עו. There are other names or appellations given to the goat, as,
1. השופ, 1 Kings xx, 27, which means the _ram-goat_, or leader of the
flock. 2. עתודים, a word which never occurs but in the plural, and
means, _the best prepared_, or choicest of the flock; and metaphorically
_princes_, as, Zech. x, 3, “I will visit the goats, saith the Lord,”
that is, I will begin my vengeance with the princes of the people. “Hell
from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth
up the dead for thee, even all the great goats of the earth,” Isaiah
xiv, 9; all the kings, all the great men. And Jeremiah, speaking of the
princes of the Jews, says, “Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and be
as the he-goats before the flocks,” Jer. 1, 8. 3. צפיר, a name for the
goat, of Chaldee origin, and found only in Ezra vi, 17; viii, 35; Daniel
viii, 5, 21. 4. עואול, from עו, _a goat_, and אול, _to wander about_,
Leviticus xvi, 8, “the scape-goat.” 5. שער, _hairy_, or _shaggy_, whence
שעירים, “_the shaggy ones_.” In Lev. xvii, 7, it is said, “And they
shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils,” (_seirim_, “hairy
ones,”) “after whom they have gone a whoring.” The word here means
idolatrous images of goats, worshipped by the Egyptians. It is the same
word that is translated _satyrs_, in Isaiah xiii, 21; where the LXX
render it δαιμόνια, _demons_. But here they have ματαιοίς, _to vain
things_ or _idols_, which comes to the same sense. What gives light to
so obscure a passage is what we read in Maimonides, that the Zabian
idolaters worshipped demons under the figure of goats, imagining them to
appear in that form, whence they called them by the names of _seirim_;
and that this custom, being spread among other nations, gave occasion to
this precept. In like manner we learn from Herodotus, that the Egyptians
of Mendes held goats to be sacred animals, and represented the god Pan
with the legs and head of that animal. From those ancient idolaters the
same notion seems to have been derived by the Greeks and Romans, who
represented their Pan, their fauns, satyrs, and other idols, in the form
of goats: from all which it is highly probable, that the Israelites had
learned in Egypt to worship certain demons, or sylvan deities, under the
symbolical figure of goats. Though the phrase, “after whom they have
gone a whoring,” is equivalent in Scripture to that of committing
idolatry, yet we are not to suppose that it is not to be taken in a
literal sense in many places, even where it is used in connection with
idolatrous acts of worship. It is well known that Baal-peor and
Ashtaroth were worshipped with unclean rites, and that public
prostitution formed a grand part of the worship of many deities among
the Egyptians, Moabites, Canaanites, &c.
The goat was one of the clean beasts which the Israelites might both eat
and offer in sacrifice. The kid, גרי is often mentioned as a food, in a
way that implies that it was considered as a delicacy. The אקו, or _wild
goat_, mentioned Deut. xiv, 5, and no where else in the Hebrew Bible, is
supposed to be the _tragelaphus_, or “goat-deer.” Schultens conjectures
that this animal might have its name, _ob fugacitatem_, from its
shyness, or running away. The word יעל, occurs 1 Sam. xxiv, 3; Job
xxxix, 1; Psalm civ, 18; Prov. v, 19: and various have been the
sentiments of interpreters on the animal intended by it. Bochart insists
that it is the _ibex_, or “rock-goat.” The root whence the name is
derived, signifies _to ascend_, _to mount_; and the ibex is famous for
clambering, climbing, and leaping, on the most craggy precipices. The
Arab writers attribute to the _jaal_ very long horns, bending backward;
consequently it cannot be the chamois. The horns of the _jaal_ are
reckoned among the valuable articles of traffic, Ezek. xxvii, 15. The
ibex is finely shaped, graceful in its motions, and gentle in its
manners. The female is particularly celebrated by natural historians for
tender affection to her young, and the incessant vigilance with which
she watches over their safety; and also for ardent attachment and
fidelity to her mate.
1. השופ, 1 Kings xx, 27, which means the _ram-goat_, or leader of the
flock. 2. עתודים, a word which never occurs but in the plural, and
means, _the best prepared_, or choicest of the flock; and metaphorically
_princes_, as, Zech. x, 3, “I will visit the goats, saith the Lord,”
that is, I will begin my vengeance with the princes of the people. “Hell
from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth
up the dead for thee, even all the great goats of the earth,” Isaiah
xiv, 9; all the kings, all the great men. And Jeremiah, speaking of the
princes of the Jews, says, “Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and be
as the he-goats before the flocks,” Jer. 1, 8. 3. צפיר, a name for the
goat, of Chaldee origin, and found only in Ezra vi, 17; viii, 35; Daniel
viii, 5, 21. 4. עואול, from עו, _a goat_, and אול, _to wander about_,
Leviticus xvi, 8, “the scape-goat.” 5. שער, _hairy_, or _shaggy_, whence
שעירים, “_the shaggy ones_.” In Lev. xvii, 7, it is said, “And they
shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils,” (_seirim_, “hairy
ones,”) “after whom they have gone a whoring.” The word here means
idolatrous images of goats, worshipped by the Egyptians. It is the same
word that is translated _satyrs_, in Isaiah xiii, 21; where the LXX
render it δαιμόνια, _demons_. But here they have ματαιοίς, _to vain
things_ or _idols_, which comes to the same sense. What gives light to
so obscure a passage is what we read in Maimonides, that the Zabian
idolaters worshipped demons under the figure of goats, imagining them to
appear in that form, whence they called them by the names of _seirim_;
and that this custom, being spread among other nations, gave occasion to
this precept. In like manner we learn from Herodotus, that the Egyptians
of Mendes held goats to be sacred animals, and represented the god Pan
with the legs and head of that animal. From those ancient idolaters the
same notion seems to have been derived by the Greeks and Romans, who
represented their Pan, their fauns, satyrs, and other idols, in the form
of goats: from all which it is highly probable, that the Israelites had
learned in Egypt to worship certain demons, or sylvan deities, under the
symbolical figure of goats. Though the phrase, “after whom they have
gone a whoring,” is equivalent in Scripture to that of committing
idolatry, yet we are not to suppose that it is not to be taken in a
literal sense in many places, even where it is used in connection with
idolatrous acts of worship. It is well known that Baal-peor and
Ashtaroth were worshipped with unclean rites, and that public
prostitution formed a grand part of the worship of many deities among
the Egyptians, Moabites, Canaanites, &c.
The goat was one of the clean beasts which the Israelites might both eat
and offer in sacrifice. The kid, גרי is often mentioned as a food, in a
way that implies that it was considered as a delicacy. The אקו, or _wild
goat_, mentioned Deut. xiv, 5, and no where else in the Hebrew Bible, is
supposed to be the _tragelaphus_, or “goat-deer.” Schultens conjectures
that this animal might have its name, _ob fugacitatem_, from its
shyness, or running away. The word יעל, occurs 1 Sam. xxiv, 3; Job
xxxix, 1; Psalm civ, 18; Prov. v, 19: and various have been the
sentiments of interpreters on the animal intended by it. Bochart insists
that it is the _ibex_, or “rock-goat.” The root whence the name is
derived, signifies _to ascend_, _to mount_; and the ibex is famous for
clambering, climbing, and leaping, on the most craggy precipices. The
Arab writers attribute to the _jaal_ very long horns, bending backward;
consequently it cannot be the chamois. The horns of the _jaal_ are
reckoned among the valuable articles of traffic, Ezek. xxvii, 15. The
ibex is finely shaped, graceful in its motions, and gentle in its
manners. The female is particularly celebrated by natural historians for
tender affection to her young, and the incessant vigilance with which
she watches over their safety; and also for ardent attachment and
fidelity to her mate.