Proverbs 17:12

“Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, etc.] A bear is a very fierce and furious creature, especially a she bear; and she is still more so when robbed of her whelps, which she has just whelped, and been at great pains to lick into shape and form, by which her fondness to them is increased; and therefore, being stripped of them, is full of rage; and ranging about in quest of them, falls furiously upon the first she meets with. Jeromf495 observes, that those who have written of the nature of beasts say, that, among all wild beasts, there is none more fierce than a she bear, when she has lost her whelps, or wants food. And yet, as terrible and as dangerous as it is, it is safer and more…”

“They are less rational in anger than wild beasts.”

“The large brown bear of Syria, in her rage at the loss of her whelps, was to the Israelites the strongest type of brute ferocity. Compare 2 Samuel 17:8; 2 Kings 2:24. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Folly - In the heat of his lust or passion. Proverbs 17:14”

“17:12 This saying cautions those who try to teach fools. A fool caught in foolishness will react with anger and violence.”

“a bear: Pro 28:15; Sa2 17:8; Kg2 2:24; Hos 13:8 rather: Pro 27:3; Mat 2:16 Proverbs 17:13”

“12 Meet a bear robbed of one of her whelps, Only not a fool in his folly. The name of the bear, as that of the cow, Job 21:10; Psa 144:14, preserves its masculine form, even when used in reference to sexual relationship (Ewald, 174b); the ursa catulis orbata is proverbially a raging beast. How the abstract expression of the action פּגושׁ \[to meet\], here as e.g., Psa 17:5, with the subj. following, must sound as finite (occurrat, may always meet), follows from ואל = ואל־יפגּשׁ (non autem occurrat). פּגושׁ has on the last syllable Mehuppach, and Zinnorith on the preceding open syllable (according to the rule, Accentssystem, vi. 5d). (Note: In the Torath Emeth, p. 18, the word is irregularly…”