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 bowed down; he crouched like a lion and as a lioness. Who shall rouse him?
Judah [is] a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bowed down; he crouched like a lion and as a lioness. Who shall rouse him?
Judah [is] a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bowed down; he crouched like a lion and as a lioness. Who shall rouse him?
Look! [the] people will rise like the lion; he raises himself and will not lie down until he eats [the] prey and drinks the blood of the slain."
Look! [the] people will rise like the lion; he raises himself and will not lie down until he eats [the] prey and drinks the blood of the slain."
He crouches, he lies down like a lion, and like a lioness, who will rouse him? [They who] bless you will be blessed, and [they who] curse you will be cursed."
And Samson and his father and mother went down to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah, and suddenly a young lion [came] roaring to meet him.
And Samson and his father and mother went down to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah, and suddenly a young lion [came] roaring to meet him. And the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one might tear apart a male kid goat ({he was bare-handed}). But he did not tell his father and mother what he had done.
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."
And David said to Saul, "Your servant has been a shepherd of the flock for his father. If the lion or the bear would come and carry off a sheep from the group, I would go out after it and strike it down and rescue [the sheep] from its mouth. If it rose against me, I would grab [it] by its beard and strike it down and kill it.
And he [is] also a {valiant warrior}, whose heart [is] like the heart of the lion. He will {certainly melt} with fear, for all Israel knows that your father [is] a mighty warrior and [those] who [are] with him [are] {valiant warriors}.
When he left, a lion found him on the road and killed him, and his dead body [was] thrown on the road with the donkey standing beside it, and the lion [was] standing by the dead body. As men [were] passing by and they saw the dead body thrown in the road and the lion standing beside the dead body, they came and told it in the city where the old prophet [was] living.
It happened that when they began living there, they did not fear Yahweh, so Yahweh sent lions among them, and they were killing them. So they said to the king of Assyria, "The nations whom you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the customs of the God of the land, so he sent lions among them, and now they are killing them because they do not know the customs of the God of the land."
[The] roar of [the] lion and [the] voice of a lion in its prime, and [the] teeth of [the] young lions are broken.
[The] roar of [the] lion and [the] voice of a lion in its prime, and [the] teeth of [the] young lions are broken. [The] lion is perishing without prey, and [the] lion's whelps are scattered.
[The] young lions are in want and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh will not lack for any good thing.
My Lord, how long will you watch? Restore my life from their ravages, my only [life] from [the] young lions.
O God, break their teeth in their mouth. Break off [the] fangs of [the] young lions, O Yahweh.
You will tread on lion and viper; you will trample young lion and serpent.
You will tread on lion and viper; you will trample young lion and serpent.
A lazy person says "A lion [is] in the road! A lion among the streets!"
a mighty lion among the beasts, but he will not turn back from {any face};
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride! Come with me from Lebanon! Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the dwelling places of the lions, from the mountains of leopard.
An oracle of the animals of the Negev: Through a land of trouble and distress, [of] lioness and lion, {among} them [are] snake and flying serpent; they carry their wealth on [the] {backs} of male donkeys and their treasures on [the] humps of camels, to a people [that] cannot profit [them].
[The] young lions have roared against him, they have {raised} their voices. And they have made his land as horror; his cities are destroyed, {without} an inhabitant.
Therefore a lion from [the] forest will kill them, A wolf [from the] desert plains will devastate them. A leopard [is] watching their cities, everyone [who] goes out from there will be torn, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are numerous.
My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest. She has lifted up against me her voice; {therefore} I hate her.
Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets of the Jordan to {a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream}. So {I will chase him away hurriedly} from it. And whoever [is] chosen I will appoint over it. For who [is] like me, and who can summon me? And who [is] this, [the] shepherd who can stand {before me}?"
Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets of the Jordan against {a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream}, so {I will chase them away quickly} from her, and I will appoint whoever [is] chosen over her. For who [is] like me, and who can summon me, and who [is] this shepherd who can stand {before me}?
They will roar together like the young lions, they will growl like the cubs of lions.
and you must say, 'What a lioness [was] your mother among [the] lions. She lay down in the midst of young lions, [and] she reared her lion cubs.
Because I [will be] like a lion to Ephraim and like a fierce strong lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear and I will go; I will carry off, and there is no one who delivers.
Does a lion roar in the forest {when he has no prey}? Does a fierce, young lion cry out from his den unless he has caught [something]?
Thus says Yahweh, "Just as the shepherd rescues two legs or a piece of an ear from the mouth of the lion, so shall the {people} of Israel who dwell in Samaria, with the corner of a couch and the damask of a bed."
Where [now] [is] the den of [the] lions and [the] cave of the fierce lions? There the lioness, the cub, and the lion once {prowled}, {and no one disturbed them}. The lion tore apart enough [prey] for his cubs, he strangled [prey] for his lioness; he filled {his lair} [with] prey and his den [with] mangled carcass.
[Listen to] the wailing of the shepherds, for their splendor is ruined! [Listen to] the roar of [the] young lions, for the thickets of the Jordan are ruined!