Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/585

Rh ANIMALS oil) ANIMALS rhinoceros and unicorn. The aurochs is for the sacred fxiets a familiar emblem of untamed strength and ferocity. It no lonper exists in western Asia. H.MiooN, a kind of ilog-faced, long-haired monkey, dwcllini among ruins (gen. Viiniiccplialu.i); it was an object of worsliip for the ICgj'plians. Some deem it to be the "hairy one" s|K)ken of in Is., .iii, 21 and xx.xiv, U, but it is very doubtful whether it ever ex- isteil west of the Euphrates. B.dokk. — No mention of the badger {mcles taxus) is found in the D.V., whereas the A.V. regularly gives it as the Knglish ci|uivalcnt for ti'ib/inh. The skin of the U'lhdsh is repeatedly spoken of as used for the outer cover of the tabernacle and the several jHeccs of it.s furniture. The old translations, and the D.V. after them, under- stood the word tAh^ish to mean a color (violet; Ex., XXV, 5; xx, 14; x.xxv, 7, 2.3; xxxvi, 19; Num., iv, 10. 2.5; Ezcch., xvi, 10); but this is a misrepresenta- tion; so also is the rendering of the ..'.; for though the badger is common in Palestine, yet the Hebrew name most probably inilicates the Jugong (halicore hemprichii or liiilicin- liihrntiicull), a very large species of the seal family living in the Red Sea, the skin of which is used to the present day for such purpo.ses as those allmled to in the Hible. B.vsillsk occurs in the D.V. as an equivalent for .several Hebrew names of snakes: (1) Pithcn (Ps. xc, 13), the cobra; had the Latin and l-^nglisli translators been more consistent they would have renilercd this Hebrew word here, as in the other places, bj' a.sp; (2) CiphA' and Ciphe '6ni (Prov., xxiii, 32; Is., xi. 8; xiv, 29; Jer., 'iii, 17; (3) 'I'phe'ih (Is., li., 5), a kind of viper im- po.ssible to determine, or perhaps the echis arenicola; (4) fljHng sfirilpli (Is., xiv, 29; xxx, 6), a winged .serpent (?), possibly also a reptile like the draco limhrititus, which, having long ribs covered with a fringe-like skin, is able to glide through the air for short distances. B.vT. — The bat, fourteen species of which still exist in Palestine is reckoned among unclean "winged things" (Lev., xi, 19; Deut., xiv, IS). Its aboile is generally in dark anil ilesolate places such as ruins and caverns. Beau. — The bear spoken of in the Bible is the urims si/riacus. scarcely diflerent from the brown bear of Europe. Since the destruction of the forests, it is now rarely seen south of Lebanon and Hermon, where it is common. Not unfretiuently met in the Holy Land during the O. T. times, it was much dre.aded on account of its fero- cious and destructive instincts; to dare it was accord- ingly a mark of imconmion courage (I K., xvii, 34- 3(i). Its terror-striking roars and its fierceness, especially when robbed of its cubs, are repeatedly alluded to. Beast, Wild. — The expression occurs twice in the D.V., but much oftener in the A.V., and K.V., where it is in several places a .substitute for the awkward "beast of the field", the Hebrew name of wild animals at large. The first time we reail of "wild beasts" in the D.V., it fairly stands for the Hebrew worI ziz [Ps. Ixxix (Hebr., Ixxx), 14], albeit the ".singular wild beast" is a clum.sy translation. The same Hebrew word in Ps. xlix. 11, at least for consistency's sake, should have been remlereil in the same manner; "the beauty of the field ' must con.scquently be corrected into " wild beast ". In Is., xiii, 21, "wild beasts" is an equivalent for the Hebr. Ciifi/im, i. e. denizens of the tlesert. This word in different places has been transl:ited in divers man- ners; demons (Is., xxxiv, 14), dragons (Ps. l.xxiii, 14: Jer.. 1, 39); it po.s.sibly refers to the hvena. Bee. — Palestine, according to Scripture, is a land flowing with honey (Ex., iii, 8). Its dry climate, its ricli abundance, and variety of aromatic flowers, and its limestone rocks render it particularly adapteil for bees. No wonder then that honey bees, both wild and hived, abound there. .Ml the dilTerent .species known by the names of bombux. noiiiid. andrenn, oamia, megachile, anlhophora, are widely spread throughout the country. The hivetl honey bee of Pal- estine, apis lasciala, belongs to a variety sliglitly dilTerent from ours, characterized by yellow stripes on the abdomen. Wild bees are said to live not onlv in rocks [Ps. Ixxx (Hebr., Ixxxi), 17], but in hollow trees (I K., xiv, 2.')), even in dried carcasses (Judges, xiv, 8). Syrian and Egyptian hives are made of a mash of clay and straw for coolness. In O. T. times, honey wjis an article of export (f!en., xHii, II; Ezech., xxvii, 17). Bees are spoken of in Holy Writ as a term of comparison for a numerous army relentlessly harassing their enemies. Dcbnrah, the Hebrew name for bee, was a favourite name for women. Beetle, given by .^.V. (Lev., xi, 22) as an equivalent for Heljrcw, (trbi'h. docs not meet the requirements of the context: "Hath the legs behind longer wherewith it hoppeth upon the earth", any more than the bruchus of D.V., some species of locust, the locuslii miijratoria being verj- likely intended. Behe.moth, is generally translated by "great boa.sis"; in its wider signification it includes all mammals living on earth, but in the stricter .sense is applied to domesticated (quadrupeds at large. However in Job, xl, 10, where it is left untranslated and considereil as a proper name, it indicates a jiarticular animal. The ilescription of this animal lias h)ng puzzleil the commentators. Many of them now admit that it represents the hippopotamus, so well known to the ancient Egj-ptians; it might pcssibly corresixjnd as well to the rhinoceros. Bikd. — No other cla.ssification of birds than into clean and unclean is given. The Jews, before the captivity, had no domestic fowls except pigeons. .It hough many birds are mentionetl, there occur few allusions to their habits. Their instinct of migration, the snaring or netting them, and the caging of song birtls are referred to. Bino. Dyed. — .So does the Eng- lish version, Jer., xii, 9, wrongly interpret the Hebrew '('ii/tl, which means beast of prey, sometimes also bird of prey. Bird, Sixgi.vg. — This singing bird of Soph., ii, 14, according to the D.V., owes its origin to a mistranslation of the original, which most probably should be read: "And their voice -shall sing at the window"; unless by a mistake of some scribe, the word qiJl, voice, has been substitute<l for the name of some particular bird. BiUD. Si-eckled, Hebrew fo6/iii(i' (Jer., xii, 9). A much discussed translation. The interjirctation of the English versions, however meaningless it may seem to some, is supported by the Targuni. the Syriac, and St. Jerome. In spite of these authorities many moilern scholars prefer to use the word hyena, given by the Se|)tuagint and confirmed by Ecclesi: .sticus, xiii, 22 as well as by the .■rabic (ddbiih) and rabbinical Hebrew (rcbhiKV), names of the hyena. Bisox. according to several authors, the re'cm of the Bible. It belongs to the same genus as the aurochs, but being indigenous to America (whence its name, bos americaiius), and specifically ilitTerent from the aurochs, cannot pos- siblv hae been known by the Hebrews. Bittern (biilliaurus vulijaris). a shy. solitarj', wading bird related to the heron and inhabiting the recesses of .swamps, where its startling, booming cry at night gives a frightening impression of desolation. In the D.V., bittern stands for Hebr. qu'ath (Lev., xi, IS; Is., xxxiv, 11; Soph., ii, 14), although by some in- consistency the same Hebrew woril is remlered Deut., xiv, 17, by cormorant, and Ps. ci (Hebr., cii), 7, by pelican. The pehcan meets all the require- ments of all the pa.ssages where (/«'u//i is mentioned, ami would perhaps be a better translation than bittern. Blast certainly, designates, Deut., xxviii, 42, a voracious insect; the Hebrew fela^dl, "chirp- ing", suggests that the cricket w:is possibly meant and might be .substituted for blast. In Ps. Ixxvii (Hebr., Ixxviii), 40, blast stands for lUisil, "the destroyer", perhaps the locust in its caterpillar state,