The strength and power of the Jewish nation is often described in the sacred volume by the same symbol.

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Behold," cried Balaam, when from the top of Pisgah he looked down on the innumerable tents of Israel," the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion; he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain." This prediction received its accomplishment in the signal victories which the armies of Israel, under the conduct of Joshua, obtained over the five nations of Canaan. They did not rest, till, completely victorious, they had reduced the whole country to their obedience. The forces of Joshua did not, like some uncivilized hordes in modern times, literally "eat of the prey and drink the blood of the slain,” for such inhuman conduct was equally opposed to the character of their God, and the whole tenor of their law. The clause is merely a continuation of the metaphor, and a hyperbolical description of the complete conquest which, by the favour of God, awaited their arms. Such hyperbolical expressions are frequent in the sacred volume; and when viewed in the light of other Scriptures, admit of a sense equally consistent and profitable. Thus, in the reproof which the Psalmist addresses to wicked judges, he declares, "the righteous shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;" and in his prayer at the removing of the ark: "The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea that thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the same.”j These phrases only denote that the victory which was to crown their exertions, should be completely decisive. Balaam adds, in the same prophecy, "He couched,

:

i Ps. lviii, 11.

j Ps. lxviii, 4.

he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion, who shall stir him up ?" He was, in future times, to subdue the land of Canaan so completely, that no enemy should presume to disturb his repose; which was accomplished in the reign of David and of Solomon his son, when, by the heroic valour of the former, and the unparalleled wisdom of the latter, the whole east was awed and charmed into peace and amity.

The symbols that represented the Jewish people, were often applied to particular tribes, of which a striking instance occurs in the farewell benediction of Jacob: "Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up; he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up ?" And of Gad, Moses said, "Blessed by he that enlargeth Gad; he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head."

But the sacred writers often allude to the savage disposition of the lion; and in all these instances the name is used in a bad sense. Thus, the great adversary of mankind is compared to a roaring lion that walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Furious and cruel as the lion when within a single leap of his prey, he thirsts for the destruction of poor mortals, as intensly as that famished destroyer for the blood of the slain, and exerts still greater and more unwearied activity to accomplish his purpose. The name which is imposed upon the arch fiend, is, with much propriety, assigned to the wicked, the victims and instruments of his cruelty and injustice. "The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken." That the

* Gen. xlix, 9.

1 Deut. xxxiii, 20, 22.

m 1 Pet. v, 8.

wicked are intended in this passage, is evident from the context: "Even as I have seen, they that plough ini. quity and sow wickedness, reap the same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed."" It is used in the same sense by the prophet, where he describes the flourishing state of Christ's kingdom: "No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there." These are only a few of the numerous instances in which the sacred writers use the name to express the temper and conduct of wicked men. Not only the vicious and profane, the cruel and the unjust in the private walks of life, but also the sceptered oppressor, the blood-stained conqueror, the warlike nation, are stigmatized in the holy Scriptures, and held up to the execration of all mankind, under this odious "Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it." But the name is not confined to the human character, it is extended also to every thing hurtful or destructive to mankind. The sword, for example, is by the prophet compared to the lion, on account of the desolations which it is the means of accomplishing: "Your own sword hath devoured your prophets like a destroying lion." If these statements have not removed any of the difficulties which the biblical student meets with in his progress, they prove at least, beyond a doubt, the closeness and accuracy with which the sacred writers copy nature, and the admirable fitness and propriety of their al

name.

n Job iv, 8, 9, 10.

• Isa. xxxv, 9.

r Isa. v, 29.

4 Jer. ii, 30.

lusions; and this is no insignificant service to the interests of religion.

The Leopard.

This powerful and ferocious animal is entitled to the second place among the beasts of prey. In the sacred volume, the lion and the leopard are frequently united as if they were homogeneous animals. Thus in the Song, the spouse is invited to "look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lion's dens, from the mountains of the leopards." The prophet Jeremiah directs the combined force of the lion, the wolf, and the leopard against the cities of his corrupt and impenitent countrymen. A similiar denunciation is pronunced by Hosea against the ten tribes: "Therefore I will be unto them as a lion; as a leopard by the way will I observe them." They are associated in the same manner in the lines of Homer:

Il. lib. xvii, 1. 20.

Ουτ εν παρδάλιος τόσσον μένος, ἐπὶ λεοντός. "Neither the leopard nor the lion possesses so great strength."

"The leopard,” says the natural historian, " is rather less than a mastiff dog, which, in form, he greatly resembles; he has a ferocious air, a restless eye, a cruel aspect; he is very nimble in his movements, and has a cry similar to that of an enraged dog, but stronger and more hoarse; he has a tongue equally rough as the lion's; strong and pointed teeth, hard sharp claws, a beautiful skin of a more or less deep colour, variegated with black circular spots, but subject to greater variety than the panther."s

* Jer. v, 6.

* Buffon's Nat. Hist. vol. v, p. 178. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. viii, cap. 17. Bochart. Hieroz. lib. iii, cap. 7, p. 785.

To this last feature, the prophet Jeremiah beautifully alludes, in stating the invincible power which a vicious habit acquires over the human mind; "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil.”t

This terrible animal delights in the thick and gloomy forest, and chooses his abode in its deepest recesses; but he often frequents the banks of rivers, and the environs of sequestered habitations, where he endeavours to surprise domestic animals, and the wild beasts which come to the river in quest of water. He seldom attacks men, even when provoked: he climbs trees with great facility in pursuit of his prey, which seldom escapes him. He is exceedingly swift and subtile, rapacious and gluttonous; and his fiery restless eyes are continually rolling in search of blood." The prophet Habakkuk, describing the march of the Chaldees against Jerusalem, alludes to the extraordinary swiftness of this animal in these words: "Their horses also are swifter than leopards." This agrees exactly with the character given him by Homer (παρδαλιες τε Doas), "the swift leopards;" and with the testimony of Pliny and Ælian," that the leopard pursues the other animals with great swiftness. Eustathius asserts, that he excels all other animals in swiftness, and as it were, flies before the eyes of the hunters.w

But he does not trust for success to his swiftness alone; Buffon remarks, that he often conceals himself among the

* Jer. xiii, 23.

u Buffon's Nat. Hist. vol. v, p. 185.

▾ Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. viii, cap. 25, sec. 18.

lib. 14.

Elian de Nat. Animal.

Bochart. Hieroz. lib. iii, cap. 7, p. 788. Ælian de Nat. Animal. lib. viii, cap. 6. Oppiani libro tertio ; " You would say, when you see him, that he is carried on the wings of the wind."