Goat in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

got: 1. Names: The common generic word for "goat" is `ez (compare Arabic `anz, "she-goat"; aix), used often for "she-goat" (Gen 15:9; Nu 15:27), also with gedhi, "kid," as gedhi `izzim, "kid of the goats" (Gen 38:17), also with sa`ir, "he-goat," as se`ir `izzim, "kid of the goats" or "he-goat," or translated simply "kids," as in 1 Ki 20:27, "The children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of kids." Next, frequently used is sa`ir, literally, "hairy" (compare Arabic sha`r, "hair"; cher, "hedgehog"; Latin hircus, "goat"; hirtus, "hairy"; also German Haar; English "hair"), like `ez and `attudh used of goats for offerings. The goat which is sent into the wilderness bearing the sins of the people is sa`ir (Lev 16:7-22). The same name is used of devils (Lev 17:7; 2 Ch 11:15, the Revised Version (British and American) "he-goats") and of satyrs (Isa 13:21; 34:14, the Revised Version, margin "he-goats," the American Standard Revised Version "wild goats"). Compare also se`irath `izzim, "a female from the flock" (Lev 4:28; 5:6). The male or leader of the flock is `attudh; Arabic `atud, "yearling he-goat"; figuratively "chief ones" (Isa 14:9; compare Jer 50:8). A later word for "he-goat," used also figuratively, is tsaphir (2 Ch 29:21; Ezr 8:35; Dan 8:5,8,21). In Prov 30:31, one of the four things "which are stately in going" is the he-goat, tayish (Arabic tais, "he-goat"), also mentioned in Gen 30:35; 32:14 among the possessions of Laban and Jacob, and in 2 Ch 17:11 among the animals given as tribute by the Arabians to Jehoshaphat. In Heb 9:12,13,19; 10:4, we have tragos, the ordinary Greek word for "goat"; in Mt 25:32,33, eriphos, and its diminutive eriphion; in Heb 11:37 derma aigeion, "goatskin," from aix (see supra). "Kid" is gedhi (compare En-gedi (1 Sam 23:29), etc.), feminine gedhiyah (Song 1:8), but also `ez, gedhi `izzim, se'-ir `izzim, se`ir `izzim, se`irath `izzim, bene `izzim, and eriphos. There remain ya`el (1 Sam 24:2; Job 39:1; Ps 104:18), English Versions of the Bible "wild goat"; ya`alah (Prov 5:19), the King James Version "roe," the Revised Version (British and American) "doe"; 'aqqo (Dt 14:5), English Versions of the Bible "wild goat"; and zemer (Dt 14:5), English Versions of the Bible "chamois."...