"The lamb with the lion" – often a paraphrase from Isaiah, and more closely quoted as "the lion and lamb", "a child will lead them", and the like – are an artistic and symbolic device, most generally related to peace.
The symbol is used in both Christianity and Judaism to represent the Messianic Age.[1] In addition, in Christianity, according to a sermon by Augustine, the lion stands for Christ resurrected, the lamb for Christ's sacrifice ("He endured death as a lamb; he devoured it as a lion."—Augustine, Sermon 375A).[2]
Isaiah 35:9 casts a lion as metaphorically forbidden in the future paradise ("No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there");[3] yet, Isaiah 65:25 and Isaiah 11:6–7, respectively reference such formerly ravenous beasts as becoming peaceable: "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent—its food shall be dust!";[4] "The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them."[5]
"In like a lion, out like a lamb" is a proverb having to do with March weather. It has been speculated that its origin is from astrological Leo (lion) being followed by Aries (ram).[6][clarification needed][better source needed]
- ^ Marc Lee Raphael (2012). Judaism in America. Columbia University Press. p. 25. ISBN 9780231512442.
- ^ Gerald O'Collins (2017). Saint Augustine on the Resurrection of Christ: Teaching, Rhetoric, and Reception. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192520173.
- ^ Isaiah 35:9
- ^ Isaiah 65:25
- ^ Isaiah 11:6–9
- ^ "Where Does "In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb" Originate?". Theparisreview.org. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 2017-09-12.