Deuteronomy 14:5

Deu 14:5 The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.

Ver. 5. The hart and the roebuck.] These were dainties fit for a king. {1Ki 4:23} Rice and mutton is the cheer wherewith the great Turk entertaineth foreign ambassadors, and that so plainly and sparingly dressed, as if they would give check to our gormandise and excess.

And the wild ox.] Pliny saith, {a} that there are wild creatures answerable to all that are tame: like as others say there is no living creature on earth, but there are fishes of the same sort found in the sea, and those all harmless.

{a} Plin., lib. viii. cap. 53.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deu 14:5. The pygargs — A kind of goat. And the chamois — Hebrew, זמר, zemer, which Bochart takes for that kind of goat which is called in Latin Rupi-capra, or mountain-goat, from the Arabic zamara, to bound like a roe.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

OF BEASTS. (Deu 14:4-8)

The hart--(see on Deu 12:15).

fallow deer--The Hebrew word (Jachmur) so rendered, does not represent the fallow deer, which is unknown in Western Asia, but an antelope (Oryx leucoryx), called by the Arabs, jazmar. It is of a white color, black at the extremities, and a bright red on the thighs. It was used at Solomon's table.

wild goat--The word akko is different from that commonly used for a wild goat (Sa1 24:2; Psa 104:18; Pro 5:19), and it is supposed to be a goat-deer, having the body of a stag, but the head, horns, and beard of a goat. An animal of this sort is found in the East, and called Lerwee [SHAW, Travels].

pygarg--a species of antelope (Oryx addax) with white buttocks, wreathed horns two feet in length, and standing about three feet seven inches high at the shoulders. It is common in the tracks which the Israelites had frequented [SHAW].

wild ox--supposed to be the Nubian Oryx, which differs from the Oryx leucoryx (formerly mentioned) by its black color; and it is, moreover, of larger stature and more slender frame, with longer and more curved horns. It is called Bekkar-El-Wash by the Arabs.

chamois--rendered by the Septuagint Cameleopard; but, by others who rightly judge it must have been an animal more familiar to the Hebrews, it is thought to be the Kebsch (Ovis tragelaphus), rather larger than a common sheep, covered not with wool, but with reddish hair--a Syrian sheep-goat.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 5. The hart] איל aiyal, the deer, according to Dr. Shaw: See Clarke on De 12:15.

The roebuck] צבי tsebi, generally supposed to be the antelope, belonging to the fifth order Pecora, genus MAMMALIA, and species 38. It has round twisted spiral horns, hairy tufts on the knees, browses on tender shoots, lives in hilly countries, is fond of climbing rocks, and is remarkable for its beautiful black eyes. The flesh is good and well flavoured.

The fallow deer] יחמור yachmur, from חמר chamar, to be troubled, disturbed, disordered: this is supposed to mean, not the fallow deer, but the bubalus or buffalo, which is represented by Dr. Shaw, and other travellers and naturalists, as a sullen, malevolent, and spiteful animal, capricious, ferocious, and every way brutal. According to the Linnaean classification, the buffalo belongs to the fifth order Pecora, genus MAMMALIA, species bos. According to 1Kg 4:23, this was one of the animals which was daily served up at the table of Solomon. Though the flesh of the buffalo is not considered very delicious, yet in the countries where it abounds it is eaten as frequently by all classes of persons as the ox is in England. The yachmur is not mentioned in the parallel place, Le 11:1-47.

The wild goat] אקו akko. It is not easy to tell what creature is intended by the akko. Dr. Shaw supposed it to be a kind of very timorous goat, known in the East by the name fishtall and serwee, and bearing a resemblance both to the goat and the stag, whence the propriety of the name given it by the Septuagint and Vulgate, tragelaphus, the goat-stag; probably the rupicapra or rock-goat. The word is found nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible.

The pygarg] דישן dishon. As this word is nowhere else used, we cannot tell what animal is meant by it. The word pygarg πυγαργος, literally signifies white buttocks, and is applied to a kind of eagle with a white tail; but here it evidently means a quadruped. It was probably some kind of goat, common and well known in Judea.

The wild ox] תאו teo. This is supposed to be the oryx of the Greeks, which is a species of large stag. It may be the same with the bekker el wash, described by Dr. Shaw as "a species of the deer kind, whose horns are exactly in the fashion of our stag, but whose size is only between the red and fallow deer." In Isa 51:20 a creature of the name of to is mentioned, which we translate wild bull; it may be the same creature intended above, with the interchange of the two last letters.

The chamois] זמר zemer. This was probably a species of goat or deer, but of what kind we know not: that it cannot mean the chamois is evident from this circumstance, "that the chamois inhabits only the regions of snow and ice, and cannot bear the heat." - Buffon. The Septuagint and Vulgate translate it the Camelopard, but this creature is only found in the torrid zone and probably was never seen in Judea; consequently could never be prescribed as a clean animal, to be used as ordinary food. I must once more be permitted to say, that to ascertain the natural history of the Bible is a hopeless case. Of a few of its animals and vegetables we are comparatively certain, but of the great majority we know almost nothing. Guessing and conjecture are endless, and they have on these subjects been already sufficiently employed. What learning, deep, solid, extensive learning, and judgment could do, has already been done by the incomparable Bochart in his Hierozoicon. The learned reader may consult this work, and, while he gains much general information, will have to regret that he can apply so little of it to the main and grand question. As I have consulted every authority within my reach, on the subject of the clean and unclean animals mentioned in the law, and have detailed all the information I could collect in my notes on Lev. xi., I must refer my readers to what I have there laid down.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(5) The wild goat.—In German the “Steinbock” is given as the equivalent for this creature. The pygarg (dîshon) is sometimes taken to be the buffalo. If all these creatures were then to be found in Palestine, there must have been far more uncleared land than there has been for many centuries past.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. Seven varieties of game; LXX B gives only five: hart, gazelle, roebuck, wild-ox and giraffe (?); codd. AF, etc. add after gazelle, buffalo and tragelaphos. It may not be unnecessary to remark that neither to the nomads nor to the fellaḥîn is hunting sport; it is, especially to the former, a hard and hungry search for food. ‘The nomad is not a hunter’ (Doughty, i. 157). The hunters of Arabia are the Sleyb, wandering gypsies without cattle and camels: according to Burckhardt (p. 12) they live on dried gazelle-flesh. Besides the varieties of game given here as edible, the ancient Arabs relished also the flesh of the wild-ass (Georg Jacob, op. cit. 115).

hart and gazelle] ’Ayyal, ṣebi: see on Deu_12:22; cp. Deu_12:15, Deu_15:22; hart probably fallow deer, cervus dama; gazelle, gazella dorcas.

roebuck] Yaḥmûr also deut 1Ki_4:23 (Deu_5:3) A.V. fallow-deer. Yakhmûr is the name still given to a deer found on Mt Carmel (Conder, Tent Work, i. 173) and identified as the roebuck, cervus capreolus; called in Gilead khamûr (Post, PEFQ, 1890, 171 f.; Conder, id. 173); also seen on Lebanon (Tr. 4). Found throughout Europe it does not range farther S. than Palestine. As roebuck is the name of the male, roedeer is perhaps the better rendering.

wild goat] ’Aḳḳo only here, LXX AF τραγέλαφος, Targ. ya‘al, ibex such as about Engedi, 1Sa_24:2. With ’aḳḳo as if for ’anḳo cp. Ar. ’anaḳ (= long-necked) goat.

pygarg] As LXX πύγαργος ‘white-rump.’ The Heb. dîshon (as if from Heb. dash = tread, leap) is rather antelope: the large white addax (Tr. 5).

antelope] te‘o only here and Isa_51:20, LXX ὄρυξ, A.V. wild-ox. Tristram (p. 5) takes the name as generic and suggests that it covers both the antilope bubalis, which, he says, is called ‘wild-cow’ in Moab and Gilead, and a leucoryx ‘the Oryx or white antelope,’ to which the Arabs of Arabia give the name of ‘wild-ox’ (G. Jacob, op. cit. 117, citing from Ar. poets descriptions of it as shining like a white-washed house or as if with a white tunic); Post (Hastings’ D.B. ‘Ox’) proposes the oryx beatrix; Doughty (1. 328) takes the woṭhŷḥî of central Arabia, ‘an antelope beatrix,’ to be the O.T. re’em or wild-ox. R.V. antelope and A.V. wild-ox are thus probably both correct, the former giving the genus of the animal the latter its popular name among the Hebrews and the Arabs. With regard to the Heb. name te’o or the’o I notice that Lane gives the Ar. Sha’ (sh and the soft th correspond) as applied to the wild-bull or wild-cow.

chamois] Certainly not this! This animal is European and is not found so far S. as Palestine. Heb. zemer, Targ. diṣa, wild-goat. In the Mts of Yemen the wild maned sheep, ovis tragelaphus, was anciently numerous (G. Jacob, p. 21). Probably mountain-goat or -sheep.

Thus the names in this verse are all general and popular; each may have covered more than one species found in Syria or Arabia: to identify it with any one species is foolish.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And every beast that parted the hoof,.... In this and the two following verses two general rules are given, by which it might be known what beasts were fit for food and what not; one is if they parted the hoof, and the other if they chewed the cud, such might be eaten; but such that only chewed the cud, but did not divide the hoof, as the camel, hare, and coney, might not be eaten; and so if they divided the hoof, and did not chew the cud, as the swine, they were alike unlawful; See Gill on Lev 11:3; see Gill on Lev 11:4; see Gill on Lev 11:5; see Gill on Lev 11:6; see Gill on Lev 11:7; see Gill on Lev 11:8.

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Deuteronomy 14:9

deu 14:9

deu 14:9

deu 14:9These ye shall eat of, all that are in the waters,.... The fishes there, even such as have fins and scales, but they that have not were not to be eaten: See Gill on Lev 11:9, Lev 11:10, Lev 11:11, Lev 11:12.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Buffle. Hebrew yachmur, which some translate "the fallow-deer." The Arabs give this name to a beast resembling a hart, which has horns and red hair. (Calmet) --- It was served up on the table of Solomon, 3 Kings iv. 23. Pliny ([Natural History?] viii. 13,) mentions the bubalus of Africa, which is like a calf. (Menochius) --- Chamois, (tragelaphum) a beast which has the head of a he-goat, and the carcass of a hart. (Scaliger.) (Pliny, viii. 33.) --- Bochart translates akko after the Arabic, "the wild goat." --- Pygarg, another species of goat, (Pliny, viii. 53,) of the colour of ashes. (Bellon., q. 51.) Dishon means "ashes" in Hebrew. --- Goat, (orygem) "a wild goat, (Septuagint; Bochart; &c.) or ox." Aristotle allows it only one horn. Juvenal mentions that the Getulians feasted on its flesh; and the Egyptian priests, according to Horus, were allowed to eat it, without any scrupulous examination of the sealers. (Calmet) --- Camelopardalus. This animal resembles a camel in its head and longish neck, and the panther in the spotted skin. (Pliny, viii. 18.) --- Bochart (iii. 21,) thinks that the Hebrew zamer, means "a wild goat," noted for "leaping."

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

5. The hart — The ordinary deer. The roebuck should be translated the gazelle.

The pygarg — A species of antelope. A kind of deer called yahmar is found on Carmel. Lieutenant Conder says it resembles the English roebuck. — Tent Work in Palestine, vol. i, p. 173.

The wild ox — Probably a kind of antelope or gazelle.

Chamois — Very likely another species of antelope is referred to.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The hart; ayyal (lYa), probably the fallow deer, or deer generally. The roebuck; tsebi (ybix), the gazelle (Gazella Arabica). The fallow deer; yachmur (rWmjy), the roebuck. The wild goat; akko (wOQa), the ibex. The pygarg; dishon (wOvydi), some kind of antelope, probably the Gazella Dorcas. The wild ox; the"o (wOat), probably the bubale , or wild cow of the Arabs (Alcephalus bubalis), a species of antelope. The chamois; zamer (rmz), probably the wild sheep (Ovis Tragelaphus.)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ואקו AND THE אקו — This is rendered in the Targum by יעלא, the same term as the Hebrew יעל in the expression יעלי סלע (Job 39:1). This is what is called in German 'Steinbock'.

ותאו — This is rendered in the Targum by תורבלא which is the same as תור יער, the ox of the forest (wild ox), for בלא means “forest״ in the Aramaic language.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.