כֶּ֫לֶב

Exodus 11:7 כֶּ֙לֶב֙ a dog

But among all the Israelites, not even a dog will snarl at man or beast.’ Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

Here: A dog of the town or camp: a scavenger or guard animal, quick to bark at any disturbance at night. It is the least important creature that could make a noise, which is the point: not even it will stir.

Exodus 22:31 לַכֶּ֖לֶב to the dog[s]

You are to be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; you are to throw it to the dogs.

Here: Singular with "the", meaning dogs as a class. These are the half-wild scavenging dogs of ancient towns and camps, not pets. Giving something to the dogs meant sending it to the lowest possible destination.

Deuteronomy 23:18 כֶּ֗לֶב a dog

You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male, into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God.

Here: Literally 'dog'. Many scholars take it as a contemptuous name for a male prostitute, pairing with the female prostitute just before it and with qadesh in v. 17. Others take it as a literal dog. The Hebrew does not settle it.

Judges 7:5 הַכֶּ֗לֶב the dog

So Gideon brought the men down to the water, and the LORD said to him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel to drink.”

Here: 'The dog', meaning dogs in general. In Israel dogs were mostly half-wild scavengers and the word was a common insult, so this is a lowly, slightly undignified picture, not a compliment.

1 Samuel 17:43 הֲכֶ֣לֶב ¿ a dog

“Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

Here: The prefix ha- makes it a question, and the noun comes first for emphasis: "A dog, am I?" In Israel and the ancient Near East a dog was mostly a scavenger and a word of contempt, so Goliath is outraged that he is being treated like a stray to be chased off.

1 Samuel 24:14 כֶּ֣לֶב a dog

Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog? A flea?

2 Samuel 3:8 כֶּ֥לֶב a dog

Abner was furious over Ish-bosheth’s accusation. “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah?” he asked. “All this time I have been loyal to the house of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends. I have not delivered you into the hand of David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman!

2 Samuel 9:8 הַכֶּ֥לֶב the dog

Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog like me?”

2 Samuel 16:9 הַכֶּ֤לֶב the dog

Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!”

1 Kings 14:11 הַכְּלָבִ֔ים the dogs

Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.’ For the LORD has spoken.

1 Kings 16:4 הַכְּלָבִ֑ים the dogs

Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.”

1 Kings 21:19 הַכְּלָבִים֙ הַכְּלָבִ֛ים the dogs

Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”

Here: 'The dogs': the half-wild packs that scavenged around ancient towns. They were unclean, ate the dead, and stood for contempt. They are not pets.

1 Kings 21:23 הַכְּלָבִ֛ים the dogs

And the LORD also speaks concerning Jezebel: ‘The dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’

1 Kings 21:24 הַכְּלָבִ֑ים the dogs

Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the field will be eaten by the birds of the air.”

1 Kings 22:38 הַכְּלָבִים֙ the dogs

And the chariot was washed at the pool of Samaria where the prostitutes bathed, and the dogs licked up Ahab’s blood, according to the word that the LORD had spoken.

Here: 'The dogs,' meaning the half-wild scavenging dogs of an ancient city, which ate refuse and carcasses. Being consumed by them was a mark of total disgrace.

2 Kings 8:13 הַכֶּ֔לֶב the dog

“But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?” said Hazael. And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”

2 Kings 9:10 הַכְּלָבִ֛ים the dogs

And on the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour Jezebel, and there will be no one to bury her.’” Then the young prophet opened the door and ran.

2 Kings 9:36 הַכְּלָבִ֖ים the dogs

So they went back and told Jehu, who replied, “This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour the flesh of Jezebel.

Job 30:1 כַּלְבֵ֥י [the] dogs of

“But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.

Here: Working dogs that guarded the flock. In Israel the dog was a low animal and a standard word of contempt, so this is the bottom of the scale.

Psalm 22:16 כְּלָ֫בִ֥ים dogs

For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.

Here: Half-wild packs of scavenging street dogs, not pets. They are the animals that hang around the dying and eat corpses, and calling someone a dog was a deep insult.

Psalm 22:20 כֶּ֝֗לֶב a dog

Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of wild dogs.

Psalm 59:6 כַכָּ֗לֶב like <the> dog

They return in the evening, snarling like dogs and prowling around the city.

Psalm 59:14 כַכָּ֗לֶב like <the> dog

They return in the evening, snarling like dogs and prowling around the city.

Psalm 68:23 כְּלָבֶ֑יךָ dogs your

that your foot may be dipped in the blood of your foes—the tongues of your dogs in the same.”

Here: "Your dogs": the half-wild scavenging dogs of an ancient town or camp, not pets. Being licked by dogs meant the dead lay unburied and disgraced.

Proverbs 26:11 כְּ֭כֶלֶב like a dog

As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

Here: The prefix ke- ('like') sets up the comparison. Kelev in Israel usually meant the half-wild scavenging dog of town streets and rubbish heaps, an animal people found unclean and contemptible, not a household pet.

Proverbs 26:17 כָ֑לֶב a dog

Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.

Here: In Israel a dog was usually a half-wild scavenger of the streets and rubbish heaps, not a pet. Grabbing one meant grabbing a dangerous animal that owed you no loyalty. A strong pause in the Hebrew text closes the first half of the verse here.

Ecclesiastes 9:4 לְכֶ֤לֶב to a dog

There is hope, however, for anyone who is among the living; for even a live dog is better than a dead lion.

Isaiah 56:10 כְּלָבִ֣ים [are] dogs

Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.

Here: In Israel dogs were mostly scavengers and 'dog' was an insult, but dogs were also kept to guard flocks and homes (Job 30:1, 'the dogs of my flock'). The image is a guard dog, and calling the leaders dogs at all is an insult.

Isaiah 56:11 וְהַכְּלָבִ֣ים and the dogs

Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:

Here: The word has the article: 'the dogs', meaning the same 'mute dogs' of verse 10, the watchmen who should have barked a warning. Now the picture moves on: the guard dogs that would not bark turn out to be greedy scavengers.

Isaiah 66:3 כֶּ֔לֶב a dog

Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations.

Here: In Israel the dog was an unclean scavenger and a byword for contempt (1 Sam 17:43; 2 Kgs 8:13). A dog could never be an offering, so pairing it with the lamb is meant to shock.

Jeremiah 15:3 הַכְּלָבִ֖ים the dogs

I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

Here: Not pets. These are the half-wild scavenger dogs that roamed ancient Near Eastern towns and ate refuse and unburied bodies. They were a byword for uncleanness and contempt.