לָבִיא Lioness
Every verse in which this word stands — 14 places, in canonical order, first appearance to last. These are the places the lexicon carries under this word's own entry, counting every form the text writes it in, which is the number on the list.
The lavi — the couched lion and lioness of Bilam's oracle and Yaakov's blessing; the tradition reads the fiercer, the mother of the pride.
גּוּר אַרְיֵה יְהוּדָה מִטֶּרֶף בְּנִי עָלִיתָ כָּרַע רָבַץ כְּאַרְיֵה וּכְלָבִיא מִי יְקִימֶֽנּוּ
Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?
הֶן־עָם כְּלָבִיא יָקוּם וְכַאֲרִי יִתְנַשָּׂא לֹא יִשְׁכַּב עַד־יֹאכַל טֶרֶף וְדַם־חֲלָלִים יִשְׁתֶּֽה
Behold a people that riseth up as a lioness, And as a lion doth he lift himself up; He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, And drink the blood of the slain.
כָּרַע שָׁכַב כַּאֲרִי וּכְלָבִיא מִי יְקִימֶנּוּ מְבָרֲכֶיךָ בָרוּךְ וְאֹרְרֶיךָ אָרֽוּר
He couched, he lay down as a lion, And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Blessed be every one that blesseth thee, And cursed be every one that curseth thee.
וּלְגָד אָמַר בָּרוּךְ מַרְחִיב גָּד כְּלָבִיא שָׁכֵן וְטָרַף זְרוֹעַ אַף־קָדְקֹֽד
And of Gad he said: Blessed be He that enlargeth Gad; He dwelleth as a lioness, And teareth the arm, yea, the crown of the head.
שְׁאָגָה לוֹ כַּלָּבִיא ושאג כַּכְּפִירִים וְיִנְהֹם וְיֹאחֵז טֶרֶף וְיַפְלִיט וְאֵין מַצִּֽיל
Their roaring shall be like a lion, They shall roar like young lions, yea, they shall roar, And lay hold of the prey, and carry it away safe, And there shall be none to deliver.
מַשָּׂא בַּהֲמוֹת נֶגֶב בְּאֶרֶץ צָרָה וְצוּקָה לָבִיא וָלַיִשׁ מֵהֶם אֶפְעֶה וְשָׂרָף מְעוֹפֵף יִשְׂאוּ עַל־כֶּתֶף עֲיָרִים חֵֽילֵהֶם וְעַל־דַּבֶּשֶׁת גְּמַלִּים אֽוֹצְרֹתָם עַל־עַם לֹא יוֹעִֽילוּ
The burden of the beasts of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
וְאָמַרְתָּ מָה אִמְּךָ לְבִיָּא בֵּין אֲרָיוֹת רָבָצָה בְּתוֹךְ כְּפִרִים רִבְּתָה גוּרֶֽיהָ
and say: How was thy mother a lioness; Among lions she couched, In the midst of the young lions She reared her whelps!
אֶפְגְּשֵׁם כְּדֹב שַׁכּוּל וְאֶקְרַע סְגוֹר לִבָּם וְאֹכְלֵם שָׁם כְּלָבִיא חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה תְּבַקְּעֵֽם
I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, And will rend the enclosure of their heart; And there will I devour them like a lioness; The wild beast shall tear them.
כִּֽי־גוֹי עָלָה עַל־אַרְצִי עָצוּם וְאֵין מִסְפָּר שִׁנָּיו שִׁנֵּי אַרְיֵה וּֽמְתַלְּעוֹת לָבִיא לֽוֹ
For a people is come up upon my land, Mighty, and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he hath the jaw-teeth of a lioness.
אַיֵּה מְעוֹן אֲרָיוֹת וּמִרְעֶה הוּא לַכְּפִרִים אֲשֶׁר הָלַךְ אַרְיֵה לָבִיא שָׁם גּוּר אַרְיֵה וְאֵין מַחֲרִֽיד
Where is the den of the lions, Which was the feeding-place of the young lions, Where the lion and the lioness walked, and the lion’s whelp, And none made them afraid?
אַרְיֵה טֹרֵף בְּדֵי גֹֽרוֹתָיו וּמְחַנֵּק לְלִבְאֹתָיו וַיְמַלֵּא־טֶרֶף חֹרָיו וּמְעֹֽנֹתָיו טְרֵפָֽה
The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, And strangled for his lionesses, And filled his caves with prey, And his dens with ravin.
נַפְשִׁי בְּתוֹךְ לְבָאִם אֶשְׁכְּבָה לֹהֲטִים בְּֽנֵי־אָדָם שִׁנֵּיהֶם חֲנִית וְחִצִּים וּלְשׁוֹנָם חֶרֶב חַדָּֽה
My soul is among lions, I do lie down among them that are aflame; Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword.
לַיִשׁ אֹבֵד מִבְּלִי־טָרֶף וּבְנֵי לָבִיא יִתְפָּרָֽדוּ
The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, And the whelps of the lioness are scattered abroad.
הֲתָצוּד לְלָבִיא טָרֶף וְחַיַּת כְּפִירִים תְּמַלֵּֽא
Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lioness? Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
Every Hebrew word for “lioness”, with its gematria →
Quick answers
What is the Hebrew word for lioness?
Lioness in Hebrew is לביא, with a gematria of 43 in the standard method.
How many times is the lioness mentioned in the Tanakh?
The word stands 14 times in the Tanakh, first at Genesis 49:9.
A spelling is not a word. The bare letters לביא stand 7 times in the corpus, which is a different question and often a different number: the same letters can spell a name or another word entirely, and the creature written with a particle attached is a spelling that search never returns. It is here, as itself.
See all 7 occurrences of the spelling לביא →