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"
also means “light.” This noun appears about 20 times.
"
occurs more than
once in Gen. 1:16: “And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and
the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.”
LIKENESS
A. Verb.
(
(
, 1819), “to be like, resemble, be or act like, liken or compare, devise,
balance or ponder.” This verb appears in biblical Hebrew about 28 times. Cognates of
this word appear in biblical Aramaic, Akkadian, and Arabic.
4
means “to be like”
in Ps. 102:6: “I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.”
B. Noun.
$
(
" (
, 1823), “likeness; shape; figure; form; pattern.” All but 5 of the 25
appearances of this word are in poetical or prophetical books of the Bible.
First, the word means “pattern,” in the sense of the specifications from which an
actual item is made: “Now King Ahaz went to Damascus … and saw the altar which was
at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar and its
model, according to all its workmanship” (2 Kings 16:10,
NASB
).
Second,
$
means “shape” or “form,” the thing(s) made after a given pattern. In 2
Chron. 4:3 the word represents the “shape” of a bronze statue: “And under it was the
similtude of oxen, which did compass it round about: ten in a cubit, compassing the sea
round about.” In such passages
$
means more than just “shape” in general; it
indicates the “shape” in particular. In Ezek. 1:10, for example, the word represents the
“form” or “likeness” of the faces of the living creatures Ezekiel describes. In Ezek. 1:26
the word refers to what something seemed to be rather than what it was: “And above the
firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne.…”
Third,
$
signifies the original after which a thing is patterned: “To whom then
will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?” (Isa. 40:18). This
significance is in its first biblical appearance: “And God said, Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness …” (Gen. 1:26).
Fourth, in Ps. 58:4 the word appears to function merely to extend the form but not the
meaning of the preposition
&
“Their poison is like the poison of a serpent.…”
LION
(
, 738), “lion.” This apparently Aramaic loan word finds a cognate only in
Aramaic. Occurring in all periods of biblical Hebrew, it is attested 83 times.
The word represents a “full-grown lion.” This word should be compared to: (1)
$
(Gen. 49:9), a suckling lion; (2)
(Hos. 5:14), a young lion which no longer is a
suckling; and (3)
(Judg. 14:5), a young lion which no longer is a suckling and
which hunts for its food independently.
The “lion” was a much-feared beast (Amos 3:12) found mostly in the Trans-jordan
(Jer. 49:19) and in the mountainous areas (Song of Sol. 4:8). The various characteristics
of the “lion” make it a frequent figure of strength and power (Judg. 14:18), of plundering
(Gen. 49:9), and of malicious scheming (Ps. 10:9).