---
title: כֶּלֶב — dog · The Tanakh dictionary
description: כֶּלֶב (3611), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 32 times: dog. BDB 1906: n.m. dog. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# כֶּלֶב

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«כֶּלֶב» in the Tanakh dictionary: **dog** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 32 times · **Key:** 3611 · **BDB:** כֶּ֫לֶב

### Glosses

dogs (12); dog (6); a.dog (5)

### Meaning (OSHB)

dog [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1499/3611/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. dog [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1499/3611/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. 1 S 24:15 dog (NH id.; Ph. כלב; Aramaic כַּלְבָּא, ܟܰܠܒܳܐ; Arabic كَلْبٌ; Ethiopic ከልብ: Assyrian kalbu DlHWB 328)—abs. כ׳ Ju 7:5 + 16 times, כָּ֑לֶב ψ 59:7, 15; pl. כְּלָבִים 1 K 14:11 + 12 times; cstr. כַּלְבֵי Jb 30:1; sf. כְּלָבֶיךָ ψ 68:24;—dog: lit. 1 K 14:11; 16:4; 21:19(×2), 23, 24; 22:38; 2 K 9:10, 36 (all of fierce, hungry dogs, devouring dead bodies and licking blood); cf. Je 15:3 and (לְשׁוֹךָ כְּלָבֶיךָ) ψ 68:24; eating torn flesh, Ex 22:30 (E), כַּלְבֵי צֹאנִי = my sheep-dogs, only Jb 30:1 (in both these with implied inferiority); dog-sacrifice was a heathen rite Is 66:3 (Di al.); v. especially RSSem i. 273 (291), 325 (343); in various sim. Ju 7:5; Pr 26:11, 17 ψ 59:7, 15; in proverbial sayings: לֹא יֶחֱרַץ־כ׳ לִשֹׁנוֹ Ex 11:7 (v. I. חרץ); לְכ׳ חַי הוּא טוֹב מִן־הָאַרְיֵה הַמֵּת Ec 9:4. applied, fig., to men, in contempt 1 S 17:43, so of psalmist’s enemies ψ 22:17, 21, or in excessive humility 2 K 8:13; still more emphatically כ׳ מֵת a dead dog, הַכּ׳ הַמֵּת 2 S 9:8; 16:8; also רֹאשׁ כ׳ 3:8; כְּלָבִים אִלְּמִים Is 56:10 (of misleading prophets), הַכּ׳ עַזֵּי נֶפֶשׁ v 11 (id.); כ׳ was name given to male temple-prostitutes Dt 23:19 (v. Dr; cf. קָדֵשׁ).

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 30 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (7 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (6 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «כֶּלֶב» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1499/3611/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Psalms 22:21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.22.21/)

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הַצִּ֣ילָה מֵחֶ֣רֶב נַפְשִׁ֑י מִיַּד־כֶּ֝֗לֶב יְחִידָתִֽי׃

*Word for word:* deliver from.\[the\] sword life my from.\[the\] hand of.a.dog my.only \[life\]

*JPS 1917:* Deliver my soul from the sword; mine only one from the power of the dog.

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[Psalms 59:7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.59.7/)

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יָשׁ֣וּבוּ לָ֭עֶרֶב יֶהֱמ֥וּ כַכָּ֗לֶב וִיס֥וֹבְבוּ עִֽיר׃

*Word for word:* they.return to (the) evening they.growl like (the) dog and they.go.around \[the\].city

*JPS 1917:* They return at evening, they howl like a dog, and go round about the city.

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