Bible Animals

Bat in Wikipedia

The bat, fourteen species of which still exist in Israel is reckoned among unclean "winged things" (Leviticus 11:19; Deuteronomy 14:18). Its abode is generally in dark and desolate places such as ruins and caverns....

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Cattle in Wikipedia

Cattle. - Very early in the history of mankind, animals were tamed and domesticated, to be used in agriculture, for milk, for their flesh, and especially for sacrifices. Many words in Hebrew expressed the different ages and sexes of cattle, West of the Jordan River the cattle were generally stall-fed; in the plains and hills south and east they roa...

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Dragon in Wikipedia

Dragon, a word frequently found in the translations of the Bible as substitute, so it seems, for other names of animals that the translators were unable to identify. It stands indeed for several Hebrew names: (1) thán (Job 30:29; Isaiah 34:13; 35:7; 43:20; Jeremiah 9:11; 10:22; 14:6; 49:33; 51:37; Micah 1:8; Malachi 1:3), unquestionably meaning a ...

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Gecko in Wikipedia

Gecko. - Probable translation of the 'anãqah of the Hebrews, generally rendered in our versions by shrew-mouse, for which it seems it should be substituted. The gecko, ptyodactylus gecko of the naturalists, is common in Israel....

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Hare in Wikipedia

Hare. - Mentioned Lev., xi, 6; Deut., xiv, 7, in the list of the unclean quadrupeds. Several subspecies of the European Hare and the Cape Hare live in Israel: Lepus europaeus syriacus in the north; Lepus europaeus judeae in the south and the Jordan valley, together with Lepus capensis sinaiticus, Lepus capensis aegyptius and Lepus capensis isabelli...

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Ape in Wikipedia

Nowhere in the Bible is the ape supposed to be indigenous to Israel. Apes are mentioned with gold, silver, ivory, and peacocks among the precious things imported by Solomon from Tharsis (1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chronicles 9:21)....

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Bear in Wikipedia

The bear spoken of in the Bible is the ursus syriacus, scarcely different from the brown bear of Europe. Since the destruction of the forests, it is now rarely seen south of Lebanon and Hermon, where it is common. Not unfrequently met in the Holy Land during the Old Testament times, it was much dreaded on account of its ferocious and destructive in...

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Chamois in Wikipedia

Chamois (antilope rupicapra) is now totally unknown in western Asia, where it very probably never existed. The opinion of those who see it in the Hebrew zémér (Deuteronomy 14:5) should consequently be entirely discarded (see Camelopardalis)....

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Dromedary in Wikipedia

Dromedary. - The word so rendered, Is., lx, 6, signifies rather a swift and finely bred camel....

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Fowl in Wikipedia

Fowl. - This word which, in its most general sense, applies to anything that flies in the air (Genesis 1:20, 21), and which frequently occurs in the Bible with this meaning, is also sometimes used in a narrower sense, as, for instance, III K., iv, 23, where it stands for all fatted birds that may be reckoned among the delicacies of a king's table; ...

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