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 the prey, my son, thou hast gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion: who shall rouse him up?
Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: 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: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
And he went and found his carcass cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten the carcass, nor torn the ass.
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken. The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
For thus hath the LORD spoken to me, As the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so will the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid? The lion tore in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
And one of the elders saith to me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose its seven seals.
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 the prey, my son, thou hast gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion: who shall rouse him up?
Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou hast gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion: who shall rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh shall come: and to him shall be the gathering of the people.
Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he shall eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall rouse him? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.
And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.
And Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon: all the cities are twenty and nine, with their villages:
Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: 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: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were in it, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.
And David said to Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lion-like men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow:
The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom.
And when he had gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcass.
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. Then said he to him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou hast departed from me, a lion will slay thee. And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.
And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them. Wherefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
And of the Gadites there separated themselves to David in the hold in the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains;
The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.
Thou makest darkness, and it is night: in which all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.
The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favor is as dew upon the grass.
The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yes, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow; and it shall be to me as Ariel.
And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night-vision.
For thus hath the LORD spoken to me, As the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so will the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.
As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt.
Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit. And they put him in custody in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
And they put him in custody in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he hath taken nothing?
Thus saith the LORD: As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
But with an over-running flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.
Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid? The lion tore in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
For wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles be collected.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
And the first living being was like a lion, and the second living being like a calf, and the third living being had a face as a man, and the fourth living being was like a flying eagle.
Hastings
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Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou hast gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion: who shall rouse him up?
Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou hast gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion: who shall rouse him up?
Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou hast gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion: who shall rouse him up?
Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he shall eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he shall eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall rouse him? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.
And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.
And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me for a wife.
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: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion.
And David said to Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
And when he had gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcass.
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbor in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken. The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
Why then hast thou brought me forth from the womb? O that I had expired, and no eye had seen me!
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favor is as dew upon the grass.
The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoever provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.
A lion, which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;
The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and the old lion, the viper and flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
For thus hath the LORD spoken to me, As the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so will the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say to them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan to the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
And say, What is thy mother: A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
And say, What is thy mother: A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
For I will be to Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.
The LORD also will roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
Thus saith the LORD: As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he goeth through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is laid waste.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
And one of the elders saith to me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose its seven seals.
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 the prey, my son, thou hast gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion: who shall rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh shall come: and to him shall be the gathering of the people.
A lion, which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;
Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he hath taken nothing?
And if Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?
And one of the elders saith to me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose its seven seals.
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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And David said to Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
And when he had gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcass.
Then said he to him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou hast departed from me, a lion will slay thee. And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew some of them. Wherefore they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.
For thus hath the LORD spoken to me, As the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so will the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
And one of the elders saith to me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose its seven seals.
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 the prey, my son, thou hast gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion: who shall rouse him up?
Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he shall eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.
And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.
And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.
Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: 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: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
And David said to Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they who are with him are valiant men.
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken. The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion's whelps are scattered abroad.
For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou showest thyself wonderful upon me.
Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favor is as dew upon the grass.
The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favor is as dew upon the grass.
The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoever provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.
The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.
A lion, which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;
If the spirit of the ruler riseth against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offenses.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
And on this mountain will the LORD of hosts make to all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan to the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.
And say, What is thy mother: A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
And say, What is thy mother: A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions. And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.
All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counselors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
For I will be to Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.
Therefore I will be to them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them. I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he goeth through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
The lion tore in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin. Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
And one of the elders saith to me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose its seven seals.