Topic
Jackal
35 passages cited, from 2 classic reference works.
These works date from 1896–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Malachi 1:3ISBE · Nave A carnivorous animal
And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
- Genesis 1:21ISBE
And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
- Exodus 7:9ISBE
When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.
- Exodus 7:10ISBE
¶ And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
- Exodus 7:12ISBE
For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
- Deuteronomy 32:33ISBE
Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
- Nehemiah 2:13ISBE
And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
- Job 7:12ISBE
Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?
- Job 30:29ISBE
I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
- Psalms 44:19ISBE
Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
- Psalms 63:1ISBE
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
- Psalms 72:9ISBE
They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
Show 23 more
- Psalms 74:13 ISBE
- Psalms 74:14 ISBE
- Psalms 91:13 ISBE
- Psalms 148:7 ISBE
- Isaiah 13:21 ISBE
- Isaiah 13:22 ISBE
- Isaiah 23:13 ISBE
- Isaiah 27:1 ISBE
- Isaiah 34:13 ISBE
- Isaiah 34:14 ISBE
- Isaiah 35:7 ISBE
- Isaiah 43:20 ISBE
- Isaiah 51:9 ISBE
- Jeremiah 9:11 ISBE
- Jeremiah 10:22 ISBE
- Jeremiah 14:6 ISBE
- Jeremiah 49:33 ISBE
- Jeremiah 50:39 ISBE
- Jeremiah 51:34 ISBE
- Jeremiah 51:37 ISBE
- Lamentations 4:3 ISBE
- Ezekiel 29:3 ISBE
- Ezekiel 32:2 ISBE
In the reference works
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 61 references
jak'-ol:
(1) tannim, "jackals," the King James Version "dragons"; compare Arabic tinan, "wolf"; and compare tannin, Arab tinnin, "sea monster" or "monster" the English Revised Version "dragon" (Job 7:12; Ps 74:13; 148:7; Isa 27:1; 51:9; Jer 51:34), "serpent" (Ex 7:9,10,12; De 32:33; Ps 91:13), the King James Version "whale" (Ge 1:21; Job 7:12); but tannin, "jackals," the King James Version "sea monsters" (La 4:3), "jackal's well," the King James Version "dragon well" (Ne 2:13), and tannim, "monster," the King James Version and the English Revised Version "dragon" (Eze 29:3; 32:2).
(2) 'iyim, "wolves," the King James Version "wild beasts of the islands"; compare 'i, plural iyim, "island"; also 'ayyah, "a cry," 'awah, "to cry," "to howl"; Arabic `auwa', "to bark" (of dogs, wolves, or jackals); 'ibn 'awa', colloquially wawi, "jackal."
(3) tsiyim, "wild beasts of the desert."
(4) 'ochim, "doleful creatures."
"Jackals" occurs as a translation of tannim, the King James Version "dragons," in Job 30:29; Ps 44:19; Isa 13:22; 34:13; 35:7; 43:20; Jer 9:11; 10:22; 14:6; 49:33; 51:37; of the feminine plural form tannoth in Mal 1:3, and of tannin in Ne 2:13 and La 4:3. Tannim is variously referred to a root meaning "to howl," and to a root meaning "to stretch out" trop. "to run swiftly, i.e. with outstretched neck and limb extended" (Gesenius). Either derivation would suit "wolf" equally as well as "jackal." The expression in Jer 10:22, "to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals," seems, however, especially appropriate of jackals. The same is true of Isa 34:13; Jer 9:11; 49:33, and 51:37.
The jackal (from Persian shaghal), Canis aureus, is found about the Mediterranean except in Western Europe. It ranges southward to Abyssinia, and eastward, in Southern Asia, to farther India. It is smaller than a large dog, has a moderately bushy tail, and is reddish brown with dark shadings above. It is cowardly and nocturnal. Like the fox, it is destructive to poultry, grapes, and vegetables, but is less fastidious, and readily devours the remains of others' feasts. Jackals generally go about in small companies. Their peculiar howl may frequently be heard in the evening and at any time in the night. It begins with a high-pitched, long-drawn-out cry. This is repeated two or three times, each time in a higher key than before. Finally there are several short, loud, yelping barks. Often when one raises the cry others join in. Jackals are not infrequently confounded with foxes. They breed freely with dogs.
While tannim is the only word translated "jackal" in English Versions of the Bible, the words 'iyim, tsiyim, and 'ochim deserve attention. They, as well as tannim, evidently refer to wild creatures inhabiting desert places, but it is difficult to say for what animal each of the words stands. All four (together with benoth ya`anah and se`irim) are found in Isa 13:21,22: "But wild beasts of the desert (tsiyim) shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures ('ochim); and ostriches (benoth ya`anah) shall dwell there, and wild goats (se`irim) shall dance there. And wolves ('iyim) shall cry in their castles, and jackals (tannim) in the pleasant palaces."
In the King James Version 'iyim (Isa 13:22; 34:14; Jer 50:39) is translated "wild beasts of the islands" (compare 'iyim, "islands"). the King James Version margin has merely the transliteration iim, the Revised Version (British and American) "wolves," the Revised Version margin "howling creatures." Gesenius suggests the jackal, which is certainly a howler. While the wolf has a blood-curdling howl, it is much more rarely heard than the jackal.
Tsiyim (Ps 72:9; 74:14; Isa 13:21; 23:13; 34:14; Jer 50:39) has been considered akin to tsiyah, "drought" (compare 'erets tsiyah, "a dry land" (Ps 63:1)), and is translated in the Revised Version (British and American) as follows: Ps 72:9, "they that dwell in the wilderness"; 74:14, "the people inhabiting the wilderness"; Isa 23:13, "them that dwell in the wilderness," the Revised Version margin "the beasts of the wilderness"; Isa 13:21; 34:14; Jer 50:39, "wild beasts of the desert." There would be some difficulty in referring tsiyim in Ps 72:9 to beasts rather than to men, but that is not the case in Ps 74:14 and Isa 23:13. "Wild cats" have been suggested.
'Ochim, "doleful creatures," perhaps onomatopoetic, occurs only in Isa 13:21. The translation "owls" has been suggested, and is not unsuitable to the context.
It is not impossible that tannim and 'iyim may be different names of the jackals. 'Iyim, tsiyim, and tannim occur together also in Isa 34:13,14, and 'iyim and tsiyim in Jer 50:39. Their similarity in sound may have much to do with their collocation. The recognized word for "wolf," ze'ebh (compare Arabic dhi'b), occurs 7 times in the Old Testament.
Alfred Ely Day
In the topical indexes
Nave's Topical Bible (1896) · 1 references, grouped by sub-topic
- → A carnivorous animal Mal 1:3
Texts: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.