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Dear friends,
Often, when walking around the Holy Land, we feel that we are walking in the steps of the biblical figures. We are well aware that the land we are in is different from that they lived in: modern civilization has changed the landscape forever. However, one thing we often do not take into account is the change in wildlife. While many of the unique Israeli species are still to be found in Israel, some species which were very important in biblical times have not been found in the wild in Israel for quite some time. Today we will discuss two wild beasts – lions and bears – which appear in important biblical stories. Lions became extinct in Israel approximately during the tenth century C.E., and bears could still be found here at the beginning of the twentieth century, but have since become extinct.
Because lions could be trained, they were used as chariot bearers and were kept in Temples and palaces. Because of this, they became part of royal iconography, and the Cherubim in the ancient Near East, who are in fact the bearers of the chariot of God, were often shaped as lions.
In order to describe the Day of Judgment, Amos uses imagery of fierce beasts. This is a good example of just how fearsome the inhabitants of the country found these animals. This is how Amos describes the horror of divine judgment:
"As if a man should flee from a lion, and then be met by a bear, or enter the house and lean on the wall with his hand and be bitten by a snake" (Amos 5:19).
One well known hero who mentions both the lion and the bear as wild beasts endangering the inhabitants of Israel, is King David. When David tries to convince Saul that he is a suitable warrior to face Goliath, the Philistine, and defeat him, he relies on his past experience as a shepherd, and tells him:
And David said to Saul: "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father, and when there came a lion or a bear and took a lamb from the flock: And I went after him and struck him and rescued (the lamb) from his mouth and if he rose against me I held on to his beard and struck him and killed him: Your servant has killed both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God" (1 Samuel 17:34-36).
In 1 Kings 13, we hear of a prophet who came from Judah in order to rebuke the tribes of Northern Israel for their idolatrous worship of Jeroboam's calves. He foresaw the rise of King Josiah of Judah, who ruled some two hundred years later, and conducted a total reform in Israelite worship, banishing all idolatry as well as the worship of the northern Temple of Bethel.
King Jeroboam was alarmed by this prophecy, and asked the prophet to join him for a meal, perhaps hoping to persuade him to retract what he had said. The prophet refused, explaining that God had commanded him to neither eat nor drink in Bethel, and also not to return by the same way by which he had come. The prophet left Bethel by a different road, but was followed by a local prophet, who convinced him to come back to the city and dine with him, telling him that he was commanded by God to bring the prophet to his home. While eating, the local prophet received the word of God, telling the prophet from Judah that because he defied God's command, he would not receive a proper burial. And indeed, on his way home, he was killed by a lion – an obvious sign of divine punishment. Not only was he killed, but his body was not eaten and his donkey was left unharmed – a clear sign of punishment rather than coincidence. The local prophet then brought him back to Bethel and buried him, and also asked to be buried with him when he died.
Another story concerning the worship of the Northern Israelite kingdom appears after the destruction of this kingdom: the Assyrians regularly transferred conquered populations from one place in the kingdom to another, as a means of detaching them from their roots. After the Israelites were exiled, many exiles from Syria and Mesopotamia were sent to settle in Samaria. They were soon attacked by lions. These pagans saw that to be a sign that the local deity was angry with them because they were not keeping his rituals. The Assyrians agreed with this interpretation, and allowed a Samaritan priest to return to Samaria and teach the locals how to worship God with the rituals of Northern Israel. While the people were frightened and therefore willing to worship God, they did not worship him in a pure manner: they combined the worship of their gods with the worship of the God of Israel.
As for bears attacking people, the only actual story we have of such an occurrence, and not only the fear of one, is with the prophet Elisha. Elijah, his teacher, is taken up to heaven by a whirlwind, and the people of Jericho see that the godly spirit is now with Elisha. He miraculously makes the bad water of the city wholesome, and then goes on his way. However, on his way from Jericho to Bethel, a group of children jeer him, making fun of the fact that he is bald – a striking contrast from his teacher Elijah, well known for his hair. Elisha, in a controversial act derived from his insult, then cursed the children in the name of God. Two she-bears then came out of the woods and mauled forty two of the children.
Have a great week, and watch out for lions and bears.
The Biblical Hebrew Online Team.
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| Weekly Biblical Hebrew Words for Lions and Bears |
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אֲרִי, אַרְיֵה
Transcription: Ari, Arieh
Literal Meaning: Lion
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כְּפִיר
Transcription: Kfir
Literal Meaning: Lion cub
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לָבִיא
Transcription: Lavi
Literal Meaning: Lioness
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שַׁחַל
Transcription: Shaxal
Literal Meaning: A poetic name for lion
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דֹּב
Transcription: Dov
Literal Meaning: Bear
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