ke.lev denotes a dog, whether as an animal, a point of comparison, or a term of personal contempt.

The term most often names dogs as animals, especially in scenes where they eat bodies or lick blood. Other verses use a dog in comparisons about lapping, returning, or survival, as a self-deprecating or hostile designation for a person, and as imagery for blind, mute, and greedy watchmen.

1. Dogs as animals in narrative and judgment scenes · dominant

   Plural absolute forms occur where dogs eat those who die in a city, lick Naboth's and Ahab's blood, or eat Jezebel's flesh. In 1 Kings 21:19 the APB renders the announced action, "the dogs will lick your blood," while Jeremiah 15:3 includes dogs among the agents appointed "to drag away."

   1 Kings 14:111 Kings 21:191 Kings 21:231 Kings 22:382 Kings 9:36Jeremiah 15:3
2. Animal used in comparison or observation · common

   The singular form supplies a concrete comparison: in Judges 7:5 the APB describes lapping water "as a dog laps," and in Proverbs 26:11 it frames a fool's repeated folly by a dog's return to vomit. Ecclesiastes 9:4 contrasts "a living dog" with "the dead lion," while Proverbs 26:17 pictures someone grabbing a dog by its ears.

   Judges 7:5Proverbs 26:11Proverbs 26:17Ecclesiastes 9:4
3. A disparaging designation for a person · occasional

   Singular absolute forms occur in direct speech about a person: the Philistine asks David, "Am I a dog," and Abishai calls Shimei a "dying dog." In 2 Samuel 9:8 the speaker calls himself "a dying dog," and in 2 Kings 8:13 Hazael describes himself as "a mere dog."

   1 Samuel 17:432 Samuel 16:92 Samuel 9:82 Kings 8:13
4. Figurative description of watchmen · occasional

   Plural absolute forms describe watchmen as "mute dogs" unable to bark in Isaiah 56:10; the following verse calls the dogs greedy and unsatisfied before identifying them as shepherds. The clause uses dogs as an image for the watchmen's stated blindness, silence, and pursuit of gain.

   Isaiah 56:10Isaiah 56:11

In the Anselm Project Bible: Where the clause makes the referent clear, the APB regularly renders the term as "dog" or "dogs," including comparison, insult, and judgment scenes. In some supplied verses, such as Psalm 22:17 and Psalm 59:7, the translation does not visibly isolate the term's contribution, so its English wording should not be read as a gloss of the term.