HEBREW WORD STUDY: DOG – KELEV   כלב  

Exodus 11:7: “And against the children of Israel no dog shall wag its tongue.”

In Hebrew the word for dog is Kelev.  The root word is kala which is not used in the Bible but is found in extra Biblical literature and is onomatopoeic. Onomatopoeic is the formation of a word by its sound like boom, cuckoo or meow.  Kala is like the sound a dog makes when it barks when it is happy to see you hence the word took on the meaning of a dog

It is taught by the Hebrew sages that before God sent the last plague, the children of Israel knew that if they were unaffected by this plague the Egyptians would seek them out to reek vengeance on them.  They would use dogs to hunt them out.  Thus, the Hebrew leaders went to the Egyptian dogs before the plague and politely asked the dogs to not bark and give them away until the Egyptian’s anger subsided. (See my book Journey into Silence about yiredu).   The dogs agreed and did not bark.  Hence, the word dog has been broken into two words “ke (like) and Lev (heart)” like a heart.”   A dog will endear itself to your heart.  This is the reason a dog has become the number one house pet because God gave them that special quality of loyalty to endear itself to your heart. 

The word for dog is spelled Kap – a heart that needs to be filled with the next letter which is a Lamed or the  teaching from God into your heart, where your heart becomes the  last letter Beth or the dwelling place of God.  Spiritually the Hebrew name for dog reminds us that God gave us a dog as a pet to teach  us of His loyalty, faithfulness and unconditional love to endear Himself into our hearts. 

Yiredu, learn to humble yourself before God’s creation so it can teach you about the nature of God.