Deer and gazelles in the Bible

• Deer and gazelles may be eaten, by the clean and unclean alikeDeut 12:15, Deut 14:5
  The verses

  Deut 12:15But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you. Both the ceremonially clean and unclean may eat it as they would a gazelle or deer,

  Deut 14:5the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.
• Deer, gazelles and roebucks were provided for Solomon’s table1 Kgs 4:22–23
  The verses

  1 Kgs 4:22–23Solomon’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal, ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry.
• Job: the doe crouches to bear her fawn; the young grow up in the open fieldJob 39:1–4
  The verses

  Job 39:1–4“Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn? Can you count the months they are pregnant? Do you know the time they give birth? They crouch down and bring forth their young; they deliver their newborn. Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field; they leave and do not return.
• In drought the doe deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grassJer 14:5
  The verses

  Jer 14:5Even the doe in the field deserts her newborn fawn because there is no grass.
• “As the deer pants for streams of water”Ps 42:1
  The verses

  Ps 42:1For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.
• Deer that find no pasture lack strength to flee the hunterLam 1:6
  The verses

  Lam 1:6All the splendor has departed from the Daughter of Zion. Her princes are like deer that find no pasture; they lack the strength to flee in the face of the hunter.
• A gazelle frees itself from the hand of the hunterProv 6:5
  The verses

  Prov 6:5Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

Sayings

• Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle2 Sam 2:18
  The verses

  2 Sam 2:18The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was fleet of foot like a wild gazelle,
• Gadite warriors were swift as gazelles on the mountains1 Chr 12:8
  The verses

  1 Chr 12:8Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the desert. They were mighty men of valor, trained for battle, experts with the shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were as swift as gazelles on the mountains:
• “He makes my feet like those of a deer” on the heights2 Sam 22:34, Ps 18:33, Hab 3:19
  The verses

  2 Sam 22:34He makes my feet like those of a deer and stations me upon the heights.

  Ps 18:33He makes my feet like those of a deer and stations me upon the heights.

  Hab 3:19GOD the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer; He makes me walk upon the heights! For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.
• “A loving doe, a graceful fawn”Prov 5:19
  The verses

  Prov 5:19A loving doe, a graceful fawn— may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.
• The beloved, like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountainsSong 2:9, Song 2:17, Song 8:14
  The verses

  Song 2:9My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.

  Song 2:17Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.

  Song 8:14Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.
• “I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field”Song 2:7
  The verses

  Song 2:7O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
• “Naphtali is a doe set free”Gen 49:21
  The verses

  Gen 49:21Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.