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Psalms 17:12

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

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Like as a lion [that] is greedy of his prey,.... Or "the likeness of him is as a lion" (i); meaning Saul, as Kimchi interprets it; or everyone of them that compassed them about, as Aben Ezra observes; sometimes wicked and persecuting princes are compared to lions, for their strength and cruelty; see Proverbs 28:15; so the devil is called a roaring lion, 1 Peter 5:8; and the antichristian beast is said to have the mouth of a lion, Revelation 13:2;

and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places; to leap upon its prey, and seize it at once, as it has opportunity; this denotes the secret and insidious method which the enemies of Christ take to do mischief; see Psalms 10:9.

(i) דמיונו כאריה "similitudo ejus, vel cujusque est tanquam leonis", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius Tremellius so Musculus, Gejerus, Michaelis.

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