Coney in Biblical History

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Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
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What is a Coney?
CO'NEY
(the hider), a small animal (Hyrux Syriacus) found in Syria and Arabia, and much resembling the rabbit in size, general appearance, and habits. Ps 104:18 ,-Prov 30:26. Its Hebrew name is appropriate, from its dwelling in the rocks. The coney, however, does not burrow, but, like the rhinoceros and hippopotamus (with which naturalists class it), has hoofs rather than nails upon its toes. It is almost tailless, has short ears, is clothed in tawny fur, and is a very timid and harmless creature. Solomon justly pronounced the coneys "exceeding wise." So great is their wariness that they have never been trapped and can but rarely be shot. They are accustomed to feed in small companies upon the herbage near their fastnesses, but it is said they always first post a sentinel, and at a squeak of alarm, on the least indication of danger, they all plunge into their retreats. The references to this animal in the Coney. (Hyrax Syriacus. After Houghton.) Law (Lev 11:5; Deut 14:7) are to be understood in a popular sense. Though not strictly a ruminant animal, the coney, like the hare and rabbit, has a habit of moving its jaws as if chewing, while it does not completely divide the hoof, as does the ox or deer. The coney "is an exceedingly active creature, leaping from rock to rock with wonderful rapidity, its little sharp hoofs giving it a firm hold of the hard and irregular surface of the stony ground. Even in captivity it retains much of its activity, and flies about its cage with a rapidity that seems more suitable to a squirrel than to an animal allied to the rhinoceros and hippopotamus. ... It is a tolerably prolific animal, rearing four or five young at a birth, and keeping them in a soft bed of hay and fur, in which they are almost hidden. If surprised in its hole and seized, the Hyrnx will bite very sharply, its long, chisel-edged teeth inflicting severe wounds on the hand that attempts to grasp it. But it is of a tolerably docile disposition, and in a short time learns to know its owner, and to delight in receiving his caresses." J.G. Wood.

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Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'coney' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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