The Word 'Dog' in Hebrew

In the Book of Genesis, God’s first task for Adam was to name the animals. “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field;“ (Genesis 2:19,20). Adam named dogs ‘kelev’ in Hebrew*. While a few passages in Aramaic are found mainly in the Book of Daniel, the Old Testament was primarily written in Hebrew. The Hebrew term for dog is ‘kelev’. The second part of the word, ‘lev’, translates to ‘heart’, and the first part, ‘ke’, means ‘like’; hence, ’kelev’ signifies ‘like the heart’ - “ke (like) and Lev (heart)”. Dogs have become the foremost household pet because God endowed them with a special trait of loyalty that endears them to our hearts. Therefore, the Hebrew name for dogs, ‘kelev’, serves as a reminder that God provided us with dogs as pets to demonstrate His loyalty, faithfulness, and unconditional love. * Variations: Kalev, Keleb, Keleb #dogs #pets #dachshund #adam #God #names #hebrew #love #Bible