RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Hunnius
Hunting Among the Hebrews
(B.A., 1864), and was vicar of Congresbury-cum- Wick, St. Lawrence, Somersetshire (1867-82). Since 1882 he has resided in London, devoting himself to literary work and reviewing. He was examiner in history at Oxford in 1877-79 and 1881-82, and since 1905 has been president of the Royal Historical Society. His works include History of the Diocese of Bath and Wells (London, 1883) ; The English Church in the Middle Ages (1888); and History of the English Church, 597-1066 (1899), besides an edition of Two Chartularies of Bath Priory (London, 1893). He has also edited the Historical Towns Series in collaboration with E. A. Freeman, and contributed to it The History of Bristol (London, 1887), while he wrote The Political History of England, 1760-1801, as the tenth volume of the Political History of England, edited by him and R. L. Poole (1905).
HUNTING AMONG THE HEBREWS: In Palestine there was no lack of animals of the chase. The so-called Persian lion (leo persicus),
i. Beasts now long extinct, was found in ancient
of Prey, times in great numbers in the thickets near the Jordan (Jer. xlix. 19; Zech. xi. 3), in the desert of southern Judea, and in the Lebanon (Cant. iv. 8; cf. II Kings xvii. 25 sqq.). It was caught in pitfalls (Ezek. xix. 4, 8) and strong nets were also used. The bear was equally common, but less feared (I Sam. xvii. 34; II Sam. xvii. 8; Hos. xiii. 8; Amos v. 19). The Syrian bear (ursus syriacus), now found but rarely in the Lebanon, is somewhat smaller than the usual type of brown bear. The wolf appears to have been the special enemy of sheep (Matt. x. 16; Luke x. 3; John x. 12), and was much employed in literary imagery as a type of rapacity. The striped hyena (hyena striata) is still found throughout Palestine, especially where rock-tombs and caves offer a refuge. The only allusions to it in the Old Testament are Isa. xiii. 22, and perhaps Jer. xii. 8. The jackal {canis aureus) appears in the Old Testament as lurking in ruins and desert places (Isa. xiii. 22, xxxiv. 13). Its howling serves as a type of the bitterest lamentation (Job xxx. 29; Mic. i. 8). The leopard (felis pardus), still quite common in the Lebanon, is mentioned as a dreaded beast of prey (Isa. xi. 6; Jer. v. 6; Hos. xiii. 7), and was admired for its beautiful skin (Jer. xiii. 23) and its swiftness (Hab. i. 8). The fox is the destroyer of vineyards (Cant. ii. 15; Neh. iv. 3), and was a type of craft and malice (Ezek. xiii. 4; cf. Luke xiii. 32). In the northern part of Palestine the Syrian fox (vulpes ftavescens) is found, and in the southern part the Egyptian fox (vulpes nilotica).
Of larger game animals, the gazelle (antilope
dorcas) takes the first place, and is even to-day the
most common of such animals. For
Game the Hebrews the gazelle, as its name,
Animals, zebhi, signifies, is one of the most beautiful of animals; it figures often in poetry as a type of grace (Cant. ii. 9, 17; Prov. v. 19) ; its name was frequently given to girls (II Kings xii. 1; Acts ix. 36). Shy and fleet as are few other animals (Prov. vi. 5; Isa. xiii. 14), the gazelle was difficult to take (Cant. ii. 17) . It was caught in pitfalls and snares, and its flesh was much prized (Deut.
xii. 15, xiv. 5; I Kings iv. 23) . Among the antelopes belongs the dishon (Deut. xiv. 5; probably the antilope addax), the te'o (Deut. xiv. 5; Isa. Ii. 20; the antilope leucoryx or bubalis) , and in all probability the yahmur (Deut. xiv. 5; I Kings iv. 23) which, however, is often understood to mean the fallow deer or the roe-buck. Next to the gazelle, the stag is the most common game animal (Deut. xiv. 5; I Kings iv. 23); it is very rare at the present time, but was well known to the ancient Hebrews and admired for its grace (Prov. v. 19; Cant. ii. 71) and its nimbleness and speed (Ps. xviii. 33; Cant. ii. 9; Isa. xxxv. 6; Hab. iii. 19). The ibex, at the present day, is found principally in the mountain-cliffs of the western shore of the Dead Sea and in the mountains of Moab, as well as in the cliffs of Sinai, whence it takes its name (capra sinaitica). Hares (Lev. xi. 6; Deut. xiv. 7) and rock-badgers (hyrax syriacus) were considered to be unclean, and were therefore rarely hunted.
Of game-birds the partridge is represented by various species, especially the stone-partridge (caccabis saxatilis) and the ammoperdix Game heyi, the latter particularly in the Birds. desert of Judea. To judge from the metaphor used in I Sam. xxvi. 20, partridges were hunted at that time exactly as they are at present — they were persistently pursued until they became exhausted and could be killed with a stick. For doves, which were regarded as domestic birds, see Doves. Quails are mentioned only in the account of the wandering as food for the lustful people (Ex. xvi. 12-13). These birds make their appearance in Palestine during their migrations to the south. Sparrows and other small birds were a welcome prey of the bird-catcher (Prov. vii. 23; Lam. iii. 52; Amos iii. 5; Matt. x. 29), and were often eaten. On the other hand the swallow (Ps. Ixxxiv. 3; Isa. xxxviii. 14; Jer. viii. 7), with the exception of one species, is in the Talmud pronounced unclean.
According to all the statements in the Old Testament the hunting of animals of prey seems to have been pursued only in self-defense;
Purpose shepherds and peasants were forced to and defend themselves against them in hard
Methods battles (Gen. xxxvii. 33; I Sam. xvii, of the 34 sqq.; I Kings xiii. 24; Isa. v. 29); Hunt. and the acts of heroism shown in these combats received full recognition (Judges xiv. 6, xv. 4; II Sam. xxiii. 20). Edible game was always hunted for the flesh, which was highly esteemed (Gen. xxv. 28, xxvii. 3 sqq.; I Kings iv. 23). Hunting was rarely a pastime. Nimrod, the " mighty hunter before the Lord," was a strange figure which had no parallel in Israelitic legend. Esau is probably also an ideal figure. It is not mentioned of the Israelitic kings that they were fond of hunting. This is all the more noticeable since at the Egyptian and Assyrian courts the taste for hunting was general. Only of Herod Josephus asserts (Wars, I., xxi. 13) that he was an eager huntsman. The same writer also mentions pleasure-hunts on horseback of birds and wild animals with trained falcons and hunting-dogs (Ant. XV., vii. 7, XVI., 10, 3). On the way in which the
Huntingdon Hurd