Meaning of LEOPARD

(Heb. "namer", "spotted beast"; Gr. "pardalis").
Fierce beast, with spotted fur (Jer. 13:23), extremely agile (Hab. 1:8); devours the goats, a situation that will cease in the millennium, when "the leopard will lie down with the goat" (Is. 11:6); sometimes he attacks man (Hos. 13:7); its ordinary habitat is the mountain (Song. 4:8).

The ancients, and some modern naturalists, thought that the leopard ("Felis pardus" or "leopardus") comes from the crossing of the lion and the panther; hence its name, derived from "leo", lion, and "pardus", panther.

It is currently believed to be a variety of the latter. Both the leopard and the panther live in Africa and South Asia.

The leopard is found in Palestine, especially east of the Jordan; It is evident that in biblical times it was also located west of the river. Her magnificent skin is highly appreciated.

In Dn. 7:6, the winged leopard represents the ferocity and speed of the Greek empire in its conquests, led by Alexander the Great.

The future Roman empire is symbolically likened to a leopard with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion: that is, like no known beast, but symbolically uniting the characteristics of the three powers before it (Rev. 13:2).
The common leopard is called "Leopardus varius."