Story of the Bible Animals: A Description of the Habits and Uses of every living Creature mentioned in the Scriptures, with Explanation of Passages in the Old and New Testament in which Reference is made to themWood, J. G. (John George)
Religion
Story of the Bible Animals: A Description of the Habits and Uses of every living Creature mentioned in the Scriptures, with Explanation of Passages in the Old and New Testament in which Reference is made to them
Wood, J. G. (John George)
Animals in the Bible; Nature in the Bible
Perhaps the MOUFLON (_Caprovis Musimon_) may be the animal which is
meant by the Hebrew word Zamar, and it is not unlikely that both
animals may have been included in one name.
This animal, which is nearly allied to the Aoudad, is also very
goatlike in general aspect. It is indeed to this resemblance that
the name Caprovis, or goat-sheep, has been given to it. The name
Ammotragus, which, as mentioned above, belongs to the Aoudad, has a
similar signification.
The horns of the Mouflon belong only to the male animal, and are
of enormous size, so that if trumpets of deep tone and great power
were needed, they could be obtained from the horns of this animal.
Those of the Aoudad are very large, and would be well adapted for
the same purpose, but they would not furnish such instruments as
the horns of the Mouflon, which are so large that they seem almost
unwieldy for an animal of twice the Mouflon's size, and give visible
proofs of the strength and agility of an animal which can carry them
so lightly and leap about under their weight so easily as does the
Mouflon.
[Illustration: THE MOUFLON.]
At the present time the Mouflon is only to be found in Crete,
Sardinia, and Corsica, but formerly it was known to inhabit many
other parts of the earth, and was almost certainly one of the many
animals which then haunted the Lebanon, but which have in later days
been extirpated.
THE GOAT.
Value of the Goat--Its use in furnishing food--The male kid the
usual animal of slaughter--Excellence of the flesh and deception
of Isaac--Milk of the Goat--An Oriental milking scene--The hair
of the goat, and the uses to which it is put--The Goat's skin
used for leather--The "bottle" of Scripture--Mode of making
and repairing the bottles--Ruse of the Gibeonites--The "bottle
in the smoke"--The sacks and the kneading troughs--The Goat as
used for sacrifice--General habits of the Goat--Separation of
the Goats from the sheep--Performing Goats--Different breeds of
Goats in Palestine.
Whether considered in reference to food, to clothing, or to
sacrifice, the GOAT was scarcely a less important animal than the
sheep. It was especially valuable in such a country as Palestine,
in which the soil and the climate vary so much according to the
locality. Upon the large fertile plains the sheep are bred in vast
flocks, the rich and succulent grass being exactly to their taste;
while in the hilly and craggy districts the Goats abound, and
delight in browsing upon the scanty herbage that grows upon the
mountain-side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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