thou huntest me out, being in heaviness, as it were a lion, and troublest me out of measure.
lest he devour my soul like a lion, and tear it in pieces, while there is none to help.
They gape upon me with their mouths, as it were a rampaging and a roaring lion.
Thou shalt go upon the Lion and Adder, the young Lion and the Dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet.
Thou shalt go upon the Lion and Adder, the young Lion and the Dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet.
The king's disfavor is like the roaring of a Lion, but his friendship is like the dew upon the grass.
The king's disfavor is like the roaring of a Lion, but his friendship is like the dew upon the grass.
The king ought to be feared as the roaring of a lion; whoso provoketh him unto anger, offendeth against his own soul.
The slothful sayeth, "There is a leopard in the way, and a lion in the midst of the streets."
If a principal spirit be given thee to bear rule, be not negligent then in thine office: for so shall great wickedness be put down, as it were with a medicine.
Then shall the wolf dwell with the lamb, and the Leopard shall lie down by the goat. Bullocks, Lions and cattle shall keep company together, so that a little child shall rule them. The cow and the Bear shall feed together, and their young ones shall lie together. The Lion shall eat straw like the ox, or the cow.
Moreover, the LORD of Hosts shall once prepare a feast for all people upon the hill: A plenteous, costly, pleasant feast, of fat and well-fed beasts, of sweet and most pure things.
Behold, like as the Lion cometh up from the pleasant meadows of Jordan unto the green pastures of Etham, so will I drive him, and make him run against her. But who is the young man that I will ordain thereto? Who is like unto me? What is he that will strive with me? What shepherd may stand in my hands?
Behold, like as the Lion cometh up from the pleasant meadows of Jordan unto the green pastures of Ethan, so will I drive them forth, and make them run against her. But whom shall I choose out, and ordain to such a thing? For who is like me, or who will strive with me? Or what shepherd may stand against me?
They shall roar together like lions, and as the young lions when they be angry, so shall they bend themselves.
and say, "Wherefore lay thy mother, that lioness, among the lions, and nourished her young ones among the lion's whelps?
and say, "Wherefore lay thy mother, that lioness, among the lions, and nourished her young ones among the lion's whelps? One of her whelps she brought up, and it became a lion: it learned to spoil, and to devour folk.
All the great estates of the realm - as the princes, dukes, senators and judges - are determined to put out a commandment of the king, and to make a sure statute. Namely, that whoso desireth any petition, either of any god or man within this thirty days, except it be only of thee, O king: the same person may be cast into the lions' den.
I am unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a lion's whelp to the house of Judah. Even I, I will spoil them, and go my way. I will take them with me, and no man shall rescue them.
Therefore will I be unto them as a lion, and as a leopard in the way to the Assyrians. I will come upon them as a she bear, that is robbed of her whelps, and I will break that stubborn heart of theirs. There will I devour them as a lion: yea the wild beast shall tear them.
When a lion roareth, who will not be afraid? Seeing then that the LORDE God himself speaketh, who will not prophesy?
Yea, the residue of Jacob shall be among the gentiles and the multitude of people, as the lion among the beasts of the wood, and as the Lion's whelps among a flock of sheep: which, when he goeth through, treadeth down, teareth in pieces, and there is no man that can help.
But the lion spoiled enough for his young ones, and devoured for his lioness: he filled his dens with his prey, and his dwelling place with that he had ravished. Behold, I will upon thee, sayeth the LORD of Hosts, and will set fire upon thy chariots that they shall smoke withal, and the sword shall devour thy young lions. I will make an end of thy spoiling from out of the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
And one of the elders said unto me, "Weep not. Behold, a lion being of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath obtained to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."