oryx

Most modern scholars are of the opinion that the Hebrew word te’o refers to the oryx. Oryx bones have been found in proximity to Israelite and Canaanite domestic and sacrificial sites that date over a very wide time span proof that the animal was fairly common and was considered to be acceptable to eat. Furthermore it is known that until the mid-nineteenth century large numbers of oryx roamed the Negev in Palestine.

The Arabian or Desert Oryx Oryx leucoryx is a medium-sized antelope, about the size of a donkey. It is closely related to the African oryxes, such as the Gemsbok Oryx gazella of the Kalahari and Namib semideserts, the East African Oryx Oryx beisa, and the Scimitar-horned Oryx Oryx algazel of the Sudan and Egypt. In many ways the oryx is also similar to, but smaller than, the Sable Antelope Hippotragus niger and the Roan Antelope Hippotragus equinus, both of which are found in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Angola.

The Arabian oryx, which was once plentiful in the land of Israel is now almost extinct and the only remaining specimens have been bred in semicaptivity and in captivity from one small breeding herd. This inbreeding and captivity have resulted in marked genetic deterioration so that today’s specimens are smaller and weaker than their ancestors and many have deformed horns. So although the specimens in photographs give us a rough idea of what the original Arabian oryx was like, these modern defects should be borne in mind.

Both males and females of the Arabian oryx have long slender horns that are usually over a meter (3 feet) long. The horns are almost straight and slope back from the animal’s head at about thirty degrees from the perpendicular. The adults are a light fawn color with dark brown markings on the face and on the lower part of both front and back legs. The belly is white.

In the wild oryxes are well able to defend themselves with their long horns and the African species are often able to drive off lions and other predators sometimes even killing their attackers. When wounded by hunters they are extremely dangerous. They are also very strong runners. They live in semi-desert conditions and are very hardy.

The oryx was known for its strength (perhaps exaggerated since strength was associated with long horns) and bravery. Oryx horns are the longest horns known in the Middle East and North Africa and since horns were a symbol of power and strength this probably added to the association of the oryx with power. According to some Jewish scholars oryx horns were later used to make special shofar trumpets blown only at Passover. The oryx is listed among the clean animals.

In Africa and other areas where oryxes or sable and roan antelopes are known, the word for one of these animals could be used throughout. Elsewhere, a term, such as “long-horned antelopes”, could be used for te’o, or a transliteration of the Hebrew word might be considered, with a description given in a footnote or in the glossary.

Arabian oryx, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

roe deer

Although the majority of English versions have roebuck, which is the male form of roe deer many biblical zoologists reject this rendering. They argue that roe deer while being fairly common in biblical times live singly or in pairs for part of the year but not in herds they are extremely shy and difficult to hunt as they live in thick undergrowth and seldom leave it. They are rarely even seen in areas where they live. Thus the argument goes it would have been almost impossible for large numbers of roe deer to have been brought to Solomon’s table on a daily basis as recorded in 1 Kings 4:23. However others argue that trapping roe deer would have been easy even though hunting was not.

The consensus among the zoologists supports the translation “bubal hartebeest” which was well known and could easily have been kept in semi-domesticated herds as were deer [Note that bubal hartebeest are now extinct]. In Egypt and to a lesser extent in Sinai the bubal hartebeest was depicted in murals and stone carvings and many mummified hartebeests have also been found in Egyptian sites. Both Canaanite and Israelite archeological sites have yielded hartebeest bones in fairly large quantities. They have even been found in close proximity to Canaanite altars suggesting that the Canaanites sacrificed them.

The Hebrew name yachmur is probably derived from a root ch-m-r, which means “red” and is the same root from which the Hebrew name for a donkey is derived. The bubal hartebeest is both red and remarkably like a horned donkey. It is also known as the red hartebeest. The word “hartebeest” is a word borrowed from Dutch and literally means “deer-cow”.

Interestingly, the Septuagint translates yachmur as bubalos “water buffalo”, which was an animal well known to the Israelites. Water buffalo were domesticated in Babylonia and Syria and were found in the marshes of northern Israel around Lake Huleh. However this translation has no support among modern scholars. The name bubal in bubal hartebeest is derived from this same Greek word.

Roe Deer capreolus capreolus are small deer, the adult males having short horns that have three prongs. Their fur is brownish in summer and gray in winter. They live singly or in pairs in the undergrowth of forests and thick woodland, never moving more than one or two meters (3-6 feet) from cover, even when feeding.

The Bubal or Red Hartebeest alcelaphus buselaphus is a large antelope about 1.5 meters (5 feet) high at the shoulder. Both males and females have very long faces with a large lump on the head from which sprout short thick horns. These curve upward and forward for half their length and then angle sharply backwards. Hartebeests are reddish brown in color.

They are plains animals and graze in herds often among gazelles zebras or other antelope. Although they look slightly ungainly with their sloping backs hartebeests are very good runners and can sustain high speed for as much as 10 kilometers (6 miles) easily outrunning any other animal over this distance.

These animals were once found all over North Africa and the plains of the land of Israel where they were known as “wild cows” by Bedouin. In some Jewish versions of the Bible yachmur is translated as “wild cow”. The bubal hartebeest has disappeared from those areas, but it is still found in the Kalahari semidesert in Botswana and in adjacent areas in Angola Namibia Zambia and Zimbabwe. Very similar hartebeests alcelaphus lelwel and alcelaphus cokei are also found in Chad, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. In the latter two countries they are known by their Swahili name “kongoni”.

If the interpretation “roe deer” is chosen, then the local name for this deer can be used, where roe deer are known. In areas where roe deer are not known, names for other similar small deer can be used, as for instance: India, Myanmar (Burma), and Southeast Asia: Muntjak or Barking Deer muntiacus muntiacus; Latin America: Pampas Deer blastocerus bezoarticus of Brazil and Argentina. In areas of Africa where deer are not known, the name of a small solitary antelope, such as one of the duikers, can be used. Elsewhere an expression such as “small deer” (in contrast to “large deer” for the fallow deer), or a transliteration, can be used.

If the choice is for red or bubal hartebeest the following possibilities exist: Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe: the local word for Red Hartebeest alcelaphus buselaphus; East Africa: the Coke’s Hartebeest or Kongoni alcelaphus cokei; Chad and Sudan: Lelwel Hartebeest alcelaphus lelwel; Southern Africa: Cape Hartebeest alcelaphus caama, Tsessebe damaliscus lunatus, Bontebok damaliscus pygargus, or Blesbok damaliscus albifrons. Elsewhere a name like “wild cow” can be used.

Red Hartebeest, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

ibex / wild goat / mountain goat

The wild goat found in the land of Israel is the Nubian Ibex Capra ibex nubiana. It has existed in the mountains of this region from time immemorial and until fairly recently it was a very common animal. It was and to some degree still is found in the mountainous parts of Israel the Sinai Peninsula Arabia and Egypt. A closely related species Capra walie is found in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

However the ibex is the only type of wild goat now found in Israel. One other type once lived there but disappeared in the Stone Age long before the time of Abraham. Both ya‘el and ’aqo are the Hebrew names for this animal. Thus versions which include two types of wild goat in the list of clean animals in Deuteronomy 14:5 are probably not correct.

The Nubian ibex is a fairly large wild goat, with adults being about ninety centimeters (3 feet) high at the shoulder. It is a grayish color for most of the year but turns browner in winter. Males have thick long horns over 130 centimeters (4 feet) in length which curve backwards in a semicircle. The horns of the females are much slimmer and shorter, reaching a length of only about 40 centimeters (15 inches). Only the last few centimeters of the horns are smooth, the rest being ringed with ridges. These ibexes live in small herds in the mountains and prefer cliffs and crags, where they live off the bushes that grow on the ledges. Ibex meat is moister and more tender than that of gazelle or deer, and they have been a favorite game animal for many centuries.

The “Wild Goat Rocks” mentioned in 1 Samuel 24:2 is probably the rocky area around the pools and streams of Nahal Arugot near En Gedi. The area has been declared a nature reserve, and the ibexes and other indigenous animals are protected there. The name En Gedi itself, which means “Oasis of the Kid” or “Spring of the Kid”, probably refers to a young ibex.

The ibex is closely associated with remote high mountains and in both Hebrew and Arabic culture it became viewed as the most remote of all animals (compare Job 39:1). This is probably the reason why so many English translations render ya‘el as “mountain goat”. Although not referred to in the Bible ibexes are also known for their surefootedness on rocky ledges.

However to both of the above-mentioned cultures the female ibex was a symbol of grace and beauty grace being associated with the perfect balance with which ibexes stand walk and jump on the cliff faces and beauty probably being associated with their large human-like eyes. In English and many other cultures this poses a problem in Proverbs 5:19, because in these cultures goats are not positive symbols of beauty. In some Tibeto-Burman cultures the wild serow goat is viewed as the ugliest of all animals. In these languages to refer to a woman as a “wild goat” would be an insult. This is the reason why the English versions have “doe” rather than “wild goat”.

In sub-Saharan Africa there are no true wild goats. The closest equivalent animal is a small cliff-dwelling antelope, the Klipspringer Oreotragus oreotragus. The local name of this common, well-known animal has been used to translate ya‘el and ’aqo in many African translations.

In the remaining countries where no indigenous wild goats are found, or where specific words for such do not exist, a phrase equivalent to wild goat or wild mountain goat is usually used. The latter expression is probably the better choice, because in West Africa particularly bush goat is the word for the duiker, a small antelope not associated with mountains.

Proverbs 5:19: This verse occurs in the middle of a series of proverbs dealing with the value of sexual restraint and faithfulness within marriage. The writer/editor exhorts his readers to find sexual fulfillment with their wives alone. A wife is then referred to as “a lovable [or attractive] deer, a graceful ibex.”
As mentioned above in the Discussion: subsection of this section, there are many cultures in which to call a woman a “wild goat” would be an insult rather than a compliment. Where this is the case, a more suitable animal metaphor should be found which denotes gracefulness and can function as the parallel expression for “deer”.
Deuteronomy 14:4,5: The use of two words for wild goat in this list of clean animals should be avoided. However, it is advisable to translate ’aqo (that is, the seventh name in the list) as “ibex” or “wild goat.”

Nubian Ibex, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

gazelle

Both the Hebrew and Greek names are probably general terms for gazelle. At least two types of gazelle the Dorcas Gazelle Gazella dorcas and the Palestine or Arabian Gazelle Gazella arabica were found in the Middle East. They are still to be found in secluded areas.

Gazelles are small to medium sized plains antelopes, inhabiting savannah plains and semideserts. Both sexes have horns, except for the female impala, which is without horns. The horns of the gazelle species mentioned above are lyre-shaped about 25-50 centimeters (10-20 inches) in length. Gazelles are reddish brown with almost white underparts. They are long-legged and graceful and are expert jumpers. They live in small herds of up to about thirty. Females become sexually active at one year and bear young every year. This high rate of reproduction ensures their survival. They feed on both grass and the leaves of acacia and other bushes.

A breeding herd consists of one dominant breeding male and a group of females. The other males are chased from the herd when they become sexually active and they then form bachelor herds. These bachelor herds are the prime target for human and animal hunters since they provide a convenient source of meat while leaving the breeding cycle intact. In biblical times gazelles were trapped in nets or snares or were shot with bows and arrows.

The gazelle was seen as the cleanest of game animals since it met all the requirements of the Law concerning cloven hooves and cud-chewing. It was also a symbol of speed grace and beauty (the Hebrew root means beauty) and of female sexuality and fertility.

Where a language distinguishes between male and female animals, tsvi should be translated by the male form and tsviyah by the female form.

In East Africa where gazelles are well-known, a generic word for gazelles or the specific word for one of the smaller gazelles, such as the Thompson’s Gazelle Gazella thompsonii, is suitable. Elsewhere in Africa where the impala is known, the word for this antelope can be used.

Elsewhere, the word for a small antelope or deer that lives in herds can be used for the references that are literal, and the word for some swift, graceful antelope or deer can be used in the contexts where speed, grace, or beauty are being symbolized. As usual, in areas where gazelles, antelopes, and deer are unknown, a transliteration from the dominant international language or from the Hebrew original can be used. In such cases a description should be given in the glossary.

Gazella dorcas, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

complete verse (Deuteronomy 14:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 14:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “bush duikers, antelopes, elands, goats of the bush (wild), red duikers, Suni antelopes and sheep of the bush.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “deer, gazelle, roe deer, wild male goat, the ibex, antelope and the wild sheep” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “deer, wild goat, wild sheep and other kinds of deer.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “deer, gazelles, wild goats, antelopes, and mountain sheep.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 14:5

Hart: New Revised Standard Version and New Jerusalem Bible have “deer.” The name occurs also in 12.22; 15.22; 1 Kgs 4.23; Psa 42.1; Isa 35.6; Lam 1.6.

Gazelle: see 12.22; 15.22 (and 12 more times in the Old Testament).

Roebuck: New International Version has “roe deer.” See also 1 Kgs 4.23.

In parts of the world where only one type of deer is found (or none), we may combine the first three types in this list and translate “all kinds of deer” or “all kinds of animals named ‘deer.’ ”

Wild goat: New Jerusalem Bible has “ibex”; see also Psa 104.18 (and see “Wildgoats’ Rocks” in 1 Sam 24.2).

Ibex: New Jerusalem Bible has “antelope.” This name does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament.

Antelope: New Jerusalem Bible has “oryx” (an African antelope). See also Isa 51.20. If the ibex and antelope are unknown in a language or culture, we may simply say “all animals named ‘antelope.’ ”

Mountain-sheep: this name does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament. It is possible to combine this with wild goat and translate “wild sheep and goats” or “sheep and goats that live in the mountains.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .