Bible Strands
Hosea 13:8
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 tearing them apart.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Israel in Hosea 13, delivering a pronouncement of imminent judgment. The speaker uses predatory imagery to describe how He will confront the nation for its rebellion.
The words — The phrase `כְּדֹב שַכּוּל` (ke./Do sha.Kul) translates literally to "like a bear robbed of cubs," emphasizing a provoked, lethal aggression. The verb phrase `אֶקְרַע סְגוֹר לִבָּם` (ve./'ek.Ra' se.Gor li.Ba/m) means "I will tear open their chests," specifying the physical devastation of the attack.
The thread — The bear metaphor recurs in 2 Samuel 17:8 to describe the fierce fighting spirit of David and his men, while the tearing imagery echoes Psalm 50:22, where God warns the forgetful that He will tear them to pieces. Isaiah 5:29 parallels the predatory roaring motif introduced in Hosea 13:7.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine opposition operates with the same inevitability and lethality as a wounded predator. It requires the reader to accept that rebellion against God leaves no room for rescue or mitigation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 17:8 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 not spend the night with the troops.
- Isaiah 5:29 Their roaring is like that of a lion; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they carry it away, and no one can rescue it.
- Psalms 50:22 Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
- Psalms 80:13 The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.
- Proverbs 17:12 It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.
- Isaiah 56:9 Come, all you beasts of the field; eat greedily, all you beasts of the forest.
- Jeremiah 12:9 Is not My inheritance to Me like a speckled bird of prey with other birds of prey circling against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; bring them to devour her.
- Amos 9:1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.