- λέων
- λέων, οντος, ὁ (Hom.+; also BGU 957, 4 [10 B.C.]; PGrenf II, 84, 7) lion Hb 11:33; MPol 12:2; Philo; AcPl Ha 2, 7; 4, 19; 34; 38; 5, 2; 4f; 9; 13; 18. Symbol of rapacity 1 Cl 35:11 (Ps 49:22 v.l. [ARahlfs, Psalmi cum Odis ’31]). λάκκος λεόντων (s. λάκκος) 45:6. Of the devil ὡς λ. ὠρυόμενος περιπατεῖ he goes about like a roaring lion 1 Pt 5:8 (Ps 21:14; TestSol 11:1 βρυχώμενος ὡς λεών; cp. JosAs 12:9 ὁ λέων ὁ ἄγριος ὁ παλαιὸς καταδιώκει με). Apocalyptic usage also makes comparisons w. the lion, or parts of his body, or his actions (Il. 6, 181; Strabo 16, 4, 16 fabulous beings: σφίγγες κ. κυνοκέφαλοι κ. κῆβοι [monkeys] λέοντος μὲν πρόσωπον ἔχοντες τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν σῶμα πάνθηρος κτλ.; quite similarly Diod S 3, 35, 6; TestAbr A 17 p. 99, 21 [Stone p. 46]; Ath. 18, 3) Rv 4:7; 9:8 (cp. Jo 1:6), 17; 10:3; 13:2. Metaphorically (cp. Il. 21, 483, of Artemis) of a lion-hearted hero (cp. Lycophron 33 [Heracles]; Ael. Aristid. 46 p. 191f D. [Pericles]; Esth 4:17s; Jos., Ant. 18, 228), the Messiah ὁ λ. ὁ ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς Ἰούδα the lion fr. the tribe of Judah Rv 5:5 (cp. Gen 49:9).—ῥυσθῆναι ἐκ στόματος λ. be rescued from the jaws of the lion, i.e. fr. great danger 2 Ti 4:17 (cp. Ps 21:22). The rapacious lion is found as funerary motif, and both 1 Pt 5:8 (above) and 2 Ti 4:17 may refer to death (the former to physical death, the latter to spiritual death or apostasy: New Docs 3, 50f).—OKeller, Die Antike Tierwelt, 2 vols. 1909–13: II 24–61. EGoodenough, Jewish Symbols VII, ’58, 29–86. Pauly-W. XIII/1 968–90.—B. 185. DELG. M-M. TW.
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