Bible animals : $b being a description of every living creature mentioned in the Scripture, from the ape to the coral.Wood, J. G. (John George)
Religion
Bible animals : $b being a description of every living creature mentioned in the Scripture, from the ape to the coral.
Wood, J. G. (John George)
Animals in the Bible; Nature in the Bible
See also Ps. lvii. 6, "They have prepared a net for my steps, my soul
is bowed down;" and Ps. lxvi. 11, "Thou broughtest us into the net,
thou laidest affliction upon our loins." In the prophet Ezekiel are
several passages which refer to the hunting net, and make especial
mention of the manner in which it falls over its victim. One of these
occurs in chap. xii. 13, "My net also will I spread upon him, and he
shall be taken in my snare." Again in chap. xix. 8, "Then the nations
set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net
over him" In this passage a forcible allusion is made to the manner in
which the wild animal is surrounded by the hunters, who surround and
gradually close in upon them, as they drive their victims into the
toils. The same combination of the hunters is also referred to by the
prophet Micah, vii. 2, "There is none upright among men: they all lie
in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net."
[Illustration: WILD BULL, OR ORYX.
"_They lie at the head of all the streets, like a wild bull in a
net._"--ISAIAH li. 21.]
Accepting the theory that the Tô is one of the large antelopes that
inhabit, or used to inhabit, the Holy Land and its neighbourhood, we
may safely conjecture that it may signify the beautiful animal known
as the ORYX (_Oryx leucoryx_), an animal which has a tolerably wide
range, and is even now found on the borders of the Holy Land. It is a
large and powerful antelope, and is remarkable for its beautiful
horns, which sometimes exceed a yard in length, and sweep in a most
graceful curve over the back.
Sharp as they are, and evidently formidable weapons, the manner in
which they are set on the head renders them apparently unserviceable
for combat. When, however, the Oryx is brought to bay, or wishes to
fight, it stoops its head until the nose is close to the ground, the
points of the horns being thus brought to the front. As the head is
swung from side to side, the curved horns sweep through a considerable
space, and are so formidable that even the lion is chary of attacking
their owner. Indeed, instances are known where the lion has been
transfixed and killed by the horns of the Oryx. Sometimes the animal
is not content with merely standing to repel the attacks of its
adversaries, but suddenly charges forward with astonishing rapidity,
and strikes upwards with its horns as it makes the leap.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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