Who Is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah?
Q: Please enlighten me on this prayer of St. Anthony: “Behold the Cross of the Lord, flee ye hostile powers of darkness. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered.”
I have said this prayer many times in my life, but I do not understand when it says, “The lion of the tribe of Judah.” Who is this lion of the tribe of Judah?
A: You can read about Judah in Chapters 29 through 50 in Genesis. Judah is the fourth-born son of Jacob (Israel) and a child of Leah. When the brothers of Judah, jealous of Joseph, are ready to abandon him in a cistern, Judah persuades them to sell Joseph into slavery instead. Later, in Egypt, when Joseph proposes to make Benjamin his slave, Judah pleads to take Benjamin’s place.
When Jacob is near death and foretells the future of his sons, he prophesies: “You, Judah, shall your brothers praise—your hand on the neck of your enemies; the sons of your father shall bow down to you. Judah, like a lion’s whelp, you have grown up on prey, my son. He crouches like a lion recumbent, the king of beasts—who would dare rouse him? The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his legs...” (Genesis 49:8-10).
According to a footnote in the New American Bible, the prophecy is interpreted in a messianic sense. Further, the sons of Jacob and their descendants make up the 12 tribes of Israel. Among them Judah will be supreme. From the tribe of Judah comes King David and from David’s line Jesus Christ is born.
In Revelation 5 John describes his vision of the scroll and the lamb. No one is found worthy to open the scroll. Then “One of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed, enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals’” (verse 5).
The lion of the tribe of Judah and the root of David are thus messianic titles given to Christ who has been victorious in the struggle with evil.
I have said this prayer many times in my life, but I do not understand when it says, “The lion of the tribe of Judah.” Who is this lion of the tribe of Judah?
A: You can read about Judah in Chapters 29 through 50 in Genesis. Judah is the fourth-born son of Jacob (Israel) and a child of Leah. When the brothers of Judah, jealous of Joseph, are ready to abandon him in a cistern, Judah persuades them to sell Joseph into slavery instead. Later, in Egypt, when Joseph proposes to make Benjamin his slave, Judah pleads to take Benjamin’s place.
When Jacob is near death and foretells the future of his sons, he prophesies: “You, Judah, shall your brothers praise—your hand on the neck of your enemies; the sons of your father shall bow down to you. Judah, like a lion’s whelp, you have grown up on prey, my son. He crouches like a lion recumbent, the king of beasts—who would dare rouse him? The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his legs...” (Genesis 49:8-10).
According to a footnote in the New American Bible, the prophecy is interpreted in a messianic sense. Further, the sons of Jacob and their descendants make up the 12 tribes of Israel. Among them Judah will be supreme. From the tribe of Judah comes King David and from David’s line Jesus Christ is born.
In Revelation 5 John describes his vision of the scroll and the lamb. No one is found worthy to open the scroll. Then “One of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed, enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals’” (verse 5).
The lion of the tribe of Judah and the root of David are thus messianic titles given to Christ who has been victorious in the struggle with evil.
posted by See Tho Zhang Jacob at
4:35 PM
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