Bible Dictionary · B
Bear
A native of the mountain regions of Western Asia, frequently mentioned in Scripture. David defended his flocks against the attacks of a bear (1 Sam 17:34–37). Bears came out of the wood and destroyed the children who mocked the prophet Elisha (2 Kgs 2:24). Their habits are referred to in Isa 59:11; Prov 28:15; Lam 3:10. The fury of the female bear when robbed of her young is spoken of (2 Sam 17:8; Prov 17:12; Hos 13:8). In Daniel’s vision of the four great monarchies, the Medo-Persian empire is represented by a bear (Hos 7:5).
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
