Animals of the Bible

The animals the people of the Bible lived with — in the fields, in the house and in the wild — and what they meant in daily life.

DogHebrew kelev · Greek kyōn · about 40 mentions
LionHebrew ari, kefir (young lion) · Greek leōn · the Asiatic lion
SheepHebrew tson (flock), keves (lamb) · Greek probaton · several hundred mentions
DonkeyHebrew chamor, aton (she-donkey) · Greek onos · the everyday beast of burden
SerpentHebrew nachash · Greek ophis, echidna (viper) · vipers and cobras
DoveHebrew yonah, tor (turtledove) · Greek peristera · rock doves and turtledoves
Leviathan and BehemothJob 40–41, Psalms, Isaiah · how they have been read