Proverbs 17:12
It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.
BSB
ASV
Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, Rather than a fool in his folly.
KJV
Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man,.... 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.
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 2Sa 17:8; 2Ki 2:24.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Proverbs 28:15Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.
leads to
Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years…
Through
Matthew 2:16When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years…
leads to
Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.
Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.
Through
2 Samuel 17:8He continued, “You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Moreover, your father is a man of war who will…
leads to
Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast would tear them apart.
Through
Proverbs 27:3A stone is heavy and sand is a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.
leads to
At this, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual,
Through
Hosea 13:8Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast would tear them apart.
leads to
He continued, “You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Moreover, your father is a man of war who will…
