Bears and Whales in the Deuterocanon?

[jswranch]

Is there a reference to bears and whales in the Deuterocanon? I’ll save you the details but the topic came up during a workout this morning with a brother. He thought it might be in Tobit. I re-read (scanned) Tobit, Baruch, Wisdom, and Sirach and could not find it. Did I miss the reference? Is it in another book?

 

[Symphorian]

There are references in Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) in my King James: Chapter 43 v. 25 and chapter 47 v. 3.

 

[BartholomewB]

I can see “bear” mentioned twice in the deuterocanonicals, but not “whale”. One of the occurrences of “bear” matches @Symphorian’s post, but the other one doesn’t. From the Good News Bible, aka Today’s English Version:

Your almighty power, Lord, created the world out of material that had no form at all. You could easily have punished those people by sending an invasion of bears or savage lions. (Wis. 11:17)

He [David] played with lions and bears as if they were lambs or little goats (Sir. 47:3).

 

[BartholomewB]

[Add to earlier post]
The usual Greek word for whale is phallaina (φαλλαινα). As far as I can see, it doesn’t occur anywhere at all in the Septuagint, not even in Jonah.

 

[po18guy]

There is a fawning dog, wagging its tail in Vulgate-based versions of Tobit. Vulgate - Douay-Rheims - Knox Bible side by side
As well, the creature form the Tigris is named as a “fish” - not a whale - as Tobias pulled it ashore by its gills. Last I checked, whales have lungs and not gills.

The KJV mentions a bear in Isaiah 11 and 59. “Whale” appears in Genesis, Job, Ezekiel and Matthew.

But we are speaking of the vagaries of human translation. Why so many get hung up on a single word or phrase is beyond me - unless they seek reasons for disbelief.

 

[Todd_Easton]

79 Bless the Lord, you whales (κήτη) and all that swim in the waters;
sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever. (source)

The Greek word κήτη (plural of κήτος) in Daniel 3:79 (a deuterocanonical verse in Daniel), above, is sometimes translated as “whales.” It is also sometimes translated as “sea monsters.”

 

[Symphorian]

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) KJB, Ch. 43 v. 24-25:

They that sail on the sea tell of the danger thereof; and when we hear it with our ears, we marvel thereat. For therein be strange and wondrous works, variety of all kinds of beasts and whales created.

 

[BartholomewB]

variety of all kinds of beasts and whales created.

More recent translations usually go for “sea monsters” or an equivalent in this verse, rarher than “whales.” In Greek, it’s @Todd_Easton’s κήτος again, which is the same word used in the “whale” episode in Jonah.

 

[catholic03]

Perhaps you could ask @Tis_Bearself?

Only joking, but she might know more!

 

[midori]

Is there a reason why you’re limiting to just the Deuterocanon? There were bears in the Protocanon-- 2 Kings 2.

 

[BartholomewB]

The mysterious Hebrew words Behemoth and Leviathan both designate monsters or wild beasts of some unspecified kind. The Vulgate retains the Hebrew words untranslated, and from there they have passed into most English Bibles. Curiously, however, the Septuagint doesn’t use either of them, giving Greek words instead. Behemoth, which occurs only once in the Bible (Job 40:10), appears in the Septuagint as θηρίον (therion), a common word that can mean a wild animal of any kind. Leviathan occurs six times, and in five of them it is translated as δράκων (drakon), a dragon. In the one remaining verse (Job 3:8) it appears as κῆτος (ketos), the same word that @Todd_Easton quoted here as the Greek word for “whale” in Daniel.

Ronald Knox says in a footnote to Job 40:10:

[1] Behemoth is usually identified with the hippopotamus, sometimes with the elephant; Leviathan with the crocodile, sometimes with the whale. But both may be allegorical representations of the hostile powers overcome by the Creator.

http://newadvent.com/bible/job040.htm