Leopard
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LEOPARD (nâmçr).This animal (Felis pardus, Arab. [Note: Arabic.] nimr) is still found at times in the wilder parts of Palestine. Its beautiful spotted skin (Jer_5:6) is from time to time brought into the towns for sale. Some dervishes clothe themselves in a leopards skin. Its fierceness (Hos_13:7), its agility (Hab_1:8), and untamableness (Isa_11:6) are all mentioned. The name Nimr is a favourite one with the Arabs, who admire these qualities. In the names waters of Nimrîm (leopards, Isa_15:6, Jer_48:34) and Beth-nimrah (f. leopard, Num_32:3-36) references to the leopard also occur; cf. the mountains of nĕmçrîm (i.e. the leopards, Son_4:8). The cheetah (Felix jubata) is found also in Galilee, and it too may have been included under the Heb. word nâmçr.
E. W. G. Masterman.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
Famed for swiftness and agility (Hab_1:8); "you would fancy it was flying" (Oppian Cyneg., iii. 76); it climbs trees, and can crawl along the ground. Hence the symbol for Greece and Alexander's rapid victories (Dan_7:6; Rev_13:2). The prevalence of leopards anciently in Palestine is marked by the many places named from them (namer, Hebrew): Nimrah, Nimrim, Beth Nimrah. "The mountains of the leopard" (Son_4:8), namely, Lebanon and Hermon, where still they are found; "the mountains of prey" (Psa_76:4), symbolizing the rapacious world kingdoms. They spring with successive rapid bounds. They cunningly lie in wait in thickets and often near villages for their prey, as distinguished from the lion's bold, open attack (Jer_5:6; Hos_13:7): "as a leopard by the way, I will observe (lie in wait for) them." Its unalterable spots represent man's inability to change himself (Jer_13:23); yet the leopard in the millennium shall "lie down with the kid" (Isa_11:6).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Leopard. (Hebrew, namer). Leopard is invariably given, by the Authorized Version, as the translation of the Hebrew word, which occurs in the seven following passages: Son_4:8; Isa_11:6; Jer_5:6; Jer_13:23; Dan_7:6; Hos_13:7; Hab_1:8. Leopard occurs also in Sir. 28:23 and in Rev_13:2.
From Son_4:8, we learn that the hilly ranges of Lebanon were, in ancient times, frequented by these animals. They are now not uncommonly seen in and about Lebanon and the southern maritime mountains of Syria. Under the name namer, which means "spotted", it is not improbable that another animal, namely the cheetah (Gueparda jubata), may be included; which is tamed by the Mohammedans of Syria, who employ it in hunting the gazelle.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
נמר Son_4:8; Isa_11:6; Jer_5:6; Jer_13:23; Hos_13:7; Hab_1:8; Dan_7:6; παρδαλις, Rev_13:2; Sir_28:23. There can be no doubt that the pard or leopard is the animal mentioned. Bochart shows that the name is similar in the Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic. The LXX uniformly render it by παρδαλις; and Jerom, pardus. Probably, these animals were numerous in Palestine; as we find places with a name intimating their having been the haunts of leopards: Nimrah, Num_32:3; Beth-Nimrah, Num_32:36; Jos_13:27; and waters of Nimrim, Isa_15:6; Jer_48:34; and mountains of leopards, Son_4:8. Nimrod might have his name from this animal; He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord, Gen_10:9. It is supposed, however, that his predations were not confined to the brute creation. Dr. Geddes remarks, that the word hunter expresses too little. He was a freebooter, in the worst sense of the word; a lawless despot:
Proud Nimrod first the bloody chase began, A mighty hunter, and his prey was man.
Isaiah, describing the happy state of the reign of Messiah, says, The leopard shall lie down with the kid, Isa_11:6. Even animals shall lose their fierceness and cruelty, and become gentle and tame. Jer_5:6, mentions the artful ambuscades of this animal; and in Jer_13:23, alludes to his spots: Can a Cushite change his skin; or a leopard his spots? Then may ye prevail with them to do good who are habituated to do evil; and Hab_1:8, refers to its alertness.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.
lep?ẽrd ((1) נמר, nāmēr (Son_4:8; Isa_11:6; Jer_5:6; Jer_13:23; Hos_13:7; Hab_1:8); compare Arabic nimr, ?leopard.? (2) Chaldaic נמר, nemar (Dan_7:6). (3) πάρδαλις, párdalis (Rev_13:2; Ecclesiasticus 28:23); compare נמרים, nimrı̄m, Nimrim (Isa_15:6; Jer_48:34), נמרה, nimrāh, Nimrah (Num_32:3), and נמרה בּית, beth-nimrāh, Beth-nimrah (Num_32:36; Jos_13:27)): The leopard is found throughout Africa and ranges through Southern Asia from Asia Minor to Japan, being absent from Siberia and Central Asia. Its range is much the same as that of the lion, which latter, however, does not extend so far to the East. Like other animals of wide range, it has local varieties, but these shade into each other imperceptibly, and the one specific name, Felis pardus, includes all. Leopards live in some of the valleys East and South of the Dead Sea, and in the mountains of Sinai and Northwestern Arabia. They have but rarely been seen of recent years in Lebanon or the more settled portions of Palestine. So far as can be judged from skins which are available for comparison, the leopard of Palestine is rather light in color, and is not as large as. some found in Africa or India. It is not certain that the place-names, NIMRIM, NIMRAH, and BETH-NIMRAH (which see), have to do with nāmēr, ?leopard,? but their location is in Moab, where leopards are well known, even at the present day. One of the valleys entering the Dead Sea from the East, South of the Arnon, is called Wâdi-en-Numeir (?valley of the little leopard?; numeir, diminutive of nimr).
In the Bible ?leopard? occurs mainly in figurative expressions, as a large and fierce beast. The leopard is mentioned with the lion and bear in Dan_7:6; Hos_13:7; Rev_13:2; with the lion, wolf and bear in Isa_11:6; with the lion and wolf in Jer_5:6; with the lion alone in Ecclesiasticus 28:23; with the wolf alone in Hab_1:8. The leopard is smaller than the lion and the tiger, but is more active than either. Its swiftness is referred to in Hab_1:8 : ?Their horses also (of the Chaldeans) are swifter than leopards.? The spots of the leopard are referred to in Jer_13:23 : ?Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots??
The Greek πάρδαλις, párdalis, and πάνθηρ, pánthēr, were both applied to the leopard. ?Panther? is sometimes used of large leopards, while in America, with its corrupt form ?painter,? it is one of the names applied to the cougar or puma, Felis concolor, which, as the specific name implies, is not spotted like the leopard, or striped like the tiger.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Fig. 243?Leopard
Leopard (Son_4:8; Isa_11:6; Jer_5:6; Jer_13:23; Hos_13:7; Hab_1:8; Dan_7:6; Rev_13:2; Sir_28:23). Though zoologists differ in opinion respecting the identity of the leopard and the panther, and dispute, supposing them to be distinct, how these names should be respectively applied, and by what marks the animals should be distinguished, nevertheless there can be no doubt that the leopard of the Bible is that great spotted feline which anciently infested the Syrian mountains, and even now occurs in the wooded ranges of Libanus. The variety of leopard, or rather panther, of Syria, is considerably below the stature of a lioness, but very heavy in proportion to its bulk. Its general form is so well known as to require no description beyond stating, that the spots are rather more irregular, and the color more mixed with whitish, than in the other pantherine felinae, excepting the Felis Uncia, or Felis Irbis, of High Asia, which is shaggy and almost white. It is a nocturnal, catlike animal in habits, dangerous to all domestic cattle, and sometimes even to man. In the Scriptures it is constantly placed in juxtaposition with the lion or the wolf; which last, if the hyena be intended, forms a natural association. There is in Asia Minor a species or variety of panther, much larger than the Syrian, not infrequent on the borders of the snowy tracts even of Mount Ida, above ancient Troy; and the group of these spotted animals is spread over the whole of Southern Asia to Africa. From several names of places, it appears that, in the earlier ages of Israelitish dominion, it was sufficiently numerous in Palestine. Leopard skins were worn as a part of ceremonial costume by the superiors of the Egyptian priesthood, and by other personages in Nubia; and the animal itself is represented in the processions of tributary nations.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
Jer_5:6 (b) This animal which is so quick in its actions and so swift in its pursuit is a picture of the swift destroyers mentioned in the passage. They would come suddenly with fierceness and attack with cruelty.
Jer_13:23 (a) The spots on the leopard are from birth. It is an inherent marking. So the sinner is born with evil and wicked tendencies which are permanent in his life. He cannot change them nor obliterate them in any way. Only a divine power could remove them. The sinner is helpless in his sins. Only the divine Son of GOD can change him and make him whiter than snow. This animal represents also the sinner who admits he has "spots of sin" on him, but thinks there is lots of good in him. GOD will not save him, until he admits he is all bad.
Hos_13:7 (a) In this passage the lion represents power, the leopard represents swiftness, the bear represents silence and certainty, and these are characteristics of the GOD whom they abandoned.
Rev_13:2 (a) This animal represents the antichrist, who though pretending to be a man of peace will really be a cruel monster, killing all his enemies, violating his oath and showing swift and certain vengeance on those who belong to JESUS CHRIST.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.
Leopard
(Heb. נָמֵר, namer', so called as being spotted, Son_4:8; Isa_11:6; Jer_5:6; Jer_13:23; Hos_13:7; Hab_1:8; Chald. נְמִר, nemar', Dan_7:6; Gr. πάρδαλις, Dan_7:6; Rev_13:2; Sir_28:23). Though zoologists differ in opinion respecting the identity of the leopard and the panther, and dispute, supposing them to be distinct, how these names should be respectively applied, and by what marks the animals should be distinguished, nevertheless there can be no doubt that the namer of the Bible is that great spotted feline which anciently infested the Syrian mountains, and even now occurs in the wooded ranges of Lebanon, for the Arabs still use nimer, the same word slightly modified, to denote that animal. The Abyssinian name differs scarcely from either; and in all these tongues it means spotted. Pigikris, according to Kirscher, is the Coptic name; and in English "leopard" has been adopted as the most appropriate to represent both the Hebrew word and the Greek πάρδαλις (which is imitated in the Tallmudic ברדלס, Mishna, Baba Mez. 8:2), although the Latin leopardus is not found in any author anterior to the fourth century, and is derived from a gross mistake in natural history. Gesenius (Thes. Heb. p. 443) contends that the scriptural animal was rather striped than spotted (חֲבִרְבֻּרוֹת, Jer_13:23), and thinks that not improbably the tiger was also comprised under this name, as the Hebrews had no specific name for that animal (Thesaur. p. 889). The panther (Felis pardus of Linn.) lives in Africa (Strabo, 17:828; Pliny, 10:94), Arabia (Strabo, 16:774, 777), as well as on Lebanon (Seetzen, 18:343; Burckhardt, Trav. 1:99), and the Hills of middle Palestine (Schubert, 3:119), not to mention more distant countries, as India, America, etc. The most graphic description of the (African and Arabian) panther is by Ehrenberg (Symbol. phys. Mammal, lec. 2, pl. 17).
The variety of leopard, or rather panther, of Syria is considerably below the stature of a lioness, but very heavy in proportion to its bulk. Its general form is so well known as to require no description beyond stating that the spots are rather more irregular, and the color more mixed with whitish, than in the other pantherine felins, excepting the Felis Uncia or Felis Irbis of High Asia, which is shaggy and almost white (Sonnini, Trav. 1:395). It is a nocturnal, cat-like animal in habits, dangerous to all domestic cattle, and sometimes even to man (comp. Plin. 10:94; Hom. Hymn in Ven. 71; Oppian, Cyneg. 3:76 sq.; Cvrill. Alex. in Hos. l. c.; Tsetz. Chiliad. 2:45; Poiret, Voyage, 1:224). In the Scriptures it is constantly placed in juxtaposition with the lion (Isa_11:6; Jer_5:6; Hos_13:7 : Sir_28:23 [27]; comps. AElian, V. H. 14:4) or the wolf. The swiftness of this animal, to which Habakkuk (Hab_1:8) compares the Chaldean horses, and to which Daniel (Dan_7:6) alludes in the winged leopard, is well known. So great is the flexibility of its body that it is able to take surprising leaps, to climb trees, or to crawl snake-like upon the ground. Jeremiah and Hosea (as above) allude to the insidious habit of this animal, which is abundantly confirmed by the observations of travelers: the leopard will take up its position in some spot near a village, and watch for some favorable opportunity for plunder. From the Canticles (as above) we learn that the hilly ranges of Lebanon were in ancient times frequented by these animals, and it is now not uncommonly seen in and about Lebanon, and the southern maritime mountains of Syria (Kitto, Pict. Bible, note on Son_4:8).
There is in Asia Minor a species or variety of panther, much larger than the Syrian, not unfrequent on the borders of the snowy tracts even of Mount Ida, above ancient Troy; and the group of these spotted animals is spread over the whole of Southern Asia to Africa. From several names of places (e.g. Beth-Nimrah, etc.), it appears that, in the earlier ages of Israelitish dominion, it was sufficiently numerous in Palestine, and recent travelers have encountered it there (see Bibliotheca Sacra, 1848, p. 669; Lynch's Expedition, p. 212). Leopard skins were worn as a part of ceremonial costume by the superiors of the Egyptian priesthood, and by other personages in Nubia; and the animal itself is represented in the processions of tributary nations (Wilkinson, 1:285, 291, 319). In Dan_7:7, the third stage of the prophetical vision is symbolized under the form of a leopard with wings, representing the rapidly formed Macedonian empire; its four heads corresponding to the division of Alexander's dominions among his four generals. In Rev_13:2, the same animal is made a type of the spiritual power of the Roman hierarchy, supported by the secular power in maintaining Paganism in opposition to Christianity. See generally Bochart, Hieroz. 2:100 sq.; Schoder, Specin. hieroz. 1:46 sq.; Wemyss, Clavis Symbolica, s.v.; Wood, Bible Animals, p. 29 sq.; Thomson, Land and Book, 2:156 sq.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
E. W. G. Masterman.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
Famed for swiftness and agility (Hab_1:8); "you would fancy it was flying" (Oppian Cyneg., iii. 76); it climbs trees, and can crawl along the ground. Hence the symbol for Greece and Alexander's rapid victories (Dan_7:6; Rev_13:2). The prevalence of leopards anciently in Palestine is marked by the many places named from them (namer, Hebrew): Nimrah, Nimrim, Beth Nimrah. "The mountains of the leopard" (Son_4:8), namely, Lebanon and Hermon, where still they are found; "the mountains of prey" (Psa_76:4), symbolizing the rapacious world kingdoms. They spring with successive rapid bounds. They cunningly lie in wait in thickets and often near villages for their prey, as distinguished from the lion's bold, open attack (Jer_5:6; Hos_13:7): "as a leopard by the way, I will observe (lie in wait for) them." Its unalterable spots represent man's inability to change himself (Jer_13:23); yet the leopard in the millennium shall "lie down with the kid" (Isa_11:6).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Leopard. (Hebrew, namer). Leopard is invariably given, by the Authorized Version, as the translation of the Hebrew word, which occurs in the seven following passages: Son_4:8; Isa_11:6; Jer_5:6; Jer_13:23; Dan_7:6; Hos_13:7; Hab_1:8. Leopard occurs also in Sir. 28:23 and in Rev_13:2.
From Son_4:8, we learn that the hilly ranges of Lebanon were, in ancient times, frequented by these animals. They are now not uncommonly seen in and about Lebanon and the southern maritime mountains of Syria. Under the name namer, which means "spotted", it is not improbable that another animal, namely the cheetah (Gueparda jubata), may be included; which is tamed by the Mohammedans of Syria, who employ it in hunting the gazelle.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
נמר Son_4:8; Isa_11:6; Jer_5:6; Jer_13:23; Hos_13:7; Hab_1:8; Dan_7:6; παρδαλις, Rev_13:2; Sir_28:23. There can be no doubt that the pard or leopard is the animal mentioned. Bochart shows that the name is similar in the Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic. The LXX uniformly render it by παρδαλις; and Jerom, pardus. Probably, these animals were numerous in Palestine; as we find places with a name intimating their having been the haunts of leopards: Nimrah, Num_32:3; Beth-Nimrah, Num_32:36; Jos_13:27; and waters of Nimrim, Isa_15:6; Jer_48:34; and mountains of leopards, Son_4:8. Nimrod might have his name from this animal; He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord, Gen_10:9. It is supposed, however, that his predations were not confined to the brute creation. Dr. Geddes remarks, that the word hunter expresses too little. He was a freebooter, in the worst sense of the word; a lawless despot:
Proud Nimrod first the bloody chase began, A mighty hunter, and his prey was man.
Isaiah, describing the happy state of the reign of Messiah, says, The leopard shall lie down with the kid, Isa_11:6. Even animals shall lose their fierceness and cruelty, and become gentle and tame. Jer_5:6, mentions the artful ambuscades of this animal; and in Jer_13:23, alludes to his spots: Can a Cushite change his skin; or a leopard his spots? Then may ye prevail with them to do good who are habituated to do evil; and Hab_1:8, refers to its alertness.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.
lep?ẽrd ((1) נמר, nāmēr (Son_4:8; Isa_11:6; Jer_5:6; Jer_13:23; Hos_13:7; Hab_1:8); compare Arabic nimr, ?leopard.? (2) Chaldaic נמר, nemar (Dan_7:6). (3) πάρδαλις, párdalis (Rev_13:2; Ecclesiasticus 28:23); compare נמרים, nimrı̄m, Nimrim (Isa_15:6; Jer_48:34), נמרה, nimrāh, Nimrah (Num_32:3), and נמרה בּית, beth-nimrāh, Beth-nimrah (Num_32:36; Jos_13:27)): The leopard is found throughout Africa and ranges through Southern Asia from Asia Minor to Japan, being absent from Siberia and Central Asia. Its range is much the same as that of the lion, which latter, however, does not extend so far to the East. Like other animals of wide range, it has local varieties, but these shade into each other imperceptibly, and the one specific name, Felis pardus, includes all. Leopards live in some of the valleys East and South of the Dead Sea, and in the mountains of Sinai and Northwestern Arabia. They have but rarely been seen of recent years in Lebanon or the more settled portions of Palestine. So far as can be judged from skins which are available for comparison, the leopard of Palestine is rather light in color, and is not as large as. some found in Africa or India. It is not certain that the place-names, NIMRIM, NIMRAH, and BETH-NIMRAH (which see), have to do with nāmēr, ?leopard,? but their location is in Moab, where leopards are well known, even at the present day. One of the valleys entering the Dead Sea from the East, South of the Arnon, is called Wâdi-en-Numeir (?valley of the little leopard?; numeir, diminutive of nimr).
In the Bible ?leopard? occurs mainly in figurative expressions, as a large and fierce beast. The leopard is mentioned with the lion and bear in Dan_7:6; Hos_13:7; Rev_13:2; with the lion, wolf and bear in Isa_11:6; with the lion and wolf in Jer_5:6; with the lion alone in Ecclesiasticus 28:23; with the wolf alone in Hab_1:8. The leopard is smaller than the lion and the tiger, but is more active than either. Its swiftness is referred to in Hab_1:8 : ?Their horses also (of the Chaldeans) are swifter than leopards.? The spots of the leopard are referred to in Jer_13:23 : ?Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots??
The Greek πάρδαλις, párdalis, and πάνθηρ, pánthēr, were both applied to the leopard. ?Panther? is sometimes used of large leopards, while in America, with its corrupt form ?painter,? it is one of the names applied to the cougar or puma, Felis concolor, which, as the specific name implies, is not spotted like the leopard, or striped like the tiger.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Fig. 243?Leopard
Leopard (Son_4:8; Isa_11:6; Jer_5:6; Jer_13:23; Hos_13:7; Hab_1:8; Dan_7:6; Rev_13:2; Sir_28:23). Though zoologists differ in opinion respecting the identity of the leopard and the panther, and dispute, supposing them to be distinct, how these names should be respectively applied, and by what marks the animals should be distinguished, nevertheless there can be no doubt that the leopard of the Bible is that great spotted feline which anciently infested the Syrian mountains, and even now occurs in the wooded ranges of Libanus. The variety of leopard, or rather panther, of Syria, is considerably below the stature of a lioness, but very heavy in proportion to its bulk. Its general form is so well known as to require no description beyond stating, that the spots are rather more irregular, and the color more mixed with whitish, than in the other pantherine felinae, excepting the Felis Uncia, or Felis Irbis, of High Asia, which is shaggy and almost white. It is a nocturnal, catlike animal in habits, dangerous to all domestic cattle, and sometimes even to man. In the Scriptures it is constantly placed in juxtaposition with the lion or the wolf; which last, if the hyena be intended, forms a natural association. There is in Asia Minor a species or variety of panther, much larger than the Syrian, not infrequent on the borders of the snowy tracts even of Mount Ida, above ancient Troy; and the group of these spotted animals is spread over the whole of Southern Asia to Africa. From several names of places, it appears that, in the earlier ages of Israelitish dominion, it was sufficiently numerous in Palestine. Leopard skins were worn as a part of ceremonial costume by the superiors of the Egyptian priesthood, and by other personages in Nubia; and the animal itself is represented in the processions of tributary nations.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
Jer_5:6 (b) This animal which is so quick in its actions and so swift in its pursuit is a picture of the swift destroyers mentioned in the passage. They would come suddenly with fierceness and attack with cruelty.
Jer_13:23 (a) The spots on the leopard are from birth. It is an inherent marking. So the sinner is born with evil and wicked tendencies which are permanent in his life. He cannot change them nor obliterate them in any way. Only a divine power could remove them. The sinner is helpless in his sins. Only the divine Son of GOD can change him and make him whiter than snow. This animal represents also the sinner who admits he has "spots of sin" on him, but thinks there is lots of good in him. GOD will not save him, until he admits he is all bad.
Hos_13:7 (a) In this passage the lion represents power, the leopard represents swiftness, the bear represents silence and certainty, and these are characteristics of the GOD whom they abandoned.
Rev_13:2 (a) This animal represents the antichrist, who though pretending to be a man of peace will really be a cruel monster, killing all his enemies, violating his oath and showing swift and certain vengeance on those who belong to JESUS CHRIST.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.
Leopard
(Heb. נָמֵר, namer', so called as being spotted, Son_4:8; Isa_11:6; Jer_5:6; Jer_13:23; Hos_13:7; Hab_1:8; Chald. נְמִר, nemar', Dan_7:6; Gr. πάρδαλις, Dan_7:6; Rev_13:2; Sir_28:23). Though zoologists differ in opinion respecting the identity of the leopard and the panther, and dispute, supposing them to be distinct, how these names should be respectively applied, and by what marks the animals should be distinguished, nevertheless there can be no doubt that the namer of the Bible is that great spotted feline which anciently infested the Syrian mountains, and even now occurs in the wooded ranges of Lebanon, for the Arabs still use nimer, the same word slightly modified, to denote that animal. The Abyssinian name differs scarcely from either; and in all these tongues it means spotted. Pigikris, according to Kirscher, is the Coptic name; and in English "leopard" has been adopted as the most appropriate to represent both the Hebrew word and the Greek πάρδαλις (which is imitated in the Tallmudic ברדלס, Mishna, Baba Mez. 8:2), although the Latin leopardus is not found in any author anterior to the fourth century, and is derived from a gross mistake in natural history. Gesenius (Thes. Heb. p. 443) contends that the scriptural animal was rather striped than spotted (חֲבִרְבֻּרוֹת, Jer_13:23), and thinks that not improbably the tiger was also comprised under this name, as the Hebrews had no specific name for that animal (Thesaur. p. 889). The panther (Felis pardus of Linn.) lives in Africa (Strabo, 17:828; Pliny, 10:94), Arabia (Strabo, 16:774, 777), as well as on Lebanon (Seetzen, 18:343; Burckhardt, Trav. 1:99), and the Hills of middle Palestine (Schubert, 3:119), not to mention more distant countries, as India, America, etc. The most graphic description of the (African and Arabian) panther is by Ehrenberg (Symbol. phys. Mammal, lec. 2, pl. 17).
The variety of leopard, or rather panther, of Syria is considerably below the stature of a lioness, but very heavy in proportion to its bulk. Its general form is so well known as to require no description beyond stating that the spots are rather more irregular, and the color more mixed with whitish, than in the other pantherine felins, excepting the Felis Uncia or Felis Irbis of High Asia, which is shaggy and almost white (Sonnini, Trav. 1:395). It is a nocturnal, cat-like animal in habits, dangerous to all domestic cattle, and sometimes even to man (comp. Plin. 10:94; Hom. Hymn in Ven. 71; Oppian, Cyneg. 3:76 sq.; Cvrill. Alex. in Hos. l. c.; Tsetz. Chiliad. 2:45; Poiret, Voyage, 1:224). In the Scriptures it is constantly placed in juxtaposition with the lion (Isa_11:6; Jer_5:6; Hos_13:7 : Sir_28:23 [27]; comps. AElian, V. H. 14:4) or the wolf. The swiftness of this animal, to which Habakkuk (Hab_1:8) compares the Chaldean horses, and to which Daniel (Dan_7:6) alludes in the winged leopard, is well known. So great is the flexibility of its body that it is able to take surprising leaps, to climb trees, or to crawl snake-like upon the ground. Jeremiah and Hosea (as above) allude to the insidious habit of this animal, which is abundantly confirmed by the observations of travelers: the leopard will take up its position in some spot near a village, and watch for some favorable opportunity for plunder. From the Canticles (as above) we learn that the hilly ranges of Lebanon were in ancient times frequented by these animals, and it is now not uncommonly seen in and about Lebanon, and the southern maritime mountains of Syria (Kitto, Pict. Bible, note on Son_4:8).
There is in Asia Minor a species or variety of panther, much larger than the Syrian, not unfrequent on the borders of the snowy tracts even of Mount Ida, above ancient Troy; and the group of these spotted animals is spread over the whole of Southern Asia to Africa. From several names of places (e.g. Beth-Nimrah, etc.), it appears that, in the earlier ages of Israelitish dominion, it was sufficiently numerous in Palestine, and recent travelers have encountered it there (see Bibliotheca Sacra, 1848, p. 669; Lynch's Expedition, p. 212). Leopard skins were worn as a part of ceremonial costume by the superiors of the Egyptian priesthood, and by other personages in Nubia; and the animal itself is represented in the processions of tributary nations (Wilkinson, 1:285, 291, 319). In Dan_7:7, the third stage of the prophetical vision is symbolized under the form of a leopard with wings, representing the rapidly formed Macedonian empire; its four heads corresponding to the division of Alexander's dominions among his four generals. In Rev_13:2, the same animal is made a type of the spiritual power of the Roman hierarchy, supported by the secular power in maintaining Paganism in opposition to Christianity. See generally Bochart, Hieroz. 2:100 sq.; Schoder, Specin. hieroz. 1:46 sq.; Wemyss, Clavis Symbolica, s.v.; Wood, Bible Animals, p. 29 sq.; Thomson, Land and Book, 2:156 sq.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
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