Beast, the translation of i~!^fj2, behemah', dumb animals, quadrupeds, the most usual term; also of "P"3, be'ir' ', grazing animals, flocks or herds, Exod. xxii, 5; Num. xx, 4, 8, 11; Psa. lxxviii, 48; once beasts of burden, Gen. xlv, 17 ; ill, chay, Chaldee N^n, chaya', a wild beast, frequently occurring ; T^E3, nt'phesh, creature or soul, only once in the phrase "beast for beast," Levit. xxiv, 18; t"f2B, te'bach, slaughter, once only for eatable beasts, Prov. ix, 2; and m*3~0, Idrkaroth' , "swift beasts," i. e. dromedaries, Isa. Ix, 20 [see Cattle] ; in the New Test, properly tyUiov, an animal; Snoiov, a icild beast, often ; kt\)voc, a domestic animal, as property, for merchandise, Rev. xviii, 13 ; for food, 1 Cor. xv, 39 ; or for service, Luke x, 34 ; Acts xxiii, 24 ; and otyayiai', an animal for sac- rifice, a victim, Acts vii, 42. In the Bible, this word, when used in contradistinction to man (Psa. xxxvi, 6), denotes a brute creature generally; when in contra- distinction to creeping things (Lev. xi, 2-7; xxvii, 26), it has reference to four-footed animals ; and when to vMd mammalia., as in Gen. i, 25, it means domesticated cattle. Tsiyim', fi^S ("wild beasts," Isa. xiii, 21 ; xxxiv, 14 ; Jer. xl, 39), denotes wild animals of the upland wilderness. Ochim', CnS ("doleful crea- tures," Isa. xiii, 21), may, perhaps, with more propriety- be considered as "poisonous and offensive reptiles." Seirim', D",1'1"b, shaggy ones, is a general term for apes — not satyrs (Isa. xiii, 21; xxxiv, 14; much less "devils," 2 Chron. xi, 15), a pagan poetical creation unfit for Scriptural language; it includes Shedim', E^TwJ ("devils," Deut. xxxii, 17; Psa. cvi, 37), as a species. See Ape. Tannim', B^SFl, are monsters of the deep and of the wilderness — boas, serpents, croco- diles, dolphins, and sharks. See Animal.
The zoology of Scripture may, in a general sense. be said to embrace the whole range of animated na-
BEAST
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ture ; but, after the first brief notice of the creation <.f animals recorded in Genesis, it is limited more par- ticularly to the animals found in Egypt, Arabia, Pal- estine, "Syria, and the countries eastward, in some
those beyond the Euphrates. It comprehends mammalia, birds, reptiles, fishes, and invertebrate animals. See each animal in its alphabetical order. Thus, in animated nature, beginning with the lowest organized in the watery element, we have first "~}'^, She 'rets, '-the moving creature that hath life," ani- malcula, Crustacea, insecta, etc. ; second, C^SP), Tan- nini.m'. fishes and amphibia, including the huge ten- ants of the waters, whether they also fiequent the land or not, crocodiles, python-serpents, ami perhaps even those which are now considered as of a more ancient zoology than the present system, the great Saurians of geology ; and third, it appears, birds, rp2, Opii, "flying creatures" (Gen. i, 20); and, still ad- vancing (cetaceans, pinnatipeds, whales, and seals be- ing excluded), we have quadrupeds, forming three other divisions or orders : (1st.) cattle, ITCHa, Beiie- maii'. embracing the ruminant herbivora, generally gregarious and capable of domesticity; (2d.) wild beasts, Fl^tl, Chayaii', carnivora, including all beasts of prey ; and (3d.) reptiles, iU^H, Re'mes. minor quad- rupeds, such as creep by means of many feet, or glide along the surface of the soil, serpents, annelides, etc. ; finally, we have man, C1X, Adam', standing alone in intellectual supremacy. The classification of Moses, as it may lie drawn from Deuteronomy, ap- pears to be confined to Yertebrata alone, or animals having a spine and ribs, although the fourth class might include others. Taking man as one, it forms five classes: (1st.) Man; (2d.) Beasts; (3d.) Birds; (4th.) Reptiles ; (5th.) Fishes. It is the same as that in Leviticus xi, where beasts are further distinguished into those with solid hoofs, the solipedes of systematists, and those with cloven feet (bisulci), or ruminantia. But the passage specially refers to animals that might be lawfully eaten because they were clean, and to others prohibited because they were declared unclean, although some of them, according to the common be- lief of the time, might ruminate ; for the Scriptures were not intended to embrace anatomical disquisitions aiming at the advancement of human science, but to convey moral and religious truth without disturbing the received opinions of the time on questions having little or no relation to their main object. The Scrip- tures, therefore, contain no minute details on natural history, and notice only a small proportion of the ani- mals inhabiting the regions alluded to. Notwith- standing the subsequent progress of science, the obser- vation of Dr. Adam Clarke is still in a great measure true, that "of a few animals and vegetables we are comparatively certain, but of the great majority we know almost nothing, (iuessing and conjecture are endless, and they have on these subjects been already sufficiently employed. What learning— deep, solid, extensive learnin \ and judgment could do, has already
been <\ by the incomparable Bochart in his Hiero-
tmcon. The learned reader may consult this work, and. while he gains much general information, will <>< '' be can apply so little of it to the main and gr ind question." The chief cause of this is doubtless the general want of a personal and exact
1 f natural history on the part of those who