LION, a Beast very well known to every one, and frequently spoken of in Scripture. The Lion is esteemed the King of fourfooted Beasts. His Hair is inclining to red. The forepart of his Head is square, his Nose flat and large, his Eyes terrible, his Mouth wide, his Neck covered with a bushy Mane, his Belly slender, his Legs and Thighs large and nervous, and his Tail long, large and very strong. He has five Claws upon his Fore-feet, and four on those behind. The Hebrews have seven Words whereby to signify the Lion in his different Ages1. 1. Gur or Gor, a young Lion, a Lion’s Whelp. 2. Chephir, a young Lion. 3. Ari or Arié, a young and vigorous Lion. 4. Schachal, a Lion in the full Strength of his Age. 5. Schachaz, a vigorous Lion. 6. Lebi, an old Lion. 7. Laisch, a decrepit Lion worn out with old Age. But these Distinctions are not always made in speaking of the Lion.
This is the fiercest and most courageous of all Beasts. It was very common in Palestine, and the sacred Authors make frequent Mention of it, and borrow Similitudes and Comparisons from it. Some of the Ancients were of Opinion, that the Lion’s Neck was composed but of one Bone, because they observed it to be very stiff: But it is made of many Bones or Vertebræ, like the Necks of other Beasts. Its Tongue is sharp, and stuck thick with Points of a very hard Matter like that of Nails, whereof it has likewise the Figure. These Points are about two Lines in Length. There is no Animal that more resembles a Lion than a Cat. The Paws, Teeth, Eyes, and Tongue of a Lion are of the same Figure with those of a Cat, only larger. He throws his Urine behind him, and copulates with the Lioness like Hares and Camels. His Bladder is small, because he drinks very little. The female differs from the male in that she has no Mane or long Hair upon her Neck. It is a popular Mistake to think, that Lions are afraid of Cocks. There have been tame Lions seen. It is likewise a Fable, that Lions sleep with their Eyes open. Lions were consecrated to the Sun, and the Heathens represent the Chariot of Cybele to be drawn by them.
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, mentioned Rev.v. 5.in the Revelations, is Jesus Christ, who sprung from the Tribe of Judah, and the Race of David, and who overcame Death, the World, and the Devil.
Jer. l. 44.The Lion from the swelling of Jordan, is Nebuchadnezzar marching like a Lion against Judæa; contra fortitudinem robustam. This Conqueror is compared to a Lion by Reason of his Strength and Fierceness; to a Lion sallying from the Pride of Jordan, that is to say, which is driven out from the Neighbourhood of Jordan, where it lay amidst the Thickets which cover the Banks of this River, and falls with Fury upon every Thing it meets with in the Fields. The Scripture speaks in several See Jer. xii. 5. xlix. 19. l. 44. Zach. xi. 3.Places of this Swelling of Jordan, thereby describing the Inundations of it. Travellers observe, that this River has, as we may say, Zach. xi.two Channels, one wherein it commonly flows, and another which it takes up only while the Snows of Libanus are melting, whereby it is much increased. At this Time it is swelled, and out of that other Channel, which extends on both Sides its Banks, it drives the Lions and other Beasts, which have their Retreats there during the Heats of Summer.
Samson being on the Road to Timnath with his Father and Mother, tore a young Lion to Pieces with his Hands. Some Time Judg. xiv.after he took Notice as he passed by, that Bees had made their Honey in the Mouth of this Lion, which was then dried up. This supplied him with Matter for the Riddle which he proposed to the young Men, who were of the Company at his Wedding: Out of the Eater came forth Meat, and out of the Strong came forth Sweetness. De comedente exivit cibus, & de forti egressa est dulcedo.
David boasts, that he had killed both a Lion and a Bear: Thy Servant, said he to Saul, kept his Father’s Sheep, and there came a Lion and a Bear and took a Lamb out of the Flock, and I went out 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: Thy Servant slew both the Ecclus. xlvii. 3.Lion and the Bear. Ecclesiasticus says, that this Prince played with Bears and Lions, as he would with Lambs.
The two Lions of Moab, mentioned in the second Book of Samuel, denote in all 2 Sam. xxiii. 20.Probability the City of Ar the Capital of the Moabites, described in the Chronicles under the Name of the two Lions of Moab; now Ariel in Hebrew signifies the Lion of God.
If. xi. 6.The Prophet Isaiah describing the happy Time of the Messiah says, that then the Calf, the young Lion and the Fatling should lie down together, and a little Child should lead them; and that the Lion should eat Straw like the Ox. Which is all hyperbolical, and signifies the Peace and Happiness which the Church of Jesus Christ should enjoy.
Amos iii. 8.The roaring of the Lion is terrible. Leo rugiet, quis non timebit? The Lion shall roar, and who is there that shall not be afraid? The King’s Wrath is as the Roaring of a Lion: Whoso provoketh him to Anger Prov. xix. 12. xx. 2.sinneth against his own Soul. He seeketh his own Death. The Lion, when angry, beats his Sides with his Tail, bristles up his Mane, and roars in such a Manner as scares those who hear him.
A living Dog is better than a dead Lion, Melior est canis vivens Leone mortuo, Eccl. ix. 4says the wise Man. This is a Proverb, shewing that Death renders those contemptible who otherwise are the greatest, most powerful, and most terrible.
There is a great deal of Perplexity about the Way of reading the Text of Psalm xxii. V. 17. The Septuagint and Vulgate read2: They pierced my Hands and my Feet. And the Hebrew Text, as it stands in our printed Bibles, and the Generality of Manuscripts, reads; like a Lion my Hands and my Feet, which we can make no Sense of; but in Order to render it intelligible, the Rabbins distribute the Verses of this Psalm after the following Manner, V. 17. The Assembly of the Wicked have enclosed me, like a Lion my Hands and my Feet; V. 18 They tell all my Bones. Kimchi and Abenezra say, that the Lion encompasses the Hands and Feet of the Jews, in the present State to which they are reduced, that their Enemies enclose them on every Side, and hinder them not only from defending themselves, but from flying too.
Kimchi hereupon relates a Fable. The Lion, says he, when he is hunting describes a large Circle with his Tail upon the Ground; all the wild Beasts which are within this Circle continue there shut up, as if they were encompassed with Nets. They roll about with their Feet gathered under their Belly, without daring to fly or to defend themselves; thus the Lion devours them, and eats them without Resistance. Such, adds he, is our Condition since our last Dispersion. We are as it were shut up within a Circle among our Enemies the Ishmaelites on one Side, and the Uncircumcised on the other; there we continue detained by our Fears, without being able to make Use of our Hands for our Defence, or of our Feet for our Escape.
But it is to no Purpose to rack our Brains to fix a literal Sense to a bad Way of Reading. The Septuagint, Aquila, and other old Greek Translations of the Scripture, read in the Hebrew, Caru, they pierced. Origen, Saint Jerom, Justin, and other ancient Fathers read so too, and never made any Difficulty of this Passage. The Rabbins themselves own that in the old Manuscripts of their Time, Caru was still to be seen in the Text, or at least in the Margin. And some we have at this Day, wherein the same Reading is to be observed. Very good Sense is made of it, and it is authorized by all Antiquity. This therefore should be followed, and that of the Jews given up, which is more modern, and no good Sense to be made of it. See our Dissertation on this Passage before our Comment on the Psalms.
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