“Like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan”: the lexicon of feline carnivores in the Hebrew Bible and Greco-Roman traditions

The nomenclature of large predators is quite rich in ancient Hebrew, especially with regard to the names for “lion” (’aryēh; lāby’; šaḥal; layiš; kǝpîr; gûr). In Hebrew poetry, where references to large predators are mostly concentrated, the lion is often mentioned together with the leopard (nāmer) or with the bear (dōb / dôb). Such a vocabulary allows the reconstruction of the behavioural patterns associated with these animals, of their relationship with specific environments and, to a certain extent, of a relative taxonomy. Translations of these names in the ancient versions show a variety of tendencies. Although ancient renderings are quite consistent, the lexicon employed nonetheless reveals a certain degree of interpretation. While some interpretations can be justified by textual difficulties, they might also reflect different zoological patterns or a variation in landscape. This paper reconstructs the history of identifying a number of “biblical” predators in antiquity. It analyzes the lexicon of feline carnivores in the Hebrew Bible and its ancient translations, with a focus on the renderings in the Septuagint, which will be examined against the background of Greco-Roman zoology. Readings from the Peshitta, the Targum and the Vulgate are also included to enlarge the comparative perspective.