Genesis 49:9

49:9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah,

from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He crouches and lies down like a lion;

like a lioness – who will rouse him?

Numbers 23:24

23:24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lioness,

and like a lion raises himself up;

they will not lie down until they eat their ¹  prey,

and drink the blood of the slain.” ² 

Numbers 24:9

24:9 They crouch and lie down like a lion,

and as a lioness, ³  who can stir him?

Blessed is the one who blesses you,

and cursed is the one who curses you!’”

Revelation 5:5

5:5 Then ⁴  one of the elders said ⁵  to me, “Stop weeping! ⁶  Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered; ⁷  thus he can open ⁸  the scroll and its seven seals.”

¹ tn The pronoun “their” has been supplied for clarity; it is not present in the Hebrew text.

² sn The oracle compares Israel first to a lion, or better, lioness, because she does the tracking and hunting of food while the lion moves up and down roaring and distracting the prey. But the lion is also the traditional emblem of Judah, Dan and Gad, as well as the symbol of royalty. So this also supports the motif of royalty as well as power for Israel.

³ tn On the usage of this word see HALOT 517 s.v. לָבִיא.

⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

⁵ tn Grk “says” (a historical present).

⁶ tn The present imperative with μή (mh) is used here to command cessation of an action in progress (ExSyn 724 lists this verse as an example).

⁷ tn Or “has been victorious”; traditionally, “has overcome.”

⁸ tn The infinitive has been translated as an infinitive of result here.