HUXGAUY.
Lion (prop. I'^X, ari', or n."''1X, aryeh' ; Sept. and N. T. X'tiov), the most powerful, daring, and impressive of all carnivorous animals, the most magniticent in as- pect and awful in voice. Being very common in Syria in early times, the lion naturally supplied many forcible images to the poetical language of Scripture, and not a few historical Incidents in its narratives. This is shown b}^ the great number of passages where this animal, in all the stages of existence — as the whelp, the young adult, the fully mature, the lioness— occurs under differ- ent names, exhibiting that multiplicity of denomina- tions which always results when some great image is constantly present to the popular mind. Thus we have, 1. "is, gov, or "i^lS, gur (a sncHing), a lion's "whelp," a very- young lion (Gen. xlix, 9 ; Deut. xxxiii, 20 ; Jer. U, 38 ,' Ezek. xix, 2, 3, 5 ; Nahum ii, 11, 12). 2. T'SS, kephir' (the shaggy), a '• young lion," when first leaving
LION
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LION"
the protection of the old pair to hunt independently (Ezek. xix, 2, 3, 6, 6; xli, 19; Rsa. xci, 13; I'rov. xix, 12; XX, 2; xxviii, 1; Isa. xxxi, 4; Jer. xli, 3« ; lios. V, 14; Nah. ii, 11; Zech. xi, 3), old enough to roar (Judg. xiv, 5 ; Psa. civ, 21 ; Prov. xix, 12 ; Jer. ii, lo ; Amcis iii, 4) ; beginning to seek prey for itself (Job iv, 10; xxxviii, 39; Isa. v, 29; Jer. xxv, 38; Ezek. xix, 3; jNIic. V, 8 ) ; and ferocious and blood-thirsty in his youth- ful strength (Psa. xvii, 12 ; xci, 13 ; Isa. xi, 6). This term is also used tropically for cruel and blood-thirsty enemies (Psa. xxxiv, 10 ; xxxv, 17 ; Iviii, G ; Jer. ii, 15) ; I'haraoh, king of Egypt, is called a " young lion of the nations," i. e. an enemy prowling among them (Ezek. xxxii, 2) ; it is also used of the young princes or war- riors of a state (Ezek. xxxviii, 13; Nah. ii, 13), 3, 11X, ari' (the pullei- in pieces, plur. masc. in 1 Kings x, 20, elsewhere fem.), or fT^"iX, unjeh' (the same with H paragogic, also Chald.), an adidt and vigorous lion, a lion having paired, vigilant and enterprising in search of prey (Nah. ii, 12; 2 Sam. xvii, 10; Numb, xxiii, 24, etc.). This is the common name of the animal. 4. ^n'^, sha'chal (the roarer), a mature lion in fidl strength (Job iv, 10; x, IG; xxviii, 8; Psa. xci, 13; Prov. xxvi, 13 ; Hos. v, 14 ; xiii, 7). Bochart (Hieroz. i, 717) understands the sicarthy lion of Syria (Pliny, //. iV. viii, 17), deriving the name from "ilTCJ, blach, by an interchange of liquids. This denomination may very possibly refer to a distinct variety of lion, and not to a l)lack species or race, because neither black nor white lions are recorded, excepting in Oppian {De Venat. iii, 43) ; but the term may be safely referred to the color of the skin, not of the fur ; for some lions have the former fair, and even rosy, while in other races it is perfectly black. An Asiatic lioness, formerly at Exeter Change, hatl the naked part of the nose, the roof of the mouth, and the bare soles of all the feet pure black, though the fur itself was very pale buff. Yet albinism and mela- nism are not uncommon in the felinre ; the former oc- curs in tigers, and the latter is frequent in leopards, panthers, and jaguars. 5. D*?, lu'yish (the sti-ong), a fierce lion, one in a state of fury, or rather, perhaps, a poetical term for a lion that has reached the utmost growth and effectiveness (Job iv, 11; Prov. xxx, 30; Isa, xxx, 6). 6. SJ'^n^, IMa', or "^ab, lehi' {loioing, roaring), hence a Uon, lioness (Numb, xxiv, 9 ; Hos, xiii, 8 ; Joel i, G ; Dent, xxxiii, 20 ; Psa, Ivii, 4 ; Isa, v, 29), Bochart (^Hieroz. i, 719) supposes this word not to de- note the male lion, but the lioness ; and Gesenius (Thes. p. 738) says this rests on good grounds, as it is coupled witli other nouns denoting a lion, where it can hardly be a mere synonyme (Gen, xlix, 9 ; Numb, xxiv, 9 ; Isa, xxx, 6; Nah, ii, 11); and the passages in Job iv, 11; xxxviii, 39 ; Ezek, xix, 2, accord much better -with a lioness than with a lion, 7. In Job xxviii, 8, tlie Heb. words yn'J '^^'2, betwy sha'chats, are rendered '■'■the lion's vhelpsT The terms properly signify " sons of ]>ri(le," and are apjjlied to the larger beasts of prey, as tlie lion, leriathan, so called from their proud gait, bold- ness, and courage. The lion is often spoken of as " the king of the forest," or "the king of beasts;" and in a similar sense, in Job xli, 34, the leviathan or crocodile is called the " king over all the children of pride," that is, the head of the animal creation (see Bochart, Hie- roz. i, 718). See Whkli".
As " king of beasts," " the lion is the largest and most formidably armed of all carnassier animals, the Indian tiger alone claiming to be his ecpial. One full grown, of Asiatic race, weighs above 450 pounds, and those of Africa often above 500 pounds. The fall of a fore-paw in striking lias been estimated to be. equal to twenty-five pounds' weight, and tins, with the grasp of the claws, cutting four inches in depth, i§ sufficiently ))i)wcrful to break the vertebra; of an ox. The huge laniary teeth and jagged molars, worked by powerful jaws, and the tongue entirely covered with horny papil-