ANIMALS

PART 3

HORSE

Horses were used in war not only for riding but also for pulling the heavy, springless war chariots. Two kinds of horses were needed for these different purposes, and the Hebrews distinguished between chariot horses and cavalry horses. Adonai warned the early Israelites against unnecessarily amassing military strength in the form of horses and thereby following the oppressive tactics of the powerful Egyptians {Deuteronomy 17:14-16}, but the demands of war caused both David and Solomon to import horses from Egypt into their kingdoms and to breed them. In early Israel, the horse was opposed as a symbol of pagan luxury and of dependence on physical power for defence {Deuteronomy 17:16; 1 Samuel 8:11; Psalm 20:7; Isaiah 31:1}. Most biblical references to horses refer to their use in warfare, but horses were also used for transportation.

HYENA

A hyena is a stocky carnivore with coarse hair, an erect mane, and long hairs along the neck and back. Hyenas live in holes among rocks and banks. They are mainly nocturnal but are ordinarily neither noisy nor aggressive. Their cry, however, is a disagreeable, unearthly sound. Known as scavengers in Africa, hyenas eat domestic trash in the villages. Since hyenas were notorious for raiding the graves of the dead, all Israelites who could afford it arranged for burial in tombs protected by massive stone doors. Absalom, King David’s son who was killed by Joab in the wild, was buried under a huge pile of stones to protect his corpse from hyenas {2 Samuel 18:17}.

JACKAL

A jackal is a carnivore smaller than the true wolf and with a shorter tail. It is similar to the fox but has a broader head, shorter ears, and longer legs. Whereas the fox is solitary, the jackal tends to live in packs. Old Testament references are chiefly to jackals prowling around ruined cities and wilderness areas {Nehemiah 2:13; Psalm 44:19; Isaiah 13:22; 34:13; 35:7; Jeremiah 9:11; 14:6; 49:33; 51:37; Lamentations 4:3; 5:18; Malachi 1:3}. Many translate such references as “dragon” in the King James Version, but “jackal” is more appropriate.

LEOPARD

This is the most widespread of all the large wildcats. In rocky areas it lives in caves, but in forested regions it lives in thick vegetation. In Old Testament times, many lived in the vicinity of Mount Hermon {Song of Songs 4:8}. The leopard is somewhat smaller than the tiger, measuring up to five feet in length with a tail of about thirty inches. Its body is better proportioned than that of the tiger. The leopard takes its victim by surprise from a silent ambush, often concealing itself near villages or watering places and waiting for its prey, remaining in one spot for long spans of time. The leopard is swift on the ground {Habakkuk 1:8}, agile in trees, and very graceful in its movements. Its colour is yellowish speckled with black spots {Jeremiah 3:23}. The leopard is a wary and cunning animal, formidable and ferocious {Jeremiah 5:6; Hosea 13:7; compare to Isaiah 11:6}.

LEVIATHAN

Sea monster mentioned several times in the Bible {Psalms 74:14; 104:26; Isaiah 27:1}. It may refer to any of the larger marine animals such as large jellyfish, whales, or sharks, or to a large reptile like the crocodile. Some scholars think “Leviathan” may refer to marine reptiles similar to dinosaurs. Other scholars believe that the references are to the crocodile.

LION

Within historic times the lion ranged in Africa, Europe, and the Holy Land. The lion of the Holy Land was the Asiatic or Persian lion. The males have heavy manes that stop at the shoulders but cover much of the chest. The Persian lion cannot climb and is mainly nocturnal, returning to its lair or a thicket by day {Jeremiah 4:7; Jeremiah 25:38; Nahum 2:11-12}. A roaring lion arouses fear {3:8}. The lion is a bold {2 Samuel 17:10; Proverbs 28:1}, destructive animal {Psalm 7:2; Jeremiah 2:30; Hosea 5:14; Micah 5:8}, and the enemy of flocks {Amos 3:12}. The Bible describes the devil as a roaring lion and warns that should be on our guard against him {1 Peter 5:8}. Lions were common in biblical times in all parts of the Holy Land. Hebrew has at least seven words for lion and young lion. The lion is referred to about 130 times in the Old Testament -- more than any other wild animal. To the Jews, the lion was the mightiest of beasts {Proverbs 30:29-31}. Thus, it symbolized leadership {Genesis 49:9-10; Numbers 24:9} and hence eventually became a title for the Moshiach {Revelation 5:5}. It was also the ensign of the tribe of Judah and was used by King Solomon in the decoration of his house and the temple.

LIZARD

The lizard is a useful creature because it captures harmful insects and worms. Like other reptiles, it lays eggs with shells softer than those of a bird and with no clear division between the yolk and the white. Lizards are “cold-blooded” organisms, and they become inactive in cold weather. Lizards are listed as ceremonially unclean in Jewish Law {Leviticus 11:29-31}. The fact that lizards crawl on their bellies made them unclean.

LOCUST

A locust is an insect referred to by at least twelve different names in Scripture. The various Hebrew words may refer to different stages of its development from larva to adult or to the type of damage that it causes. Locusts are characterized by swarming and mass migration. In modern times, they have caused extensive and disastrous destruction to vegetation. A locust plague was one of the most severe evils to come upon the ancient world {Deuteronomy 28:38}. Joel 2:1-11 describes a locust plague in graphic terms, using it as a symbol of YHVH’s destroying judgment. Special days of prayer, fasting, and trumpet blowing were prescribed to remove locust plagues {1 Kings 8:37-38; 2 Chronicles 6:28-29; Joel 2:12-17}. Locusts symbolized powerful and merciless enemies that completely destroyed the earnings of human toil {Judges 6:5; Isaiah 33:4; Jeremiah 46:23; 51:27; Nahum 3:15}. Bedouins eat locusts raw, roasted, or boiled, preserving them by drying and threading. They are also crushed and ground and used in cooking or eaten with bread. They are sometimes mixed with honey and dates. Such was the diet of John the Baptist {Mark 1:6}.

MOLE

A mole is a rodent from six to nine inches long, which burrows in any area where the soil is suitable for digging; it should be called a mole rat. Common in the Holy Land, large numbers are found in the vicinity of Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:20 refers to the mole, as does Leviticus 11:29-30. The mole rat has no tail and is mole-like in appearance. The neck is short and thick with a plump body shaped like a sausage. The short legs have broad paws with claws adapted for burrowing. Its ears and almost sightless eyes, which are no larger than poppy seeds, are hidden in the fur. The mole rat feeds on roots, bulbs, tubers, and various other subterranean plant parts, often doing extensive damage to agriculture.

MOTH

A moth is an insect that lays its eggs on wool or furs and whose larvae feed on those materials. The destructive qualities of moths are referred to in several biblical passages {Job 13:28; Psalm 39:11; Isaiah 50:9; Hosea 5:12; Matthew 6:19-20; Luke 12:33; James 5:2}. There are hundreds of species of moths in the Holy Land.

MOUSE

A mouse is a rodent. Being short legged, the Jews considered it one of the creeping creatures and ceremonially unclean {Leviticus 11:29}. The Hebrew word for “mouse” {Leviticus 11:29; 1 Samuel 6:4-5; Isaiah 66:17} is probably a general term for various rats and mice. The root meaning of the Hebrew word “mouse” is “destruction of corn.” Mice can destroy whole fields of crops. They cause food spoilage, damage household articles, and transport the host fleas that spread spotted fever and bubonic plague.

MULE

The hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse is a mule. It is ordinarily sterile. Because crossbreeding was forbidden in the Law {Leviticus 19:19}, the Israelites procured mules from the Gentiles. Mules did not appear in Israel until David’s reign {2 Samuel 13:29}, possibly because of the rarity of horses among the Hebrews. Mules were used chiefly by members of the royal court and by other nobles. King David rode on a mule, and Solomon rode to his inauguration on King David’s mule {1 Kings 1:33}. Absalom met his death riding on a mule {2 Samuel 18:9}. Mules have long enjoyed a reputation for obstinacy, but that trait is not mentioned in the Bible. The mule is prized for riding and for carrying heavy burdens, especially in warm mountainous regions. They are sure-footed and thrive best in hot, dry climates. The mule has the frugality, endurance, and steady gait of a donkey along with the size, strength, swiftness, and courage of a horse. Mules are almost never sick. They live longer than horses. They can carry a load of up to three hundred pounds as far as thirty miles a day.

PIG

The domestic pigs of the Middle East were derived from the wild pig {Sus scrofa}. Pigs cannot be driven, so they are of value only to the settled farmer. The Hebrews were originally a nomadic people; therefore, they had little use for an animal closely associated with settled life. Strict Jews would not even mention swine by name but would always substitute the term “the abomination.” Israelites considered themselves polluted if they were even touched by a swine’s bristle. To the Jews, the pig symbolized filth and ugliness. Pigs will eat faecal material, vermin, rodents, carrion {dead animals}, and the like {2 Peter 2:22}. Proverbs 11:22 refers to the incongruity of a golden ring in the nose of an animal showing such characteristics. A similar metaphor occurs in Yeshua’ statement about casting pearls before swine {Matthew 7:6}. The Prodigal Son reached the lowest of the low when he was forced in his poverty to feed pigs and eat their food {Luke 15:15-16}.

PORCUPINE

A porcupine is a rodent, which lives in forested areas, rocky hills, ravines, and valleys. The porcupine is still found in the Holy Land today. It has long quills that can be raised to give the appearance of a crest. It is almost entirely nocturnal. It eats fruit, bark, roots, and other vegetation, and carrion as well. Although its flesh is edible, the porcupine was not classed among the clean animals for the Israelites. The reference in Isaiah 34:11 {RSV} is probably to the porcupine, as is 14:23 in the NLT.

SCORPION

A dozen species of scorpions is found in the Holy Land. At the end of its long tail the scorpion carries a poisonous sting that is fatal to most prey and extremely painful to humans {Revelation 9:3, 5, 10; compare to 1 Kings 12:11, 14}. Scorpions symbolize Ezekiel’s evil countrymen {Ezekiel 2:6} and the demonic forces of Satan {Luke 10:19}. The scorpion is referred to as frequenting the Sinai Desert {Deuteronomy 8:15}.

SHEEP

This domestic animal is referred to over seven hundred times in Scripture. Sheep represented the chief wealth and total livelihood of pastoral peoples, providing food to eat, milk to drink, wool for the making of cloth, and hides and bones for other uses. In addition, the sheep was a medium of exchange and a sacrificial animal. Sheep are often used figuratively in Scripture. It is the nature of sheep to be gentle and submissive {Isaiah 53:7; Jeremiah 11:19}, defenceless {Micah 5:8; Matthew 10:16}, and in constant need of guidance and care {Numbers 27:17; Matthew 9:36}. The Bible often makes reference to sheep in the New Testament and to Yeshua as Shepherd {Mark 6:34; John 10:1-30; Romans 8:35-37; Hebrews 13:20-21; 1 Peter 2:25}. The resurrected Moshiach told the apostle Peter to “feed My lambs” and “tend My sheep” {John 21:15-17}.

SNAKE

In the Bible, nine Hebrew words and four Greek ones refer to snakes. Snakes are among the most widespread reptiles and are found on all continents except Antarctica. Two dangerous characteristics of the snake noted by biblical writers are its inconspicuous way of moving and the ease with which it hides itself. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, snakes represent evil and, more specifically, the devil. That association began in the Garden of Eden {Genesis 3:1-15} and is also found in the book of Revelation {Revelation 12:9; 20:2-3}. The serpent played the feature role in introducing sin and rebellion to Adam and Eve.

SPIDER

Between 600 and 700 different species of spiders inhabit the Holy Land. Spiders are different from insects in that, like scorpions, they have four pairs of legs instead of three. Spiders are equipped with poison glands -- the effectiveness varying from species to species. A few can kill only insects, but others can also kill birds and mice. Most spiders have a pair of spinnerets attached to silk glands on the underside of the abdomen; from them a web is extruded. In the Bible the spider’s web is referred to as a symbol of frailty and insecurity {Job 8:14; Isaiah 59:5-6}.

WASP

Wasps build large aerial apartment houses in which a thousand or more individual wasps, or hornets, may live. In the Bible the hornet is used as a metaphor for YHVH’s use of military forces {Exodus 23:28; Deuteronomy 7:20; Joshua 24:12}.

WHALE

The whale is the largest of all living creatures, including those that have become extinct. Whales are referred to in Genesis 1:21 and Job 7:12 {KJV only}. The “great fish” of Jonah 2:1 need not have been a whale but could have been a large shark, such as the whale shark {Rhineodon}, which grows 70 feet long and lacks the terrible teeth of other sharks. Whatever the actual marine organism, Jonah’s deliverance was miraculous. The Greek word for “whale” is sometimes used as a general term for “sea monster” or huge fish and may be used in that sense in Matthew 12:40.

WOLF

A large doglike mammal that travels in bands of up to thirty animals is known as a wolf. Wolves have acute hearing and sight but rely chiefly on scent and usually catch their prey in a swift, open chase. The wolf has a reputation for boldness, fierceness, and voracity {Genesis 9:27; Habakkuk 1:8}. It commonly kills more than it can eat or drag away and thus is known for its greediness. The Bible refers to wolves in a literal sense in only three places {Isaiah 11:6; 65:25; John 10:12}, all other references being figurative. Usually, the wolf is a symbol of enemies or the wicked {Ezekiel 22:27; Zephaniah 3:3; Acts 20:29}. Both the wolf’s courage and its cruelty were probably in the mind of the patriarch Jacob when he predicted the fate of Benjamin’s tribe {Genesis 49:27}.

WORM

Biblical references to worms are usually references to maggots-fly larvae {see Fly}. For example, maggots are evidently referred to in accounts of worms feeding on spoiled manna {Exodus 16:19-20}, corpses {Job 21:26; Isaiah 14:11}, or open wounds {Job 7:5}. In Acts 12:23 a fatal, worm-induced abdominal disease of King Herod is mentioned. Comparing a man to a worm is a metaphor for abasement {Job 25:6; Psalm 22:6}.