kenonze:
Base on human thinking, u may have a point but this is the scripture.
Every account is accurate and unquestionable

Bullshit

What about Samson that killed lion with his hand? Also, the old prophet, God warmed not to rest in his way, he disobeyed and was killed by lion? Go and read your Bible, guy.

Yes there used to be lions and bears in Israel (and some other parts of Asia) some centuries ago but they have all been killed. Lions have been mentioned several times in the Bible so it is true they existed in Israel at the time.
However, the Asian Lion, according to scientists, were smaller in size than the African Lion.
Many wild animals are becoming extinct because they are being killed by humans for various reasons.
In 2006 scientists revealed that there are only 200 leopards left in and around Israel.
Just like the Lion, the Asian Leopard is smaller than the African Leopard.
Since 2006, Asian leopards have been tagged endangered species and it now illegal to kill them

Base on human thinking, u may have a point but this is the scripture.
Every account is accurate and unquestionable

of course the scripture is undebatable, accurate and unquestionable, it's the real word of God gan-gan! (speaking in tongues) le ma raba sha ta, se da ya. Yes Lord! pa so to, re ga ba la. nekodu toronto le ma kaka. Oh, thank you Holy Spirit! oh for killing the first born in Egypt including the cute baby boys. Oh for asking Saul to utterly destroy the Amalakites cos of what their ancestors did to the Israelites many years back. Oh! robo so to malaba
Oh brethren in the Lord, please sing this song with me. 'Lord you are so good, Lord you are kind, Lord you are wonderful, my God you are excellent'

Lastly brethren, let's sing this song to the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the God of the universe who reigns in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, China, India, Japan and even in the other bigger planets. The song goes thus
'Ancient of days, as old as you are, as old as you are, you will never change...'

The Asiatic lion territory once included what is now Isreal the same with the Syrian Brown bear, so yes it is quite possible that David would have encountered both animals

lionness:
I was in church today and was verse of the Bible was quoted by my pastor: 1 Samuel 17:36 ► "Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine (Goliath) shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

This statement bothered me because I did my masters in the UK in Zoology, and distinctly remembered learning that Lions are mainly found in Africa, and a tiny species in only India. The rest are found in zoos. Now could a lion be in Israel? And then, the word "Bears" also confused me. There are different types of bears in Asia, and I learn years ago that they are called Asian black bears, and they are only found in a different topography of Asia, and never in the Middle East, and the Asian Black Bears only feed on fruits, grasses, and insects, and could have never been a treat to David sheep. And these bears are only found in China, Bangladesh, and Russia, and they are the size of Pandas.

I dont often question the teachings of the Bible, but this gross discrepancy got me confused. And please dont tell me I dont have faith, my entire families are Christian, and my own father was the pastor who quoted this verse this morning while preaching in his church. I need an explanation.

The Israel that King David lived in is not the same Israel of the 21st century. 1 Samuel was written in 550BC, which was thousands of years ago, so obviously there are things that were true about ancient Israel that aren't true about modern day Israel.

For instance, I heard that lions used to be in my village in Delta State during the days of my grandfather. But today there are no more lions there.

Capisce?

antispexish:


masters in zoology, look at this page.
"The wildlife of Israel includes the flora and fauna of Israel , which is extremely diverse due to the country's location between the temperate and the tropical zones , bordering the Mediterranean Sea in the west and the desert in the east. Species such as the Syrian brown bear and the Arabian ostrich have become extinct in Israel due to hunting and loss of habitat . As of May 2007, 190 nature reserves have been established in Israel.

" The Land of Israel once contained a variety of mammals, however in recent times many mammals such as the European water vole, the cheetah and the Caucasian squirrel [b]went locally extinct. In the modern age many mammal populations such as the Arabian leopard and the sand cat are in a high risk of extinction. In total there are 57 species of mammals which are endangered (as of 2002)"

"Various animal species have become extinct due to unchecked hunting under Ottoman rule and to a lesser extent under British Mandate rule, due to a non-enforcement of hunting laws. By the beginning of the 20th century, the white oryx , the Syrian brown bear, the Asiatic lions , the Asiatic cheetah , and the Nile crocodile became extinct in the region. Modern hunting laws prohibit all hunting of mammals, birds, reptiles and
amphibians , except those considered pests and specific animals in hunting seasons. However the packs of feral dogs that are taking over the countryside are an increasing threat to wildlife and domesticated animals. [6]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_of_Israel

op, I very much doubt ya degree
modified : where is the middle east if it's not in asia

U just one intimidate the babe.


Be civil.

lionness:
I was in church today and was verse of the Bible was quoted by my pastor: 1 Samuel 17:36 ► "Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine (Goliath) shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

This statement bothered me because I did my masters in the UK in Zoology, and distinctly remembered learning that Lions are mainly found in Africa, and a tiny species in only India. The rest are found in zoos. Now could a lion be in Israel? And then, the word "Bears" also confused me. There are different types of bears in Asia, and I learn years ago that they are called Asian black bears, and they are only found in a different topography of Asia, and never in the Middle East, and the Asian Black Bears only feed on fruits, grasses, and insects, and could have never been a treat to David sheep. And these bears are only found in China, Bangladesh, and Russia, and they are the size of Pandas.

I dont often question the teachings of the Bible, but this gross discrepancy got me confused. And please dont tell me I dont have faith, my entire families are Christian, and my own father was the pastor who quoted this verse this morning while preaching in his church. I need an explanation.

Lions used to be in Israel even up to the Arabian peninsula.
And a few days ago, I learnt that bears ones lived in Morroco. We could research to find out about Israel.

There’s a Syrian brown bear which is the smallest of the brown bear family but still a large bear. The Asiatic lion was found in lots of regions including the Middle East but were hunted to extinction in the Middle East during the crusades and are now mostly found in west India!

If you question the lion then you must also question the giant, because there are also no longer any giants in Israel either. (But it would be in one’s best interest to stop questioning God’s word.)