WOLF
1029 WOLFENBUTTEL MANUSCRIPT
In 1772 Dr. Freer saw and measured the forepart and tail of one of these animals, and supplied Dr. Uussell with the description which lie has inserted in his booiv. The animal was one of several that followed the Basrah caravan from Basrah to the neii^hborliood of Alepjio. ^lany persons in the caravan had been bitten, some of wliom died in a short time raving mad. It was also re- ported that some persons in the neighborhood of Aleppo were bitten, and died in like manner; but the doctor saw none of them himself. Dr. Kussell imagines that the sliih might be a wolf run mad. But this is a hazard- ous assumption, as it is doubtful whether canine madness exists in Western Asia ; and unless we conclude with Col. Hamilton Smith that the shih is probably the same as the Thous acmon, or the wild wolf-dog of Natolia, it is best to await further information on the subject. Burckhardt says that little doubt can be entertained of the existence of tlic animal, and explains its fabulous origin (between a wolf and leopard) by stating that the Arabs, and especially the Bedawin, are in the common practice of assigning to every animal that is rarely met with parents of two different species of known animals" (;Kitto, P//ys. Hist. ofPidesl. ii, 3Gi).
The following are the scriptural allusions to the wolf: Its ferocity is mentioned in Gen. xlix, 27; Ezek. xxii, 27; Hab. i, 8; Matt, vii, 15; its nocturnal habits in Jer. V, () ; Zeph. iii, 3 ; Hab. i, 8 ; its attacking sheep and lambs in Ecclus. xiii, 17; John x, 12; Matt, x, IG; Luke X, o. Isaiah (xi, G ; Ixv, 25) foretells the jieace- fid reign of the Messiah under the metaphor of a wolf dwelling with a lamb. Cruel persecutors are compared with wolves (Matt, x, IG; Acts xx, 29). See Zeer.
Wolves were doubtless far more common in Biblical times than they are now, though they are occasionally reported by modern travellers (see Eussell, Nat. Hist, of Aleppo, ii, 184:); "The wolf seldom ventures so near the city as the fox, but is sometimes seen at a distance by the sportsmen among the hilly grounds in the neigh- borhood; and the villages, as well as the herds, often suffer from them. It is called dib in Arabic, and is common all over Syria." The wolf is now, as of old, the dread of the shepherds of Palestine. Not so nu- merous, but much more formidable than the jackal, he lurks about the fields, hunting not in noisj' packs, but secreting himself till dark among the rocks; and with- out arousing the vigilance of the sheep-dogs, he leaps into the fold, and seizes his victim hj stealth. Tiieir boldness at times, however, is very remarkable, especial- ly' in the less-frequented regions. " In every part of the country we occasionally saw the wolf. In the open plain of Gennesaret my horse one day literally leaped over a wolf. In the hill country of Benjamin the wolves still re- main. We found them alike in the forests of Bashan and Gilead, in the ra-
the wolf of Europe, being a pale fawn tint, and seems to be a larger and stronger animal. See Fox.
^Volf, JoHANN CiiuiSTOi'ii, wcU kuowu by his works in the lield of Jewish literature, was born at Wernigerodc, (iermany, Feb. 21, 1GS3. At the gymnasium of his na- tive place he received a solid classical education. In 1G95 he went to Hamburg with his father, and here he pros- ecuted his preparatory studies under Anckelmann, Ed- zard, and Fabricius. In 1703 we tind Wolf at Witten- berg; in 170i he was made a doctor, and in 170G he was received into the academic senate; in 1707 he returned to Hamburg, and was appointed co-rector at Flensburg; in 1708 he went to Holland and England, and was thus brought in contact with the learned men of his age, as Vitringa, Hemsterhuys, Clericus, Snrenhusius, Keland, Perizonius, Basnage, Bentlej', Barnes, Cave, and others. At Oxford he stayed about six months, and spent most of his time in the Bodleian Library. In 1709 he returned to Flensburg, where he received a call to Wittenberg as professor of philosophy; in 1712 he was appointed pro-* fcssor of Oriental languages at the Hamburg (iymna- sium, and in 1716 he became pastor of St. Catharine's. He died Jul}' 25, 1739. His main work is his Bibliotheca Hebra'u (Hamburg, 1715-33, 4 vols.) ; the first vol. con- tains a list of Jewish authors; the second treats of the Old Test., its MSS., editions, etc. ; the third and fourth are supplements to the first two. This Bibliotheca is still the great storehouse of information on Jewish litera- ture; and although Jewish writers of our day speak of its deficiencies and shortcomings (but how could it be otherwise?), j'et these fault-finders, while abusing the author, copy his work. Those, however, who have la- bored in the same department will always speak with great admiration of Wolf's Bibliotheca. Steinschneider says of our author "dass Wolf an Fleiss, Ehrlichkeit, Besonnenheit, und Unbefangenheit zuglcich noch von keinem christlicheu und von sehr wenigen jlidischen Autoren auf diesem Gebiete libertroffen worden" {Bi- blioff. Handbuch, p. xviii). Besides his great work, he wrote, d'^lUTO 1T3D n"n, Ilistoria Lexicorum Hebrai- conn« (Wittenberg, 1705): — De Usu Talmudicai Rabbini- cxeque Lectionis Elenchtico (ibid. 170G) : — -Notitia Kane- oruni (Hainburg, 1721), See Seelen, De Vita, Scriptis, et Meritis J. C. Wolfii (Stade, 1717); Petersen, Gesch. der Hamburger Stadtbibliothek (Hambr.rg, 1838) ; F'iirst, Bibl. Jud. iii, 529; Winer, Handbuch der theol. Lit. i, G9. 120, 137, 140, 189, 235, 416, 642, 648, 826, 899-901 ; Stein- schneider, Biblior/. Handbuch, p. xviii sq., 150; id. Cata- lofjiis Libr. Hehr. in Bibl. Bodl. p. 2730 ; De' Rossi, Di- zionario Storico (Germ, transl.), p. xiv sq, (B, P.)