Lion
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Gen 49:9) - a familiar wild beast of prey requiring no minute description. Its majestic appearance, flowing mane, bristling brows, gleaming teeth, and fearless bearing form a striking sight. A lion may exceed eight English feet in length and stand more than four feet high; its hide is usually reddish brown. Its courage and fearlessness became proverbial. Lions once inhabited the marshy banks of the Jordan, though the river's annual floods drove them out and made them still fiercer and more daring (Jer 49:19).