דֹּב

1 Samuel 17:34 הַדּ֔וֹב the bear

David replied, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,

1 Samuel 17:36 הַדּ֖וֹב the bear

Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

Here: The Syrian brown bear, then native to the land. It was proverbially savage, especially a bear robbed of her cubs (2 Sam 17:8; Hos 13:8). The word is used for both male and female bears.

1 Samuel 17:37 הַדֹּ֔ב the bear

David added, “The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” “Go,” said Saul, “and may the LORD be with you.”

Here: The Syrian brown bear, native to the land and dangerous to flocks and people (compare 2 Kings 2:24; Hosea 13:8). Here it is spelled without the vowel letter used in verse 36; the word is the same.

2 Samuel 17:8 כְּדֹ֥ב like a bear

He continued, “You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Moreover, your father is a man of war who will not spend the night with the troops.

Here: The Syrian brown bear, then still found in the hills of Israel. It was the most feared animal a shepherd met, after the lion (1 Sam 17:34).

2 Kings 2:24 דֻּבִּים֙ [female] bears

Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

Here: Bears; the grammar marks them as she-bears. In Israel's proverbs a she-bear, especially one with cubs, was the very picture of savage danger (2 Sam 17:8; Prov 17:12; Hos 13:8).

Proverbs 17:12 דֹּ֣ב a bear

It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.

Here: The Syrian brown bear that lived in the hills and forests of the land. Shepherds feared it, and it was a stock picture of a sudden, deadly attack. The noun is grammatically masculine but is used for bears of either sex. Here it is plainly a mother.

Proverbs 28:15 וְדֹ֣ב and a bear

Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.

Here: The Syrian brown bear, which lived in the wooded hills of Israel and was feared for its sudden, savage attacks (1 Samuel 17:34; 2 Kings 2:24; Hosea 13:8). Lion and bear together make the standard pair of deadly beasts (Amos 5:19).

Isaiah 11:7 וָדֹב֙ and bear

The cow will graze with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

Here: The Syrian brown bear, a real danger to flocks in Isaiah's Judah. The feminine verb that follows makes it a she-bear, and a she-bear with cubs was proverbially the most dangerous animal you could meet.

Isaiah 59:11 כַדֻּבִּים֙ like <the> bears

We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.

Here: The Syrian brown bear, a real and dangerous animal in the hills of ancient Israel. The comparison supplies the low, rough, animal quality of the sound.

Lamentations 3:10 דֹּ֣ב [is] a bear

He is a bear lying in wait, a lion hiding in ambush.

Here: The Syrian brown bear, a large predator that still lived in the hills of Judah in the biblical period. It is the first word of the verse and opens the dalet (ד) section of the alphabet poem. The man's attacker is introduced first as a beast, and only afterwards as 'he.'

Hosea 13:8 כְּדֹ֣ב like a bear

Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast tearing them apart.

Here: 'Like a bear.' This is the Syrian brown bear, which lived in the hills of Israel in biblical times and was feared alongside the lion (1 Sam 17:34; 2 Kgs 2:24). The word is used for both sexes. Here the context makes it a mother.

Amos 5:19 הַדֹּ֑ב the bear

It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.

Here: 'The bear': the Syrian brown bear of the hill country, the lion's usual partner in Hebrew sayings about danger. Escaping one predator only lands him in front of the other.