1. lion (fierce/mature) — The masculine noun shachal designating a lion, typically understood as a fierce or mature lion in poetic and wisdom contexts. It occurs in Job (4:10, 10:16, 28:8), Psalms (91:13), Proverbs (26:13), and Hosea (5:14, 13:7). All three sense clusters refer to the same animal: standalone 'a/the lion' (4x), with comparative preposition kaph 'like a lion' (2x), and the single occurrence glossed as 'a fierce lion' (1x). The distinction 'fierce lion' in S139651 reflects a contextual translation choice (Job 28:8 or 4:10 where the lion is described in a fearsome context), not a separate lexical sense. Multilingual evidence is consistent: Spanish 'leon/leon joven/leon viejo,' Arabic 'al-asad/al-layth,' Hindi 'singh/sher/garjanevale singh,' Korean 'saja/sanun saja,' Swahili 'simba/simba mchanga.' These all denote the same predator. 7×
AR["أَسَدٌ","أَسَدٍ","الأَسَدُ","اللَّيْثِ","الْأَسَدِ","كَالأَسَدِ"]·ben["বাঘের","সিংহ","সিংহের-মতো","সিংহের-মতো-"]·DE["[כשחל]","[שחל]","der-Löwe"]·EN["a-fierce-lion","a-lion","like-lion","lion","the-lion"]·FR["lion"]·heb["כ-שחל","שחל"]·HI["गर्जनेवाले-सिंह-की","जवान-शेर","शेर","शेर-जैसा","सिंह","सिंह-की-तरह"]·ID["seperti-singa","singa","singa-muda","singa-tua"]·IT["[כשחל]","[שחל]","come-il-like-lion","leone","un-fierce-leone","un-leone"]·jav["kados-macan-tutul","kados-singa","singa","singa-enom","singa-nem"]·KO["같으니라-사자에","사나운-사자의","사자-같이","사자-와","사자가","사자에"]·PT["como-leão","leão","leão-feroz","leão.","o-leão"]·RU["как-лев","лев","льва","львицы"]·ES["como-león","león","león-joven","león-viejo"]·SW["kama-simba","simba","simba-mchanga"]·TR["aslan","aslan-gibi","genç-aslanın"]·urd["ببر شیر","ببر-شیر","ببر-کی","جیسے-شیر","شیر","شیر-کی-طرح"]
Senses
BDB / Lexicon Reference
שַׁ֫חַל n.m. lion (poet.);—abs. שׁ׳ Ho 5:14 +, שָׁ֑חַל Jb 4:10 +;—lion, sim. of י׳, toward Israel Ho 5:14 (‖ כְּפִיר), 13:7 (‖ נָמֵר); of guilty men Jb 4:10 (‖ אַרְיֵה, כְּפִירִים); fig. of foes ψ 91:13 (‖ כְּפִיר); lion, as hunted Jb 10:16 (in sim.); lit. 28:8; Pr 26:13