כְּפִיר
ke.phir (H3715A)
lion
AI Word Study
# Kephir: The Young Lion in Biblical Hebrew The Hebrew word *kephir* (H3715A) refers specifically to a lion, appearing 31 times throughout the biblical text. This substantive noun carries straightforward zoological meaning, designating one of the ancient Near East's most formidable predators. The word's presence across three dozen biblical passages indicates that lions held significant place in the world inhabited by Hebrew speakers—whether as real threats, powerful metaphors, or symbolic representations. The frequency of *kephir*'s occurrence across biblical literature suggests its importance extended beyond mere animal identification. With 31 documented uses, the word appears regularly enough to indicate that lions were not merely exotic curiosities but recognizable elements of the cultural and natural landscape. This prevalence in the textual record reflects the prominence of lions in ancient Levantine imagery and experience, making the term a standard part of biblical vocabulary rather than a rare or specialized term. Without access to the specific contexts of each occurrence, the lexical data alone confirms that *kephir* functioned as a reliable, recognizable term for lions in biblical Hebrew. Its repeated use across the scriptural corpus demonstrates that Hebrew writers drew upon this word as a fundamental vocabulary item when referring to this animal, whether in narrative, poetic, or prophetic contexts.
AI synthesis uses only provided lexicon data -- never training knowledge.
Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and his mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion roared at him.
The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
“Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my soul from their destruction, my precious life from the lions.
Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
You will tread on the lion and cobra. You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot.
The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.
The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion. He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.
The wicked flee when no one pursues; but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
Their roaring will be like a lioness. They will roar like young lions. Yes, they shall roar, and seize their prey and carry it off, and there will be no one to deliver.
The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them.
For Yahweh says to me, “As the lion and the young lion growling over his prey, if a multitude of shepherds is called together against him, will not be dismayed at their voice, nor abase himself for their noise, so Yahweh of Armies will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its heights.
The young lions have roared at him and yelled. They have made his land waste. His cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
He has left his covert, as the lion; for their land has become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppression, and because of his fierce anger.
They will roar together like young lions. They will growl as lions’ cubs.
and say, ‘What was your mother? A lioness. She couched among lions, in the middle of the young lions she nourished her cubs.
She brought up one of her cubs. He became a young lion. He learned to catch the prey. He devoured men.
“ ‘Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her cubs, and made him a young lion.
He went up and down among the lions. He became a young lion. He learned to catch the prey. He devoured men.
‘Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, “You were likened to a young lion of the nations; yet you are as a monster in the seas. You broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.”
Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions of it, will ask you, ‘Have you come to take the plunder? Have you assembled your company to take the prey, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’ ” ’
so that there was the face of a man toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side. It was made like this through all the house all around.
For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.
Will a lion roar in the thicket, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, among many peoples, like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, and there is no one to deliver.
Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion’s cubs, and no one made them afraid?
“Behold, I am against you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions; and I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
A voice of the wailing of the shepherds! For their glory is destroyed: a voice of the roaring of young lions! For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.