Bear

The Syrian bear was a real threat to flocks and people, especially a mother robbed of her cubs — proverbially the most dangerous thing a person could meet. The young David counted killing a bear, along with a lion, among the dangers he faced guarding his father’s sheep.

Its ferocity made it a stock image of menace. “As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor,” warns Proverbs, and to be met by God in judgment is likened to meeting “a bear bereaved of her whelps.” When mockers jeered the prophet Elisha, two she-bears came out of the wood.

In Daniel’s vision a beast “like to a bear” represents a devouring empire, raised up to consume much flesh. The bear stands for raw, crushing power — fearsome when set against the weak, but always answerable to the God who governs even the empires.