Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(lion of God). (1) A leader of returning captives (Ezra 8:16). (2) The city of Jebus-Salem, Jerusalem (Isa. 29:1-2).
Concise Bible Dictionary:
1. Symbolical name of Jerusalem, signifying “Lion of God,” probably in reference to the lion being the emblem of Judah (Isa. 29:1-2, 7). In the margin of Ezekiel 43:15, the altar is called the “lion of God”; but the word is slightly different and is translated by some the “hearth of God,” the place for offering all sacrifices to God.
2. One whom Ezra sent to Iddo at Casiphia (Ezra 8:16).
3. In 2 Samuel 23:20 and 1 Chronicles 11:22, we read that Benaiah slew two “lion-like men,” which some prefer to translate “two [sons] of Ariel.” The Hebrew is literally “two lions of God.”
Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:
Meaning:
the same as 739; Ariel, a symbolical name for Jerusalem, also the name of an Israelite
Jackson’s Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names:
lion of God
Potts’ Bible Proper Names:
Lion, i. e., hero, of God; hearth of God:―a symbolical name for Jerusalem, Isa. 29:1, 2. {Leo Dei}