Proverbs 17:12
Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
Of the nature of 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 eligible to meet an enraged bear in those circumstances than a fool in his folly. The fool knows the injunctions of the Word but he has consciously rationalized that they are not applicable to him so he does not obey the. Doing so, he builds his house upon the sand the Master teaches us. A fool then, having rejected the Torah is left in unrestrained subjection to human passions, to the heat of their lust. He pursues them and there is no stopping him, or turning him from them. His heat and anger exceeds that of a bear, and is not so easily avoided.
There are many references to enraged bears in the bible. The Assyrian Empire who cruelly conquered and deported the ten tribes is compared to a bear having lost its young. Rome who brutally subjected the world to its rule has the feet of a bear. A she-bear appears and kills 42 young people who were mocking a prophet because he was bald. On the other hand, as a youth, David kills a bear who was after his father’s flocks. The bear often appears in the Bible as a symbol of punishment and/or attacks on God’s children from the North. At the end of this age, there will be a final attack on Israel from the ‘bearish’ North. At that time, Yeshua, the Son of David will appear and deliver His father’s flocks from this angry bear and thereby bring His people to full repentance.
Understanding the meaning of the Biblical imagery of the bear gives us a more complete vision of the comparative imagery of this proverb. It is more dangerous to our lives to meet with a fool, one who has consciously rejected the Word, than to meet with such a creature as the she-bear deprived of her young.
Maybe something is to be said about our circle of friends, media and cyber encounters.
Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
Of the nature of 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 eligible to meet an enraged bear in those circumstances than a fool in his folly. The fool knows the injunctions of the Word but he has consciously rationalized that they are not applicable to him so he does not obey the. Doing so, he builds his house upon the sand the Master teaches us. A fool then, having rejected the Torah is left in unrestrained subjection to human passions, to the heat of their lust. He pursues them and there is no stopping him, or turning him from them. His heat and anger exceeds that of a bear, and is not so easily avoided.
There are many references to enraged bears in the bible. The Assyrian Empire who cruelly conquered and deported the ten tribes is compared to a bear having lost its young. Rome who brutally subjected the world to its rule has the feet of a bear. A she-bear appears and kills 42 young people who were mocking a prophet because he was bald. On the other hand, as a youth, David kills a bear who was after his father’s flocks. The bear often appears in the Bible as a symbol of punishment and/or attacks on God’s children from the North. At the end of this age, there will be a final attack on Israel from the ‘bearish’ North. At that time, Yeshua, the Son of David will appear and deliver His father’s flocks from this angry bear and thereby bring His people to full repentance.
Understanding the meaning of the Biblical imagery of the bear gives us a more complete vision of the comparative imagery of this proverb. It is more dangerous to our lives to meet with a fool, one who has consciously rejected the Word, than to meet with such a creature as the she-bear deprived of her young.
Maybe something is to be said about our circle of friends, media and cyber encounters.
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