Word study
Lion
6 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: lion, lions. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “lion” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- אֲרִי ărîliontranslated this way 75 times of its 78 uses · Strong’s H738Noun · Translated: lion 40, lions 16, like a lion 12, lion's 3Full study and all 71 verses →
Genesis 49:9 Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?
Numbers 23:24 Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.”
- כְּפִיר kephîryoung liontranslated this way 30 times of its 32 uses · Strong’s H3715Noun · Translated: young lion 9, young lions 9, lion 4, like a young lion 3Full study and all 32 verses →
Judges 14:5 Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Suddenly a young lion came roaring at him,
Job 4:10 The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
- אַרְיֵה aryêhliontranslated this way 10 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H744Noun · Translated: lions 9, like a lion 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Daniel 6:7 All the royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers, and governors have agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce a decree that for thirty days anyone who petitions any god or man except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions.
Daniel 6:12 So they approached the king and asked about his royal decree: “Did you not sign a decree that for thirty days any man who petitions any god or man except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions?” The king replied, “According to the law of the Medes and Persians the order stands, and it cannot be repealed.”
- שַׁחַל shachalliontranslated this way 7 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H7826Noun · Translated: lion 4, like a lion 2, fierce lion 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Job 4:10 The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
Psalm 91:13 You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent.
- לָבִיא lâbîlionesstranslated this way 4 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H3833Noun · Translated: lioness 7, like a lioness 3, like a lion 2, lions 1Full study and all 14 verses →
Deuteronomy 33:20 Concerning Gad he said: “Blessed is he who enlarges the domain of Gad! He lies down like a lion and tears off an arm or a head.
Psalm 57:4 My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
- לַיִשׁ layishliontranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H3918Noun · Translated: lion 2, old lion 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Job 4:11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
Proverbs 30:30 a lion, mighty among beasts, refusing to retreat before anything;
Greek words (New Testament)
- λέων léōna liontranslated this way 9 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G3023Noun · Translated: lion 6, lions 3Full study and all 9 verses →
2 Timothy 4:17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message would be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles would hear it. So I was delivered from the mouth of the lion.
Hebrews 11:33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
What the Bible says about lion: passages by topic →
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.