Numbers 24:8-9

24:8 God brought them out of Egypt.

They have, as it were, the strength of a young bull;

they will devour hostile people ¹ 

and will break their bones

and will pierce them through with arrows.

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

and as a lioness, ²  who can stir him?

Blessed is the one who blesses you,

and cursed is the one who curses you!’”

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?

Deuteronomy 33:20

Blessing on Gad

33:20 Of Gad he said:

Blessed be the one who enlarges Gad.

Like a lioness he will dwell;

he will tear at an arm – indeed, a scalp. ³ 

Psalms 17:12

17:12 He ⁴  is like a lion ⁵  that wants to tear its prey to bits, ⁶ 

like a young lion crouching ⁷  in hidden places.

Proverbs 30:30

30:30 a lion, mightiest ⁸  of the beasts,

who does not retreat from anything;

Isaiah 31:4

The Lord Will Defend Zion

31:4 Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me:

“The Lord will be like a growling lion,

like a young lion growling over its prey. ⁹ 

Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,

it is not afraid of their shouts

or intimidated by their yelling. ¹⁰ 

In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend

to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. ¹¹ 

Amos 3:8

3:8 A lion has roared! ¹²  Who is not afraid?

The sovereign Lord has spoken! Who can refuse to prophesy? ¹³ 

Revelation 5:5

5:5 Then ¹⁴  one of the elders said ¹⁵  to me, “Stop weeping! ¹⁶  Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered; ¹⁷  thus he can open ¹⁸  the scroll and its seven seals.”

[24:8]  ¹ tn Heb “they will devour nations,” their adversaries.

[24:9]  ² tn On the usage of this word see HALOT 517 s.v. לָבִיא.

[33:20]  ³ tn Heb “forehead,” picturing Gad attacking prey.

[17:12]  ⁴ tn Here the psalmist switches to the singular pronoun; he views his enemies collectively, or singles out a representative of the group, perhaps its leader.

[17:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “his likeness [is] like a lion.”

[17:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “[that] longs to tear.”

[17:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “sitting.”

[30:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “mighty among the beasts,” but referring to a superlative degree (“mightiest”).

[31:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.

[31:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”

[31:4]  ¹¹ tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsbo’ ’al) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.

[3:8]  ¹² sn The roar of the lion is here a metaphor for impending judgment (see 1:2; cf. 3:4, 12). Verses 7-8 justify Amos’ prophetic ministry and message of warning and judgment. The people should expect a prophetic message prior to divine action.

[3:8]  ¹³ sn Who can refuse to prophesy? When a message is revealed, the prophet must speak, and the news of impending judgment should cause people to fear.

[5:5]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[5:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “says” (a historical present).

[5:5]  ¹⁶ 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).

[5:5]  ¹⁷ tn Or “has been victorious”; traditionally, “has overcome.”

[5:5]  ¹⁸ tn The infinitive has been translated as an infinitive of result here.