bear-keeper, the name given by the ancients to the brightest star in the constellation Bootes. In the Authorized Version ( Job 9:9 ; 38:32 ) it is the rendering of the Hebrew word 'ash , which probably designates the constellation the Great Bear. This word ('ash) is supposed to be derived from an Arabic word meaning night-watcher, because the Great Bear always revolves about the pole, and to our nothern hemisphere never sets.

These dictionary topics are from
M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition,
published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain, copy freely.