That bears were common in Palestine appears from several passages
of the Old Testament. Their strength, rapacity, and fierceness, furnish
many expressive metaphors to the Hebrew poets. The Hebrew name of this
animal is taken from his _growling_; so Varro deduces his Latin name
_ursus_ by an onomatopæia from the noise which he makes: “_ursi Lucana
origo, vel unde illi, nostri ab ipsius voce_:” [the origin of the term
_ursus_ (bear) is Lucanian, (whence also the bears themselves,) from the
noise made by the animal.] David had to defend his flock against bears
as well as lions, 1 Sam. xvii, 34. And Dr. Shaw gives us to understand
that these rugged animals are not peculiar to the bleak regions of the
north, being found in Barbary; and Thevenot informs us that they inhabit
the wilderness adjoining the Holy Land, and that he saw one near the
northern extremities of the Red Sea. The ferocity of the bear,
especially when hungry or robbed of its whelps, has been mentioned by
many authors. The Scripture alludes in three places to this furious
disposition. The first is, 2 Sam. xvii, 8, “They be mighty men, and they
be chafed in their minds as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field.”
The second, Prov. xvii, 12, “Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man
rather than a fool in his folly.” And the third, Hosea xiii, 8, “I will
meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the
caul of their heart.”
of the Old Testament. Their strength, rapacity, and fierceness, furnish
many expressive metaphors to the Hebrew poets. The Hebrew name of this
animal is taken from his _growling_; so Varro deduces his Latin name
_ursus_ by an onomatopæia from the noise which he makes: “_ursi Lucana
origo, vel unde illi, nostri ab ipsius voce_:” [the origin of the term
_ursus_ (bear) is Lucanian, (whence also the bears themselves,) from the
noise made by the animal.] David had to defend his flock against bears
as well as lions, 1 Sam. xvii, 34. And Dr. Shaw gives us to understand
that these rugged animals are not peculiar to the bleak regions of the
north, being found in Barbary; and Thevenot informs us that they inhabit
the wilderness adjoining the Holy Land, and that he saw one near the
northern extremities of the Red Sea. The ferocity of the bear,
especially when hungry or robbed of its whelps, has been mentioned by
many authors. The Scripture alludes in three places to this furious
disposition. The first is, 2 Sam. xvii, 8, “They be mighty men, and they
be chafed in their minds as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field.”
The second, Prov. xvii, 12, “Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man
rather than a fool in his folly.” And the third, Hosea xiii, 8, “I will
meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the
caul of their heart.”