The people in the Bible lived in the Middle East, but lions are African animals. So why are lions mentioned in the bible?
Why does the Bible mention lions?
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Because when the books of the Bible were written there were lions in the Holy Land and surrounding areas. All lions are not in Africa! I don't know where you live but in New Mexico, where I live, there are plenty of lions -- mountain lions.
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There's the Asiatic lion/aka "Asian lion". Their range at one time spanned through northern Greece, south west Asia and on to central India. This could be why they are mentioned in the Bible because they were present in Christs time and in the area of Bethlehem and elsewhere when the Bible was authored.
Or it could be the range of the actual lion as well as the symbolism lions represent. The Bible is full of metaphor, allegory, simile and parables.
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Around the 1800's.
Last seen in roughly 100A.D. in Europe. This would be with regard to the Asiatic lion.
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Lions only exist in small pockets of Africa today. They once had a larger range.
I understand that the Lions in India/Iran were asiatic lions, but were the lions in greece and north african countries (such as egypt) the same subspecies as the lions which live in sub saharan africa today?
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Starcrystal
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Barbary Lions North Africa..Asiatic in Mid East and Greece...
"To judge by historical records, one contiguous lion population may once have been distributed from North Africa through the Middle East to India, and was probably connected to the sub-Saharan population through the present Egypt–Sudan–Ethiopia region. Latest genetic research has confirmed this (Barnett et al. 2006). The lions distributed in the whole of Africa north of the Sahara were called Barbary lions (Panthera leo leo).
Image: map showing the possible previous range of the Barbary lion (coloured red), the possible previous range of the Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) is coloured yellow."
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It's a translation error. It should have been ferrets, but an overzealous monk felt that lions would give the Bible more impact.
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Blessings CF,
Providing a link for the new walkers in Christ, subject lions. Nice joke Tremble.
What Does the Bible Say About Lions?
Providing a link for the new walkers in Christ, subject lions. Nice joke Tremble.
What Does the Bible Say About Lions?
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Barbary Lions North Africa..Asiatic in Mid East and Greece...
"To judge by historical records, one contiguous lion population may once have been distributed from North Africa through the Middle East to India, and was probably connected to the sub-Saharan population through the present EgyptSudanEthiopia region. Latest genetic research has confirmed this (Barnett et al. 2006). The lions distributed in the whole of Africa north of the Sahara were called Barbary lions (Panthera leo leo).
Image: map showing the possible previous range of the Barbary lion (coloured red), the possible previous range of the Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) is coloured yellow."
Why were the lions that lived in Greece called asiatic lions, if they lived in Europe?
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dragongunner
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They are both of the same land mass. They were most likely prominent in Asia, and named that first and were of the same species so no need to change the name to european lions.
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JesusFo11ower
I love God.
I don't know but this has me thinking that we really need to keep so many beautiful creatures from going extinct. It's really sad that there really aren't many big cats left.
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According to Wikipedia, the European Lion was a separate subspecies from the asiatic lion. History of lions in Europe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. It says the European lion went extinct in 100 AD greece, implying it was a separate subspecies from the lions in asia.
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Lions only exist in small pockets of Africa today. They once had a larger range.
Why does the map show lions lived in Afghanistan?
I've read part of a book on asiatic lions where it says, "No record of lion has ever been found in Afghanistan".
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