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
The havoc which the Leopard makes among the sheep and goats is alluded
to by the prophet Isaiah, chap. xi. 6: "The wolf also shall dwell with
the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf
and the young lion together, and a little child shall lead them." Here
again we find the same imagery employed, the people being signified
under the metaphor of flocks and herds, and their enemies symbolised
by lions, wolves, and Leopards. And herein the Prophet speaks as from
accurate knowledge of the habits of the three predaceous animals. The
wolf, as a rule, devastates the sheepfolds; the Leopard will steal
upon and carry off the straggling goat or kid, because it can follow
them upon the precipices where no wolf would dare to tread; while the
lion, being the strongest and more daring of the three, attacks the
herds, and carries away to its lair the oxen which neither Leopard nor
wolf could move.
There is of course a deeper meaning than has been mentioned but any
commentary on that subject would be out of place in a work like the
present, and, however tempting the subject may be to the writer, it is
better that the reader should be left to investigate it for himself.
Lastly, the peculiar localities which the Leopard loves are mentioned
in the Song of Solomon, chap. iv. 8: "Come with me from Lebanon, my
spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top
of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the
leopards." Formerly, large forests of pine, oak, and cedar covered
Lebanon, and in those days the wild beasts of the forest would be
extremely plentiful. Even at the present day they are not extinct, and
a recent traveller, the Rev. J. L. Porter, states that considerable
numbers of wild beasts still inhabit the retired glens of the range of
Lebanon, and that he himself has seen jackals, hyænas, wolves, bears,
and Leopards.
The remaining passages, in which a beast formed like a Leopard was
seen in a vision by the prophet Daniel and St. John the Evangelist,
are purely allegorical, and have nothing to do with the actual animal.
THE CAT.
The Cat never mentioned by name in the canonical Scriptures, and
only once in the Apocrypha--The Cat domesticated among the
Egyptians, and trained in bird-catching--Neglected capabilities
of the Cat--Anecdote of an English Cat that caught fish for her
master--Presumed reason why the Scriptures are silent about the
Cat--The Cat mentioned by Baruch.
It is a very remarkable circumstance that the word CAT is not once
mentioned in the whole of the canonical Scriptures, and only once in
the Apocrypha.
The Egyptians, as is well known, kept Cats domesticated in their
houses, a fact which is mentioned by Herodotus, in his second book,
and the 66th and 67th chapters. After describing the various animals
which were kept and fed by this nation, he proceeds to narrate the
habits of the Cat, and writes as follows:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account