דְּבוֹרָה Bee
Every verse in which this word stands — 4 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 devorah — swarming in pursuit in Devarim 1:44, encamped in the lion's carcass for Shimshon's riddle. Devorah the prophetess and Devorah Rivkah's nurse bear the word as their name, under its own entry on the names lists.
וַיֵּצֵא הָאֱמֹרִי הַיֹּשֵׁב בָּהָר הַהוּא לִקְרַאתְכֶם וַיִּרְדְּפוּ אֶתְכֶם כַּאֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂינָה הַדְּבֹרִים וַֽיַּכְּתוּ אֶתְכֶם בְּשֵׂעִיר עַד־חָרְמָֽה
And the Amorites, that dwell in that hill-country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even unto Hormah.
וַיָּשָׁב מִיָּמִים לְקַחְתָּהּ וַיָּסַר לִרְאוֹת אֵת מַפֶּלֶת הָאַרְיֵה וְהִנֵּה עֲדַת דְּבוֹרִים בִּגְוִיַּת הָאַרְיֵה וּדְבָֽשׁ
And after a while he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey.
וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִשְׁרֹק יְהוָה לַזְּבוּב אֲשֶׁר בִּקְצֵה יְאֹרֵי מִצְרָיִם וְלַדְּבוֹרָה אֲשֶׁר בְּאֶרֶץ אַשּֽׁוּר
And it shall come to pass in that day, That the LORD shall hiss for the fly That is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
סַבּוּנִי כִדְבוֹרִים דֹּעֲכוּ כְּאֵשׁ קוֹצִים בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה כִּי אֲמִילַֽם
They compass me about like bees; They are quenched as the fire of thorns; Verily, in the name of the LORD I will cut them off.
Every Hebrew word for “bee”, with its gematria →
Quick answers
What is the Hebrew word for bee?
Bee in Hebrew is דבורה, with a gematria of 217 in the standard method.
How many times is the bee mentioned in the Tanakh?
The word stands 4 times in the Tanakh, first at Deuteronomy 1:44.
A spelling is not a word. The bare letters דבורה stand 6 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 6 occurrences of the spelling דבורה →