Bible Lexicons

כֶּלֶב , plur. כְּלָבִים, const. כַּלְבֵי m. a dog, so called from barking, as if, barker, see כָּלַב No. 1. (Arab. كَلْبُ, Syr. ܟܰܠܒܐܳ idem. Secondary roots, taking their signification from the nature of dogs, are كَلَبَ to be rabid, to persecute one’s enemies; also, ܟܠܒܶ to be rabid. In the East, troops of fierce half-famished dogs, without masters, are often wandering around the towns and villages (1 Kings 14:11, 16:4 2 Kings 9:10); whence fierce and cruel men are sometimes called dogs, Psalms 22:17, 21 Psalms 22:21. As a dog is also an unclean and despised animal, so by way of reproach, any one is called a dog, 2 Kings 8:13 a dead dog, 1 Samuel 24:15; 2 Samuel 9:8, 16:9 a dog’s head, 2 Samuel 3:8 (compare Gr. κύνωψ, Germ. Gfelskopf, and Hundsfott, i.e. dog’s foot); just as, in the East, in the present day, Christians are called dogs by the Mohammedan rabble. Also, because of the shamelessness of dogs, this name is given to scorta virilia (κύνες, Revelation 22:15), Deuteronomy 23:18 elsewhere קְדֵשִׁים.