Reference: Lions
Easton
the most powerful of all carnivorous animals. Although not now found in Palestine, they must have been in ancient times very numerous there. They had their lairs in the forests (Jer 5:6; 12:8; Am 3:4), in the caves of the mountains (Song 4:8; Na 2:12), and in the canebrakes on the banks of the Jordan (Jer 49:19; 50:44; Zec 11:3).
No fewer than at least six different words are used in the Old Testament for the lion. (1.) Gor (i.e., a "suckling"), the lion's whelp (Ge 49:9; Jer 51:38, etc.). (2.) Kephir (i.e., "shaggy"), the young lion (Jg 14:5; Job 4:10; Ps 91:13; 104:21), a term which is also used figuratively of cruel enemies (Ps 34:10; 35:17; 58:6; Jer 2:15). (3.) 'Ari (i.e., the "puller" in pieces), denoting the lion in general, without reference to age or sex (Nu 23:24; 2Sa 17:10, etc.). (4.) Shahal (the "roarer"), the mature lion (Job 4:10; Ps 91:13; Pr 26:13; Ho 5:14). (5.) Laish, so called from its strength and bravery (Job 4:11; Pr 30:30; Isa 30:6). The capital of Northern Dan received its name from this word. (6.) Labi, from a root meaning "to roar," a grown lion or lioness (Ge 49:9; Nu 23:24; 24:9; Eze 19:2; Na 2:11).
The lion of Palestine was properly of the Asiatic variety, distinguished from the African variety, which is larger. Yet it not only attacked flocks in the presence of the shepherd, but also laid waste towns and villages (2Ki 17:25-26) and devoured men (1Ki 13:24-25). Shepherds sometimes, single-handed, encountered lions and slew them (1Sa 17:34-35; Am 3:12). Samson seized a young lion with his hands and "rent him as he would have rent a kid" (Jg 14:5-6). The strength (Jg 14:18), courage (2Sa 17:10), and ferocity (Ge 49:9) of the lion were proverbial.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain."
Behold, a people! As a lioness it rises up and as a lion it lifts itself; it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey and drunk the blood of the slain."
He crouched, he lay down like a lion and like a lioness; who will rouse him up? Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed are those who curse you."
Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring.
Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? 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 used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men.
And as he went away a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.
And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the LORD. Therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which killed some of them. So the king of Assyria was told, "The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land."
The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions are broken.
The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions are broken. The strong lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions!
O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God.
The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!"
the lion, which is mightiest among beasts and does not turn back before any;
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon. Depart from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards.
An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb. Through a land of trouble and anguish, from where come the lioness and the lion, the adder and the flying fiery serpent, they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people that cannot profit them.
The lions have roared against him; they have roared loudly. They have made his land a waste; his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.
Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them down; a wolf from the desert shall devastate them. A leopard is watching their cities; everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are great.
My heritage has become to me like a lion in the forest; she has lifted up her voice against me; therefore I hate her.
Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me?
"Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me?
"They shall roar together like lions; they shall growl like lions' cubs.
and say: What was your mother? A lioness! Among lions she crouched; in the midst of young lions she reared her cubs.
For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear and go away; I will carry off, and no one shall rescue.
Does a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from his den, if he has taken nothing?
Thus says the LORD: "As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed.
Where is the lions' den, the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and lioness went, where his cubs were, with none to disturb? The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh.
The sound of the wail of the shepherds, for their glory is ruined! The sound of the roar of the lions, for the thicket of the Jordan is ruined!