the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Bear
Morrish Bible Dictionary
or dob, ἄρκτος. The species which inhabited Palestine is the Syrian Bear (Syriacus Ursus ). When young its colour is a dark brown, but this colour gets lighter with age, and when old it is nearly white. They are now comparatively scarce in Palestine, but may still be seen on the mountains of Lebanon, and occasionally farther south. When vegetables and fruits are to be had the bear feeds upon them, but in the winter it lives upon animals. David slew a lion and a bear that had seized a lamb of the flock. 1 Samuel 17:34-37 . The she-bear is regarded as peculiarly fierce and dangerous when robbed of her whelps. 2 Samuel 17:8; Proverbs 17:12 : cf. 2 Kings 2:24 . Alas that God should have to compare His fierce judgements on Israel to such a creature, together with the lion and leopard. Hosea 13:7,8 . In the millennium the cow and the bear shall feed together. Isaiah 11:7 .
In Daniel 7:5 the Medo-Persian kingdom was compared to a bear, with three ribs in its mouth; and to it was said, "Arise, devour much flesh." In Revelation 13:2 the beast that represents the still future Roman empire is described as being like a leopard, with feet as the feet of a bear, showing its destructive character, for it is by the strength of its feet the bear destroys its prey by tearing it open.
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Morrish, George. Entry for 'Bear'. Morrish Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/mbd/b/bear.html. 1897.
