Dictionaries :: Leopard

Leopard:

(Sgs 4:8), was that great spotted feline which anciently infested the mountains of Syria, more appropriately called a panther (Felis pardus). Its fierceness (Isa 11:6), its watching for its prey (Jer 5:6), its swiftness (Hab 1:8), and the spots of its skin (Jer 13:23), are noticed. This word is used symbolically (Dan 7:6; Rev 13:2).

Leopard:

lep'-erd

(1) namer (So 4:8; Isa 11:6; Jer 5:6; 13:23; Ho 13:7; Hab 1:8); compare Arabic nimr, "leopard."

(2) Chaldaic nemar (Da 7:6).

(3) pardalis (Re 13:2; Ecclesiasticus 28:23); compare nimrim Nimrim (Isa 15:6; Jer 48:34), nimrah, Nimrah (Nu 32:3), and beth-nimrah, Beth-nimrah (Nu 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 namer, "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 Wadi-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 Da 7:6; Ho 13:7; Re 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 pardalis, and panther, 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.

Written by Alfred Ely Day

Leopard: A Carnivorous Animal

Sgs 4:8

Leopard: Fierceness Of

Jer 5:6; 13:23; Hsa 13:7; Hab 1:8

Leopard: Figurative:

Dan 7:6

Taming of, the triumph of the gospel,

Isa 11:6.

Leopard: Inhabited Mountains of Canaan

Sgs 4:8

Leopard: Described As

Spotted

Jer 13:23

Fierce and cruel

Jer 5:6

Swift

Hab 1:8

Leopard: Lies in Wait for Its Prey

Jer 5:6; Hsa 13:7

Leopard: Illustrative

Of God in his judgments

Hsa 13:7

Of the Macedonian empire

Dan 7:6

Of antichrist

Rev 13:2

(Tamed,) of the wicked subdued by the gospel

Isa 11:6

Leopard:

denotes "a leopard or a panther," an animal characterized by swiftness of movement and sudden spring, in Dan 7:6 symbolic of the activities of Alexander the Great, and the formation of the Grecian kingdom, the third seen in the vision there recorded. In Rev 13:2 the imperial power, described there also as a "beast," is seen to concentrate in himself the characteristics of those mentioned in Dan. 7.

Leopard:

(Heb. namer) is invariably given by the Authorized Version as the translation of the Hebrew word, which occurs in the seven following passages: Solomon 4:8; Isaiah 11:6; Jeremiah 5:6; 13:23; Daniel 7:6; Hosea 13:7; Habakkuk 1:8. Leopard occurs also in Ecclesiasticus 28:23 and in Revelation 13:2. From Solomon 4:8 we learn that the hilly ranges of Lebanon were in ancient times frequented by these animals. They are now [A.D. 1884 ‐ BLB Ed.] 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.