In the Bible, the presence of bears carries significant meaning in various stories. Journey with us as we explore these verses to see how bears have been part of God’s creation and the lessons their tales can teach us.
Bible Verses About Bears
2 Kings 2:24 – Bears attack the mockers of Elisha
“He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.”
Proverbs 17:12 – Caution against meeting a bear robbed of her cubs
“Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly.”
Hosea 13:8 – God’s judgment compared to a bear
“Like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will attack them and rip them open; like a lion I will devour them—a wild animal will tear them apart.”
1 Samuel 17:34-36 – David speaks of fighting a bear
“But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.’”
Amos 5:19 – Encountering a bear
“It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him.”
Isaiah 11:7 – Bears in the peaceful kingdom
“The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.”
Daniel 7:5 – Vision of the bear
“And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’”
2 Samuel 17:8 – Describing the fierceness of a bear
“Besides, Ahithophel has said, ‘The people are as fierce as a bear robbed of her cubs in the field.'” In their anger, they would not sleep in peace and their rage may overtake them like an enraged bear.
Revelation 13:2 – Beast with feet like a bear
“The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.”
Lamentations 3:10 – Bear lying in wait
“Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding.”
Also Read: 40 Bible Verses about God Has the Last Word
Job 9:9 – Mentioning the constellation of the bear
“He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.”
2 Kings 2:23-24 – Elisha and the bears
“From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. ‘Get out of here, baldy!’ they said. ‘Get out of here, baldy!’ He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.”
Isaiah 59:11 – Growling like bears
“We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away.”
Psalm 50:23 – Bears resembling beasts
“Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.”
Isaiah 43:20 – Bears will honor God
“The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen.”
1 Kings 10:22 – Ships of Tarshish and the bear
“The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, bringing gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.”
Job 38:32 – Can you bring forth the bear?
“Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs?”
Isaiah 13:21 – Wild animals and bears will dwell
“But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about.”
Ezekiel 34:25 – Bears in peace
“I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety.”
Psalm 104:25-26 – Wide oceans and the bears
“There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small. There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.”
Isaiah 34:14 – Bears and wild animals
“Desert creatures will meet with hyenas, and wild goats will bleat to each other; there the night creatures will also lie down and find for themselves places of rest.”
Psalm 149:6 – Bears in the wilderness
“May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands.”
Job 7:12 – Bears like a monster of the sea
“Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that you put me under guard?”
Psalm 92:12 – Bears compared to righteous people
“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon”
Psalm 50:15 – Bears calling upon God
“and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
Ezekiel 34:28 – Bears in protection
“They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid.”
Jeremiah 12:8 – God compared to a bear
“My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest. She roars at me; therefore I hate her.”
1 Kings 22:48 – Bears in the sea
“Now Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail—they were wrecked at Ezion Geber.”
Psalm 8:8 – Bears in the paths of the seas
“the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.”
Ecclesiastes 9:12 – Bears as an unpredictability metaphor
“Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.”
Lamentations 4:3 – Cruelty of bears
“Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but my people have become heartless like ostriches in the desert.”
1 Samuel 1:15 – Bears in the wilderness
“‘Not so, my lord,’ Hannah replied. ‘I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord.'”
Isaiah 40:31 – Bears depicted as eagles
“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Psalm 91:13 – Tread upon lions and bears
“You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.”
Job 21:8 – Bears having offspring
“They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes.”
Jeremiah 50:39 – Bears alongside hyenas
“So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.”
Isaiah 43:20 – Bears in the wilderness
“The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen.”
Psalm 74:14 – God crushing the heads of Leviathan
“It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.”
Revelation 11:7 – Beast rising from the abyss like a bear
“Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.”
Revelation 19:17 – Bears in the sky
“And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, ‘Come, gather together for the great supper of God.’“