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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Goat
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GOAT.—(1) ‘çz, used generically, both sexes, Gen_30:35, Exo_12:5, Ezr_6:17 etc. (2) tsâphîr (root ‘to leap’), ‘he-goat,’ 2Ch_29:21, Ezr_8:35, Dan_8:5; Dan_8:8. (3) sâ‘îr (root ‘hairy’), usually a he-goat, e.g. Dan_8:21 ‘rough goat’; se‘îrah, Lev_5:6 ‘she-goat’; se‘îrîm, tr. [Note: translate or translation.] ‘devils’ 2Ch_11:15, ‘satyrs’ Isa_13:21; Isa_34:14. See Satyr. (4) ‘attûd, only in pl. ‘attûdîm, ‘he-goats’ Gen_31:10; Gen_31:12, AVm [Note: Authorized Version margin.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘chief ones’ Isa_14:8, but RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘he-goats.’ (5) tayîsh, ‘he-goat,’ Pro_30:31 etc. In NT eriphos, eriphion, Mat_25:32-33; tragos, Heb_9:12-13; Heb_9:19; Heb_10:4. Goats are among the most valued possessions of the people of Palestine. Nabal had a thousand goats (1Sa_25:2; see also Gen_30:33; Gen_30:35; Gen_32:14 etc.). They are led to pasture with the sheep, but are from time to time separated from them for milking, herding, and even feeding (Mat_25:32). Goats thrive on extraordinarily bare pasturage, but they do immeasurable destruction to young trees and shrubs, and are responsible for much of the barrenness of the hills. Goats supply most of the milk used in Palestine (Pro_27:27); they are also killed for food, especially the young kids (Gen_27:9, Jdg_6:19; Jdg_13:15 etc.). The Syrian goat (Capra mambrica) is black or grey, exceptionally white, and has shaggy hair and remarkably long ears. Goat’s hair is extensively woven into cloaks and material for tents (Exo_26:7; Exo_36:14), and their skins are tanned entire to make water-bottles. See Bottle.
Wild goat.—(1) yâ‘çl (cf. proper name Jael), used in pl. ye’çlîm, 1Sa_24:2, Psa_104:18, and Job_39:1. (2) ’akkô, Deu_14:5. Probably both these terms refer to the wild goat or ibex, Capra beden, the beden or ‘goats of Moses’ of the Arabs. It is common on the inaccessible cliffs round the Dead Sea, some of which are known as jebel el-beden, the ‘mountains of the wild goats’ (cf. 1Sa_24:2). The ibex is very shy, and difficult to shoot. Though about the size of an ordinary goat, its great curved horns, often 3 feet long, give it a much more imposing appearance.
E. W. G. Masterman.