And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
I went out after him, and smote him. The deeds relate to two different rencontres; for those animals, like all beasts of prey, prowl alone, and singly. This appears further from the use of the pronoun "him;" and as the bear is mentioned last, the encounter with it was probably the most recent. The description, therefore, in all probability is applicable to it; for, while the lion springs upon its prey with a tremendous roar, and tears it with its claws, the bear steals forward in silence, and 'arising' on its hind legs, clutches it in the horrid embrace of its fore legs. The "beard" applies to the lion alone. [The "beard," bizqaanow (H2206), signifies also the chin; and accordingly the Septuagint has: ekrateesa tou farungos, I caught it by the throat.] But Josephus ('Antiquities,' b. 6:, ch. 9:, sec. 3) says, 'when he leaped upon me with violence, I caught him by the tail, and dashed him against the ground.'