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Ariel
A’riel (lion of God).
1. One of the “chief men” who under Ezra directed the caravan which he led back from Babylon to Jerusalem. Ezra 8:16. (b.c. 459.) The word occurs also in reference to two Moabites slain by Benaiah. 2 Sam. 23:20; 1 Chron. 11:22. Many regard the word as an epithet, “lion-like”; but it seems better to look upon it as a proper name, and translate “two [sons] of Ariel.”
2. A designation given by Isaiah to the city of Jerusalem. Isa. 29:1, 2, 7. We must understand by it either “lion of God,” as the chief city, or “hearth of God,” a synonym for the altar of burnt offering. On the whole it seems most probable that, as a name given to Jerusalem, Ariel means “lion of God,” whilst the word used by Ezekiel, Ezek. 43:15, 16, means “hearth of God.”