[Avodah] lion king

[Zev Sero via Avodah]

On 04/25/2016 03:58 PM, Micha Berger wrote:
> On Areivim, Lisa Liel wrote:
>> On Areivim R `Eli Turkel wrote:

>>> what is the origin of the story that the lion is king of the beasts

>> According to
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_depictions_of_lions it comes
>> from the lion having been a symbol of kingship in the ancient world.

> I presume RET is asking -- and if not, I am -- was Yaaqov avinu's berakhah
> of Yehudah the first association of lions with melukhah? Or did he draw
> from some pre-existing part of the ancient world?

Who says he *did* associate lions with melucha?  The pesukim don't
make such an association.  Unkelus does make that connection,
translating "gur aryeh Yehudah" as a prophecy that royalty will
come to Yehudah, but even there Rashi explains that this means that
a young David will become a mighty king, just as a lion cub becomes
a mighty beast.  So the lions there are not really a symbol of
royalty but of might; and Unkelus's treatment of the rest of the
pasuk seems to confirm that.

But all this is about using lions as a symbol of royalty.  RET's
question was not about that but about the idea that lions themselves
are kings, and that seems to come from a Xian source.

-- 
Zev Sero               All around myself I will wave the green willow
zev at sero.name          The myrtle and the palm and the citron for a week
                And if anyone should ask me the reason why I'm doing that
                I'll say "It's a Jewish thing; if you have a few minutes
                I'll explain it to you".