A Bear Bereaved

Hushai, David's faithful servant and counselor, used the picture of a bear robbed of her cubs to describe David's supposed rage over his recent losses in order to discourage Absalom from pursuing immediately after David (II Sam. 17:8). For who would be so foolish as to go after such a one as that, rashly and unprepared? The unparalleled ferocity and rage of a mother bear who has been prematurely separated from her cubs is used in Scripture to picture a fierce sense of anger. A mother bear will...