the Last Week after Epiphany
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Bible Dictionaries
Lion
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words
or 'Ărı̂y (אַרְיֵה, Strong's #738), “lion.” This apparently Aramaic loan word finds a cognate only in Aramaic. Occurring in all periods of biblical Hebrew, it is attested 83 times. The word represents a “full-grown lion.”
This word should be compared to: (1) gur (Gen. 49:9), a suckling lion; (2) shachal (Hos. 5:14), a young lion which no longer is a suckling; and (3) kepir (Judg. 14:5), a young lion which no longer is a suckling and which hunts for its food independently.
The “lion” was a much-feared beast (Amos 3:12) found mostly in the Trans-jordan (Jer. 49:19) and in the mountainous areas (Song of Sol. 4:8). The various characteristics of the “lion” make it a frequent figure of strength and power (Judg. 14:18), of plundering (Gen. 49:9), and of malicious scheming (Ps. 10:9).
These files are public domain.
Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Lion'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/vot/l/lion.html. 1940.
