1 Samuel 17:34-37

17:34 David replied to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd for his father’s flock. Whenever a lion or bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock, 17:35 I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose up against me, I would grab it by its jaw, strike it, and kill it. 17:36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them. ¹  For he has defied the armies of the living God!” 17:37 David went on to say, “The Lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear will also deliver me from the hand of this Philistine!” Then Saul said to David, “Go! The Lord will be with you.” ² 

1 Samuel 17:2

17:2 Saul and the Israelite army ³  assembled and camped in the valley of Elah, where they arranged their battle lines to fight against ⁴  the Philistines.

1 Samuel 2:24

2:24 This ought not to be, ⁵  my sons! For the report that I hear circulating among the Lord’s people is not good.

Proverbs 17:12

17:12 It is better for a person to meet ⁶  a mother bear being robbed of her cubs,

than ⁷  to encounter ⁸  a fool in his folly. ⁹ 

Proverbs 28:15

28:15 Like ¹⁰  a roaring lion or a roving bear, ¹¹ 

so is a wicked ruler over a poor people. ¹² 

Daniel 7:4-5

7:4 “The first one was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off and it was lifted up from the ground. It was made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind ¹³  was given to it. ¹⁴ 

7:5 “Then ¹⁵  a second beast appeared, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and there were three ribs ¹⁶  in its mouth between its teeth. ¹⁷  It was told, ¹⁸  ‘Get up and devour much flesh!’

Hosea 13:8

13:8 I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs –

I will rip open their chests.

I will devour them there like a lion –

like a wild animal would tear them apart.

Amos 5:19

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ¹⁹ 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ²⁰  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

[17:36]  ¹ tc The LXX includes here the following words not found in the MT: “Should I not go and smite him, and remove today reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised one?”

[17:37]  ² tn Or “Go, and may the Lord be with you” (so NASB, NCV, NRSV).

[17:2]  ³ tn Heb “the men of Israel” (so KJV, NASB); NAB, NIV, NRSV “the Israelites.”

[17:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “to meet.”

[2:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “no.”

[17:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “Let a man meet” (so NASB); NLT “It is safer to meet.” The infinitive absolute פָּגוֹשׁ (pagosh, “to meet”) functions as a jussive of advice. The bear meeting a man is less dangerous than a fool in his folly. It could be worded as a “better” saying, but that formula is not found here.

[17:12]  ⁷ tn The second colon begins with וְאַל (vÿ’al), “and not.” This negative usually appears with volitives, so the fuller expression of the parallel line would be “and let not a fool in his folly [meet someone].”

[17:12]  ⁸ tn The words “to meet” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied by the parallelism and are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:12]  ⁹ sn The human, who is supposed to be rational and intelligent, in such folly becomes more dangerous than the beast that in this case acts with good reason. As R. L. Alden comments, “Consider meeting a fool with a knife, or gun, or even behind the wheel of a car” (Proverbs, 134). See also E. Loewenstamm, “Remarks on Proverbs 17:12 and 20:27,” VT 37 (1967): 221-24. For a slightly different nuance cf. TEV “some fool busy with a stupid project.”

[28:15]  ¹⁰ tn The term “like” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[28:15]  ¹¹ sn The comparison uses animals that are powerful, terrifying, insensitive, and in search of prey. Because political tyrants are like this, animal imagery of this sort is also used in Dan 7:1-8 for the series of ruthless world powers.

[28:15]  ¹² sn A poor nation under the control of political tyrants who are dangerous and destructive is helpless. The people of that nation will crumble under them because they cannot meet their demands and are of no use to them.

[7:4]  ¹³ tn Aram “heart of a man.”

[7:4]  ¹⁴ sn The identity of the first animal, derived from v. 17 and the parallels in chap. 2, is Babylon. The reference to the plucking of its wings is probably a reference to the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (cf. chap. 4). The latter part of v. 4 then describes the restoration of Nebuchadnezzar. The other animals have traditionally been understood to represent respectively Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome, although most of modern scholarship identifies them as Media, Persia, and Greece. For a biblical parallel to the mention of lion, bear, and leopard together, see Hos 13:7-8.

[7:5]  ¹⁵ tn Aram “and behold.”

[7:5]  ¹⁶ sn The three ribs held securely in the mouth of the bear, perhaps representing Media-Persia, apparently symbolize military conquest, but the exact identity of the “ribs” is not clear. Possibly it is a reference to the Persian conquest of Lydia, Egypt, and Babylonia.

[7:5]  ¹⁷ tc The LXX lacks the phrase “between its teeth.”

[7:5]  ¹⁸ tn Aram “and thus they were saying to it.”

[5:19]  ¹⁹ tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).