Difference between revisions of "Leopard"

<p> Famed for swiftness and agility (&nbsp;Habakkuk 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 (&nbsp;Daniel 7:6; &nbsp;Revelation 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" (&nbsp;Song of Solomon 4:8), namely, Lebanon and Hermon, where still they are found; "the mountains of prey" (&nbsp;Psalms 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 (&nbsp;Jeremiah 5:6; &nbsp;Hosea 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 (&nbsp;Jeremiah 13:23); yet the leopard in the millennium shall "lie down with the kid" (&nbsp;Isaiah 11:6). </p>

<p> &nbsp;Jeremiah 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. </p> <p> &nbsp;Jeremiah 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. </p> <p> &nbsp;Hosea 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. </p> <p> &nbsp;Revelation 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]] </p>

<p> '''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: &nbsp;Song of Solomon 4:8; &nbsp;Isaiah 11:6; &nbsp;Jeremiah 5:6; &nbsp;Jeremiah 13:23; &nbsp;Daniel 7:6; &nbsp;Hosea 13:7; &nbsp;Habakkuk 1:8. Leopard occurs also in Sir. 28:23 and in &nbsp;Revelation 13:2. </p> <p> From &nbsp;Song of Solomon 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. </p>

<div> '''1: '''''Πάρδαλις''''' ''' (Strong'S #3917 — Noun [[Feminine]] — pardalis — par'-dal-is ) </div> <p> denotes "a leopard or a panther," an animal characterized by swiftness of movement and sudden spring, in &nbsp;Daniel 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 &nbsp; Revelation 13:2 the imperial power, described there also as a "beast," is seen to concentrate in himself the characteristics of those mentioned in &nbsp; Daniel 7 . </p>

<p> ''''' lep´ẽrd ''''' ((1) נמר , <i> ''''' nāmēr ''''' </i> (&nbsp; Song of Solomon 4:8; &nbsp;Isaiah 11:6; &nbsp;Jeremiah 5:6; &nbsp;Jeremiah 13:23; &nbsp;Hosea 13:7; &nbsp;Habakkuk 1:8 ); compare Arabic <i> ''''' nimr ''''' </i> , "leopard." (2) Chaldaic נמר , <i> ''''' nemar ''''' </i> (&nbsp;Daniel 7:6 ). (3) πάρδαλις , <i> ''''' párdalis ''''' </i> (&nbsp;Revelation 13:2; [[Ecclesiasticus]] 28:23); compare נמרים , <i> ''''' nimrı̄m ''''' </i> , Nimrim (&nbsp;Isaiah 15:6; &nbsp;Jeremiah 48:34 ), נמרה , <i> ''''' nimrāh ''''' </i> , Nimrah (&nbsp;Numbers 32:3 ), and נמרה בּית , <i> ''''' beth ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' nimrāh ''''' </i> , Beth-nimrah (&nbsp;Numbers 32:36; &nbsp;Joshua 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, <i> Felis </i> <i> pardus </i> , 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 <i> ''''' nāmēr ''''' </i> , "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 <i> ''''' Wâdi ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' en ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' Numeir ''''' </i> ("valley of the little leopard"; <i> ''''' numeir ''''' </i> , diminutive of <i> ''''' nimr ''''' </i> ). </p> <p> 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 &nbsp;Daniel 7:6; &nbsp;Hosea 13:7; &nbsp;Revelation 13:2; with the lion, wolf and bear in &nbsp;Isaiah 11:6; with the lion and wolf in &nbsp;Jeremiah 5:6; with the lion alone in Ecclesiasticus 28:23; with the wolf alone in &nbsp;Habakkuk 1:8 . The leopard is smaller than the lion and the tiger, but is more active than either. Its swiftness is referred to in &nbsp;Habakkuk 1:8 : "Their horses also (of the Chaldeans) are swifter than leopards." The spots of the leopard are referred to in &nbsp; Jeremiah 13:23 : "Can the [[Ethiopian]] change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" </p> <p> The Greek πάρδαλις , <i> ''''' párdalis ''''' </i> , and πάνθηρ , <i> ''''' pánthēr ''''' </i> , 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, <i> Felis </i> <i> concolor </i> , which, as the specific name implies, is not spotted like the leopard, or striped like the tiger. </p>