The Bear with A Comet In Its Teeth?

Part 4: Daniel Chapter 7 Analysis, the Second Beast with "ribs"?

Introduction

For new and old readers, please review the previous parts:

Part 1:

Daniel's Vision of Beasts At The End Times

Part 2:

Daniel 7: Winds Stirring Up the Great Sea, and the Lion With Eagles’ Wings

Part 3:

Daniel 7: The Beast Like A Bear

The research in this series seeks to investigate the Beasts in Daniel’s visions.

• What is in the mouth of the second beast?

• What do other translations say?

• What was in the mouth of the Great Bear on July 19th, 2020?

Hypothesis: Daniel’s vision of the bear describes a very rare “Comet of 2020”.

And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear.

It was raised up on one side.

It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ (Daniel 7:5, ESV) [emphasis added]

Daniel’s vision paints the picture of a hungry bear with ribs in its teeth.

The popular Alone TV series, Season 11, Episode 7¹, showed a video clip of a grizzly bear dragging off the frozen carcass of a moose by its rib cage. This image flashed through my mind when camping at night in the mountains and looking up at the constellations. I kept the bear spray close in case I suddenly turned the corner to see a bear cub and its protective mother bear nearby.

But let’s look closer at Daniel’s vision.

Traditional Interpretation

The New English Translation (NET) is very similar to the ESV translation,

7:5 “Then a second beast appeared, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and there were three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and devour much flesh!’ Daniel 7:5, NET²

Is there some significance to ribs being in the mouth of the bear?

The New English Translation (NET) Bible was created by 25 biblical scholars and updated in 2019. Its defining feature is transparency; it includes over 60,000 translators' notes that explain translation decisions, analyze ancient texts, and provide cultural context.³ The NET has the following footnote for rib.

The three ribs held securely in the mouth of the bear, perhaps representing Media-Persia, apparently symbolize military conquest, but the exact identity of the “ribs” is not clear. Possibly it is a reference to the Persian conquest of Lydia, Egypt, and Babylonia.⁴

The prophetic horizon of this note provides a historic interpretation. A Persian empire conquest is the per-2020 interpretation.

Note: This article will unpack the ribs. The number three will be detailed in the next article.

Scholars in various commentaries believe the ribs may have to do with conquered kings and kingdoms, but Daniel does not explicitly interpret what these ribs mean in the text, therefore, we cannot be certain of the interpretations made prior to 2020.

Building upon the previous Leo and Ursa Major research, there is a possibility that Daniel may be describing a celestial sign in Heaven, a comet, in fact the “Comet of 2020”, to be revealed later.

Other Translations of Daniel 7:5

Let’s first compare and contrast the KJV, LEB, Tanakh Bible (Judaism), and Douay–Rheims Bible (Latin Vulgate) translations to get a better understanding of Daniel’s vision of the bear and what was in its mouth.

and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. Daniel 7:5, KJV [emphasis added]

and three tusks were in its mouth between its teeth, and so it was told, “Arise, eat much flesh!”_. Daniel 7:5, Lexham English Bible (LEB) [emphasis added]

and with three fangs in its mouth among its teeth; it was told, ‘Arise, eat much meat! Daniel 7:5, Tanakh [emphasis added]

and there were three rows in the mouth thereof, and in the teeth thereof, and thus they said to it: Arise, devour much flesh. Douay–Rheims Bible (DRA) 1899 [emphasis added]

Notice the different translations of the word, עֲלַע, al-ah, interpreted as ribs, as well as tusks, fangs, and rows.

One starts to picture a prehistoric bear with Sabertooth “tusks”, elongated “fangs”, or a shark-like mouth with multiple rows of teeth - taken literally.

(Source: Night Cafe AI Rendering)

It seems apparent due to interpretative variations across KJV, LEB, Tanakh, and DRA, that this was a challenging translation of a cryptic word.

Could the word figuratively be associated with a shape, a curved object or some ancient idiom?

Possibly - in the word study I will attempt to break it down.

Rib Word Study

Let’s look at the original word for rib, עֲלַע ʿălaʿ, which is only used once in the entire Bible.

See Strong’s Concordance #5967. עֲלַע ʿălaʿ (Chaldaism, Chaldee), al-ah’, is the word found in the Book of Daniel.

Chaldaism refers to an idiom, phrase, or linguistic peculiarity of the Chaldee language.

An idiom is a figurative expression that can’t be translated literally.

Chaldee is an old name for Aramaic, while Chaldaism is a linguistic term for Aramaic idioms. They are the older, historical names used for the exact same language family.⁵

See the Interlinear below:

(source: Logos Software, ESV Interlinear, Daniel 7:5)

Biblehub.com defines #5967 as “ala: To ascend, to go up, to rise” and then defines the word as “rib” as well.⁶ Thus, ala has dual meanings: to rise and rib.

The origins of the word #5967 are Aramaic, an ancient language, corresponding to #6763; a rib, the same word used in Genesis.⁷ It should be reiterated that the word #5967 used in the Book of Daniel for rib is not the same word used in Genesis for Adam’s rib, #6763. However, they are related in Strong’s Concordance.

5967. עֲלַע ʿălaʿ (Chald.), al-ah´; corresp. to 6763; a rib:—rib.⁸

Drilling into #6763 provides more details on the Hebrew word used in the Genesis Creation story of Adam’s rib.

6763. צֵלָע tsêlaʿ, tsay-law´; or (fem.) צַלְעָה tsalʿâh, tsal-aw´; from 6760; a rib (as curved), literal (of the body) or figurative (of a door, i.e. leaf); hence a side, literal (of a person) or figuratively (of an object or the sky, i.e. quarter); arch. a (espec. floor or ceiling) timber or plank (single or collect., i.e. a flooring):—beam, board, chamber, corner, leaf, plank, rib, side (chamber).⁹

6760. צָלַע tsâlaʿ, tsaw-lah´; a prim. root; prob. to curve; used only as denom. from 6763, to limp (as if one-sided):—halt.¹⁰

To summarize,

1. Strong’s 5967 used by Daniel for rib, denotes to ascend, to go up, to arise and is an idiom not to be taken literally.

2. 5967 corresponds to 6763 used by Moses in Genesis for rib.

3. 6763 is from 6760; a rib (as curved)… or figuratively an object or the sky.

4. And 6760 is a primitive root, probably having to do with something that curves.

Could this “rib” be something in the sky that figuratively is curved and ascending?

Possibly - based upon the meandering figurative definitions of the word #5967. עֲלַע ʿălaʿ (Chaldaism, Chaldee), where Chaldaism is defined as an idiom… 🤔💭

💡Daniel may have been alluding to something that was understood during his time, but the meaning has been lost in modern times. He may have been using a wordplay where there are multiple meanings to a word.

💪Hang in there while I define some literary concepts of Mesopotamian scholars discovered in 📚research. I think it is worth the tangent to lay the foundation of the hypothesis.

📚Polysemy and Wordplay in Mesopotamia

Daniel, being the chief prefect in Babylon may have used wordplay in his description of visions or polysemy. Mesopotamia cuneiform study reveals the

… term “hidden words” (amāt niṣirti) refers to polysemy, i.e. “multiple meanings in a word or phrase”, and can be equated with the modern notion of wordplay, double entendre, or punning. ¹¹

…cuneiform literature indicates that puns served a far more solemn role - as conduits through which divine truth was imparted.

McHugh quotes Scott Bryon Noegel, Professor of Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of Washington in Seattle,

“We tend to think of puns as a literary device - a sign of humour, rhetoric …

In antiquity, puns were not used in that way, because the conception of words was so different. Writing was considered of divine origin… Puns provided diviners with interpretative strategies… Perhaps because the written word evolved from pictographs in Mesopotamia, words were considered the embodiment of the object or idea they represented.¹²

To fully understand Daniel’s vision, we need to understand that the words he uses in the Book of Daniel, such as “rib” may actually be an intended interpretive idiom.

Here is a Mesopotamian character that bridges rib with Creation and arrow, TI.

📚Rebus Principle: Rib = Arrow = Life

Some linguists believe that the Chinese developed their writing system according to the Rebus Principle, and Egyptian hieroglyphs used a similar system.

In modern times, Emojis are an example of the Rebus Principle replacing words or phrases with a picture 🤯.¹³

In the same way, the Mesopotamian characters in clay tablets also used this Rebus principle. Below is shown the TI, which appears throughout the MUL.APIN.

(source: TI, Author of font is George Douros; "Assyrian" (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform signs) - public domain)¹⁴

The TI is a classic example of the Rebus Principle in early writing systems, where the meaning of a pictogram is extended to all of its homonyms.¹⁵. This specific example comes directly from the ancient Sumerian language and their cuneiform script:

• The Pictogram: Sumerians initially drew a picture of an arrow to literally represent the word for “arrow”.

• The Homonyms: In Sumerian, the words for “arrow,” “rib,” and “life” were all pronounced alike as TI.

• Abstract Meaning: Because drawing abstract concepts like “life” is difficult, scribes extended the arrow symbol to mean all three words¹⁶

Thus when TI was used, it not only represented an arrow, but tied the rib to creating life, as in Genesis.

📚Genesis Story Parallels - Rib and Life WordPlay

Asko Parpola, Professor emeritus of Indology at the University of Helsinki, posts in the blog titled, “The Principle of Picture Puzzles”,

…in the Sumerian script the picture of arrow meant ‘arrow’ as well as ‘life’ and ‘rib,’ because all three words were pronounced alike in the Sumerian language: ti . Homophonies like this have often given rise to etiological myths. Thus the identity of the Sumerian words for ‘life’ and ‘rib’ is behind that part of the Sumerian paradise myth in which the goddess Nin-ti ‘Mistress of Life’ heals the rib of the sick god Enki.¹⁷

The Sumerian mythology parallels the Genesis Story.

²² And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Genesis 2:22, ESV¹⁸

²⁰ The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Genesis 3:20, ESV¹⁹

ESV has a footnote: Eve sounds like the Hebrew for life-giver and resembles the word for living²⁰

Daniel had access to the Torah, the first five books of the Bible and understood the Genesis rib to life storyline (Genesis 2:22), while as chief prefect he would also understand the scholarly material being taught and understood the TI: arrow to rib to life association.

💡Therefore, I believe Daniel may have used polysemy to describe what he saw in his vision, and used a unique wordplay that described a comet in his vision of a future celestial sign of divine origin.

Now let’s look at the sign…

💫A Comet

The following diagram tries to correlate the data points; we know from Daniel 7:5 that there is variability with the translation of עֲלַע ʿălaʿ to rib, tusk, and fang, which are all curved objects made of bone 🦴. Ancient cultures have described comets using brooms, beards, hair, boiling pots, snakes, swords, scepters, horns, and heavenly arrows - so a rib is not a stretch.

To summarize,

• the TI pictogram has dual meanings, with arrow, rib and life

• עֲלַע ʿălaʿ has dual meanings with ascend, rib, sky, and curved - essentially a polysemy.

Let’s look at the Comet of 2020.

Where did it ascend into? 🐻

💫Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE

The name of the comet was C/2020 F3 NEOWISE discovered in March 2020. In the month of July 2020, it became very bright and it was named “Comet of 2020”.

The 💫Comet of 2020 was in the mouth of the 🐻Great Bear, Ursa Major, on July 19th, 2020.

The Comet of 2020 was closest to the Earth and therefore brightest in the sky on July 22nd. C/2020 F3 NEOWISE was the brightest comet since Comet Hale-Bopp back in 1997 and, similarly, NEOWISE was a long period comet and will not visit Earth for another ~6,700 years.

(source: Deborah Lee Soltesz from Flagstaff, AZ - Comet NEOWISE, CC0)²¹

Notice in the photo, a graphic highlights the comet position night after night, moving from July 14th, 2020 to July 19th, 2020. It would ascend each night along the dotted line until it was in the jaws of the 🐻Great Bear, like a “⬆️rising 🦴rib” 💫.

To be continued…

In Closing

• What is in the mouth of the second beast?

  • “Ribs”, figuratively, something curved in the sky, ascending.

• What do other translations say?

  • There are variations in the translation to ribs, tusks, fangs, or rows of teeth.

  • The word is challenging in its meaning, an idiom, and only used once in the entire Bible.

  • The TI pictogram symbol also means rib, arrow, and life, and was a popular idiom in Sumerian literature.

  • Strong’s Concordance #5967. עֲלַע ʿălaʿ (Chald.), al-ah´denotes to ascend and rib - a polysemy or idiom. It also corresponds to the actual Hebrew word for rib in Genesis, which is also figurative and could allude to a curved object.

• What was in the mouth of the Great Bear on July 19th, 2020?

  • Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE - Comet of 2020

  • The comet ascended each night from July 14th to 19th to pass through the teeth of the Beast like a bear.

I hope this was eye opening. In the next article we will be analyzing why 3? and then why July 2020?

God Bless,

Ender

---

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1. https://www.history.com/shows/alone/season-11/episode-7

2. Biblical Studies Press. (2005). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Da 7:5). Biblical Studies Press.

3. https://www.gotquestions.org/New-English-Translation-NET.html

4. Ibid, rib footnote.

5. https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/C/chaldee-language.html

6. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/5967.htm

7. Strong, J. (2009). In A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 2, p. 88). Logos Bible Software.

8. Strong, J. (2009). In A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 2, p. 88). Logos Bible Software.

9. Strong, J. (2009). In A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 2, p. 100). Logos Bible Software.

10. Strong, J. (2009). In A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 2, p. 100). Logos Bible Software.

11. McHugh, J. (2024). THE ARCANE CELESTIAL PRECEPTS THAT EXPOSE THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM AMID THE STELLAR TABLEAU OF JESUS’ NATIVITY. Utah Cultural Astronomy Project, Utah Rock Art Research Association. https://www.ejst.tuiasi.ro/Files/105/1_McHugh.pdf

12. S. Noegel, in Why Freud Should Credit Mesopotamia, N. Joseph (ed.), Arts & Sciences Perspectives, Winter/Spring 2002, http://www.artsci.washington.edu/news/WinterSpring02/Noegel.htm, accessed on 21.04.2006; https://faculty.washington.edu/snoegel/wordpl.html

13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebus#Rebus_principle

14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI_(cuneiform)#/media/File:Assyrian_cuneiform_U122FE_MesZL_118.svg

15. https://www.harappa.com/script/parpola3.html

16. https://www.harappa.com/script/parpola3.html

17. https://www.harappa.com/script/parpola3.html

18. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Ge 2:22). (2025). Crossway Bibles.

19. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Ge 3:20). (2025). Crossway Bibles.

20. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2025). Crossway Bibles.

21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_NEOWISE#/media/File:Comet_NEOWISE_(50155614036).jpg