דֹּב Bear
Every verse in which this word stands — 13 places, in canonical order, first appearance to last. These are the places the lexicon carries under this word's own entry, counting every form the text writes it in, which is the number on the list.
The dov — the she-bear bereaved of her cubs, David's other adversary of the sheepfold, the second beast of Daniel's Aramaic vision, whose spelling is counted with this row.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל־שָׁאוּל רֹעֶה הָיָה עַבְדְּךָ לְאָבִיו בַּצֹּאן וּבָא הָֽאֲרִי וְאֶת־הַדּוֹב וְנָשָׂא שֶׂה מֵהָעֵֽדֶר
And David said unto Saul: ‘Thy servant kept his father’s sheep; and when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock,
גַּם אֶֽת־הָאֲרִי גַּם־הַדּוֹב הִכָּה עַבְדֶּךָ וְֽהָיָה הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי הֶעָרֵל הַזֶּה כְּאַחַד מֵהֶם כִּי חֵרֵף מַעַרְכֹת אֱלֹהִים חַיִּֽים
Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath taunted the armies of the living God.’
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר הִצִּלַנִי מִיַּד הָֽאֲרִי וּמִיַּד הַדֹּב הוּא יַצִּילֵנִי מִיַּד הַפְּלִשְׁתִּי הַזֶּה וַיֹּאמֶר שָׁאוּל אֶל־דָּוִד לֵךְ וַֽיהוָה יִהְיֶה עִמָּֽךְ
And David said: ‘The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.’ And Saul said unto David: ‘Go, and the LORD shall be with thee.’
וַיֹּאמֶר חוּשַׁי אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ אֶת־אָבִיךָ וְאֶת־אֲנָשָׁיו כִּי גִבֹּרִים הֵמָּה וּמָרֵי נֶפֶשׁ הֵמָּה כְּדֹב שַׁכּוּל בַּשָּׂדֶה וְאָבִיךָ אִישׁ מִלְחָמָה וְלֹא יָלִין אֶת־הָעָֽם
Hushai said moreover: ‘Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are embittered in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field; and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.
וַיִּפֶן אַֽחֲרָיו וַיִּרְאֵם וַֽיְקַלְלֵם בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה וַתֵּצֶאנָה שְׁתַּיִם דֻּבִּים מִן־הַיַּעַר וַתְּבַקַּעְנָה מֵהֶם אַרְבָּעִים וּשְׁנֵי יְלָדִֽים
And he looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tore forty and two children of them.
וּפָרָה וָדֹב תִּרְעֶינָה יַחְדָּו יִרְבְּצוּ יַלְדֵיהֶן וְאַרְיֵה כַּבָּקָר יֹֽאכַל־תֶּֽבֶן
And the cow and the bear feed; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
נֶהֱמֶה כַדֻּבִּים כֻּלָּנוּ וְכַיּוֹנִים הָגֹה נֶהְגֶּה נְקַוֶּה לַמִּשְׁפָּט וָאַיִן לִֽישׁוּעָה רָחֲקָה מִמֶּֽנּוּ
We all growl like bears, And mourn sore like doves; We look for right, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far off from us.
אֶפְגְּשֵׁם כְּדֹב שַׁכּוּל וְאֶקְרַע סְגוֹר לִבָּם וְאֹכְלֵם שָׁם כְּלָבִיא חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה תְּבַקְּעֵֽם
I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, And will rend the enclosure of their heart; And there will I devour them like a lioness; The wild beast shall tear them.
כַּאֲשֶׁר יָנוּס אִישׁ מִפְּנֵי הָאֲרִי וּפְגָעוֹ הַדֹּב וּבָא הַבַּיִת וְסָמַךְ יָדוֹ עַל־הַקִּיר וּנְשָׁכוֹ הַנָּחָֽשׁ
As if a man did flee from a lion, And a bear met him; And went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him.
פָּגוֹשׁ דֹּב שַׁכּוּל בְּאִישׁ וְאַל־כְּסִיל בְּאִוַּלְתּֽוֹ
Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, Rather than a fool in his folly.
אֲרִי־נֹהֵם וְדֹב שׁוֹקֵק מֹשֵׁל רָשָׁע עַל עַם־דָּֽל
As a roaring lion, and a ravenous bear; So is a wicked ruler over a poor people.
דֹּב אֹרֵב הוּא לִי אריה בְּמִסְתָּרִֽים
He is unto me as a bear lying in wait, As a lion in secret places.
וַאֲרוּ חֵיוָה אָחֳרִי תִנְיָנָה דָּמְיָה לְדֹב וְלִשְׂטַר־חַד הֳקִמַת וּתְלָת עִלְעִין בְּפֻמַּהּ בֵּין שניה וְכֵן אָמְרִין לַהּ קוּמִֽי אֲכֻלִי בְּשַׂר שַׂגִּֽיא
And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was said thus unto it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’
Every Hebrew word for “bear”, with its gematria →
Quick answers
What is the Hebrew word for bear?
Bear in Hebrew is דב, with a gematria of 6 in the standard method.
How many times is the bear mentioned in the Tanakh?
The word stands 13 times in the Tanakh, first at 1 Samuel 17:34.
A spelling is not a word. The bare letters דב stand 2 times in the corpus, which is a different question and often a different number: the same letters can spell a name or another word entirely, and the creature written with a particle attached is a spelling that search never returns. It is here, as itself.
See all 2 occurrences of the spelling דב →