Deer

A wild quadruped, of a middle size between the stag and the roebuck; its horns turn inward, and are large and flat. The fallow deer is naturally very timorous: it was reputed clean, and good for food, Deu 14:5 . Young deer are noticed in Proverbs, Songs, and Isaiah, as beautiful creatures, and very swift, Pro 5:19 . See HIND.\par

Deer. See Fallow-Deer.

Although this word occurs in the English Bible only in the connection FALLOW DEER SEE FALLOW DEER (q.v.), it properly represents several terms in the original, which are variously translated, and which denote widely different members of the antelope and cervic families. SEE CHAMOIS; SEE GOAT; SEE OX; SEE PYGARG; SEE ROE, etc. For the proper deer we find the following variations of the same word ayyal’ (אִוָּל, an intensive of אִיַל, q. d. a large ram; Sept. ἔλαφος), the male, always rendered “hart” (q.v.), occurs Deu 12:15; Deu 12:22; Deu 14:5; Deu 15:22; 1Ki 4:23; Psa 42:1; Son 2:9; Son 2:17; Son 8:14; Isa 35:6; Lam 1:6: ayyalah/ (אִיָּלָה, Gen 49:21; 2Sa 22:34; Job 39:1; Psa 18:33; Psa 29:9; Son 2:7; Son 3:5; Hab 3:19), or ayye’leth (אִיֶּלֶת, Pro 5:19; Jer 14:5), the female, always rendered “hind” in our version (Sept. στέλεχος). Many recent writers, however, either suppose different species of antelope to be meant, or, with Dr. Shaw, consider the term to be generic for several species of deer taken together. Sir J. G. Wilkinson believes the ayyal to be the Ethiopian oryx, with nearly straight horns. SEE ANTELOPE.

It should be observed, however, that an Ethiopian species could not well be meant where the clean animals fit for the food of the Hebrews are indicated, nor where allusion is made to suffering from thirst, and to high and rocky places as the refuge of females, or of both, since all the species of oryx inhabit the open plains, and are not remarkable for their desire of drinking; nor can either of these propensities be properly ascribed to the true antelopes, or gazellae, of Arabia and Syria, all being residents of the plain and the desert; like the oryges, often seen at immense distances from water, and unwilling to venture into forests, where their velocity of flight and delicacy of structure impede and destroy them. Taking the older interpretation, and reviewing all the texts where hart and hind are mentioned, we find none where these objections truly apply. Animals of the stag kind prefer the security of forests, are always most robust in rocky mountain covers, and seek water with considerable anxiety; for of all the light-footed ruminants, they alone protrude the tongue when hard pressed in the chase. Now, comparing these qualities with several texts, we find them perfectly appropriate to the species of these genera alone. Ayyal appears to be a mutation of a common name with ἔλαφος; and although no great stress should be laid on names which, more particularly in early times, were used without much attention to specific identity, yet we find the Chaldee ajal and Sarmatic jelen strictly applied to stag. Hence the difficulty lay in the modern denial that ruminants with branched deciduous horns existed in the south-west of Asia and Egypt; and Cuvier for some time doubted, notwithstanding Virgil’s notice, whether they were found in any part of Africa; nevertheless, though not abundant where water is rare, their existence from Morocco to the Nile, and beyond it, cannot be denied; and it is likely that an Asiatic species still appears sometimes in Syria, and, no doubt, was formerly common there (see the Penny Cycloepedia, s.v. Deer).

1. The species usually referred to by the above Heb. terms is probably that now known by the name of Cervus barbarus, or Barbary stag, in size between the red and fallow deer, distinguished by the want of a bisantler, or second branch on the horns, reckoning from below, and by a spotted livery, which is effaced only in the third or fourth year. This species is figured on Egyptian monuments, is still occasionally seen about the natron lakes west of the Nile, and, it seems, has been observed by travelers in the desert east of the Dead Sea, on the route from Cairo towards Damascus. We take this to be the igial or ajal of the Arabs, the same which they accuse of eating fish — that is, the ceps, lizards, and snakes, a propensity common to other species, and similarly ascribed to the Virginian and Mexican deer.

2. Another species is the Persian stag, or maral of the Tahtar nations, and gewazen of Armenia, larger than the stag of Europe, clothed with a heavy mane, and likewise destitute of bisantlers. We believe this species to be the soegur of Asiatic Turkey, and mara of the Arabs, and therefore residing on the borders of the mountain forests of Syria and Palestine. One or both of these species were dedicated to the local bona dea on Mount Libanus — a presumptive proof that deer were found in the vicinity.

Of the hind it is unnecessary to say more than that she is the female of the stag, or hart, and that in the manners of these animals the males are always the last to hurry into cover. SEE STAG.

See FALLOW DEER.

DEER.—See Fallow-deer, Hart.

Ancient abbey, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. According to legend it was founded during the last quarter of the 6th century by monks from Iona, under Saint Columba and Saint Drostan. In 1219 the Earl of Buchan divided the abbey lands between a parochial church and New Deer, a newly founded Cistercian monastery which remained in existence until the Reformation. One of the oldest monuments of Scottish literature is the Book of Deer, now in the Cambridge University library. It is an illuminated Latin and Gaelic manuscript of the 9th century and later containing the Apostles’ Creed, parts of the Gospels and of a Scottish office for Communion of the sick, and notes regarding the abbey.

dēr (איּל, ’ayyāl, feminine איּלה, ’ayyālāh, and איּלת, ’ayyeleth (compare Arabic, ’ayyāl and ’iyāl, “deer” and איל, ’ayil, “ram,” and Latin caper and capra, “goat,” caprea, capreolus, “wild goat,” “chamois,” or “roe deer”); יחמוּר, yaḥmūr (compare Arabic, yaḥmūr, “deer”); יעלה, ya‛ălāh, feminine of יעל, yā‛ēl (compare Arabic, wa‛l, “Pers wild goat”); צבי, c^ebhı̄, and feminine צביּה, c^ebhı̄yāh (compare Arabic, ẓabi and feminine ẓabı̄yah, “gazelle”; עפר, ‛ōpher (compare Arabic, ghafr and ghufr, “young of the mountain goat”)):

Of the words in the preceding list, the writer believes that only the first two, i.e. ’ayyāl (with its feminine forms) and yaḥmūr should be translated “deer,” ’ayyāl for the roe deer and yaḥmūr for the fallow deer. Further, he believes that ya‛ēl (including ya‛ă̆lāh) should be translated “ibex,” and c^ebhı̄, “gazelle.” ‛Ōpher is the young of a roe deer or of a gazelle.

’Ayyāl and its feminine forms are regularly in English Versions of the Bible rendered “hart” and “hind,” terms which are more commonly applied to the male and female of the red deer, Cervus elaphus, which inhabits Great Britain, the continent of Europe, the Caucasus and Asia Minor, but which has never been reported as far south as Syria or Palestine. The roe deer, Capreolus caprea, however, which inhabits the British Isles, the greater part of Europe, the Caucasus and Persia, is certainly found in Palestine. The museum of the Syrian Protestant College at Beirût possesses the skeleton of a roe deer which was shot in the mountains near Tyre. As late as 1890 it was fairly common in southern Lebanon and Carmel, but has now (1912) become very scarce. The fallow deer, Cervus dama, is a native of Northern Africa and countries about the Mediterranean. It is found in central Europe and Great Britain, where it has been introduced from its more southern habitat. A variety of the fallow deer, sometimes counted as a separate species under the name of Cervus Mesopotamicus, inhabits northeastern Mesopotamia and Persia. It may in former times have been found in Palestine, and Tristram reports having seen the fallow deer in Galilee (Fauna and Flora of Pal), but while Tristram was a remarkably acute observer, he appears sometimes to have been too readily satisfied, and his observations, when unaccompanied, as in this case, by specimens, are to be accepted with caution. Now ’ayyāl (and its feminine forms) occurs in the Bible 22 times, while yaḥmūr occurs only twice, i.e. in the list of clean animals in Deu 14:5, and in 1Ki 4:23, in the list of animals provided for Solomon’s table. In both places the King James Version has “fallow deer” and the Revised Version (British and American) “roebuck.” In view of the fact that the roe deer has within recent years been common in Palestine, while the occurrence of the fallow deer must be considered doubtful, it seems fair to render ’ayyāl “roe deer” or “roebuck,” leaving yaḥmūr for fallow deer.

The Arabs call the roe deer both ’ayyāl and wa‛l. Wa‛l is the proper name of the Persian wild goat, Capra aegagrus, and is also often used for the Arabic or Sinaitic ibex, Capra beden, though only by those who do not live within its range. Where the ibex is at home it is always called beden. This looseness of nomenclature must be taken into account, and we have no reason to suppose that the Hebrews were more exact than are the Arabs. There are many examples of this in English, e.g. panther, coney, rabbit (in America), locust, adder and many others.

Yā‛ēl (including ya‛ălāh) occurs 4 times. In Job 39:1; Psa 104:18; 1Sa 24:2, English Versions of the Bible render yā‛ēl by “wild goat.” For ya‛ălāh in Pro 5:19, the King James Version has “roe,” while the Revised Version (British and American) has “doe,” which is non-committal, since the name, “doe,” may be applied to the female of a deer or of an ibex. Since the Arabic, wa‛l, which is etymologically closely akin to yā‛ēl, means the Persian wild goat, it might be supposed that that animal was meant, were it not that it inhabits the plains of the Syrian desert, and not the mountains of Southern Palestine, where the ibex lives. At least two of the passages clearly indicate the latter locality, i.e. Psa 104:18: “The high mountains are for the wild goats,” and 1Sa 24:2: “Saul ... went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.” The conclusion then seems irresistible that yā‛ēl, and consequently ya‛ălāh, is the ibex.

C^ebhı̄ (including c^ebhı̄yāh) is uniformly rendered “roe” or “roebuck” in the King James Version, while the Revised Version (British and American), either in the text or in the margin, has in most cases “gazelle.” In two places “roe” is retained in the Revised Version (British and American) without comment, i.e. 2Sa 2:18: “Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe,” and 1Ch 12:8: “were as swift as the roes upon the mountains.” ’Ayyāl and c^ebhı̄ occur together in Deu 12:15, Deu 12:22; Deu 14:5; Deu 15:22; 1Ki 4:23; Son 2:9, Son 2:17, i.e. in 7 of the 16 passages in which we find c^ebhı̄̌. If therefore it be accepted that ’ayyāl is the roe deer, it follows that c^ebhı̄ must be something else. Now the gazelle is common in Palestine and satisfies perfectly every passage in which we find c^ebhı̄̌. Further, one of the Arabic names of the gazelle is ẓabi, a word which is etymologically much nearer to c^ebhı̄ than appears in this transliteration.

‛Ōpher is akin to ‛āphār, “dust,” and has reference to the color of the young of the deer or gazelle, to both of which it is applied. In Son 2:9, Son 2:17 and Son 8:14, we have ‛ōpher hā-’ayyālı̄m, English Versions of the Bible “young hart,” literally, “fawn of the roe deer.” In Son 4:5 and Son 7:3, we have ‛ŏphārı̄m t^e’ōmē c^ebhı̄yāh, the King James Version “young roes that are twins,” the Revised Version (British and American) “fawns that are twins of a roe,” the Revised Version, margin “gazelle” (for “roe”). For further reference to these questions, see ZOOLOGY.

With the exception of mere lists of animals, as in Dt 14 and 1 Ki 4, the treatment of these animals is highly poetical, and shows much appreciation of their grace and beauty.

Deer. From early times, deer were game animals. Isaac’s son Esau was "a skillful hunter" (Gen 25:27). And it was Isaac’s craving for deer meat that enabled Jacob to steal his dying father’s blessing (Gen. 27). Deer were still plentiful in Palestine in Solomon’s day and were served at his table (1Ki 4:23). Jews could eat deer because this animal "chews the cud" and "divides the hoof." (A deer track perfectly illustrates a "divided hoof.")

The Bible contains many references to deer. The animal was admired for its agility and grace, its ability to sense danger quickly, and its swiftness. Biblical writers also noted the doe’s gentle care of her young. A young deer is called a fawn (Son 4:5; Son 7:3). The psalmist thought of the long journey for water that a deer faces in dry seasons and exclaimed: "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God" (Psa 42:1). Isaiah wrote of the feelings of joy and elation when he wrote, "the lame shall leap like a deer" (Psa 35:6).

Scholars are not sure of the precise species or kind of deer Esau hunted or Solomon served. The terms stag or buck (male), hart (male), and hind (female) are used of the red deer common in Europe, which has never lived in Palestine. Likely candidates are the fallow deer (Deu 14:5), (KJV), which was common in Mesopotamia, and the roe deer, often called by its male name, roe buck (Deu 14:5), (RSV). Bible translators often interchanged terms for various kinds of deer, and for gazelle as well; so readers must settle for informed guesses about the exact species intended. Also see Antelope, Gazelle.

A deer is a large animal with hooves. It eats grass and plants in a special way (chews the cud). It swallows its food and then brings it back up later to chew it again. Deer were considered ritually clean to eat according to Jewish law.

Only male deer have antlers. These antlers grow each year and are solid. This is different from antelope and gazelle antlers. Fully grown antlers lack skin or horn coverings. Essentially, they are dead bone that living deer carry for a time.

The end of the deer’s muzzle is hairless in all species. The stomach is divided into a series of chambers, some of which are used to store partly chewed food. The food is later spit up, rechewed, and swallowed. It then goes to a part of the stomach where true digestion takes place.

Types of Deer

Three species of deer lived in Palestine:

1. The red deer (Cervus elaphus)

2. The Persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica)

3. The roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)

All are now extinct there. The last deer were hunted in Palestine in 1914. The Bible refers to the red deer as "hart" (male), "stag" (male), and "hind" (female). They stood about 1.2 meters (four feet) tall at the shoulder. It lived in herds or flocks, each group staying in a single area. Red deer searched for food during the morning and late afternoon (Lamentations 1:6). The sexes remained in different groups. The red deer was known for its leaping (Isaiah 35:6) and steadiness in the mountains (Psalm 18:33; Song of Solomon 2:8–9, 17; 8:14; Habakkuk 3:19).

The antlers of the Persian fallow deer (1 Kings 4:23) had large, flat, branched antlers (like an open palm with fingers extended). Its coat was yellow-brown. It traveled in small groups, feeding mainly on grass in the morning and evening.

The roe deer was a small, graceful animal, dark reddish brown in summer and yellowish gray in winter (Deuteronomy 14:5; 1 Kings 4:23). Its antlers were about 30.5 centimeters (one foot) long and had three points. The roe deer preferred lightly wooded valleys and lower mountain slopes. It grazed in open grasslands. It usually associated in family groups made up of the doe and her offspring. They were shy, yet very curious. The roe deer barked like a dog when disturbed, and they were excellent swimmers.

There is some doubt about whether 1 Kings 4:23 refers to the roe deer. It may refer to the fallow deer. But, that animal likely did not live in southern Palestine around the Sinai Desert due to its need for food and water. Fallow deer were found in northern Palestine.

Deer as Food in Jewish Law

The hart (the male red deer) was listed among the clean animals that Jewish law permitted as food (Deuteronomy 12:15, 22; 14:5). But deer were not listed among the animals they could sacrifice.

Mother Deer and Their Young

The hind (female red deer) usually gave birth to one calf. But, twins were born commonly (Job 39:1; Psalm 29:9; Jeremiah 14:5). The gestation period was about 40 weeks. When it was about to give birth, the hind looked for a safe place to hide. It preferred the dense undergrowth of the forest, where it could protect its tiny calf. During the first few days after birth, the mother never went far from her young. The fawn was able to stand on its own legs a few hours after birth.

Jeremiah 14:4–5 describes the mother deer's care for her calf. It says only a severe drought drives her from it. Job 39:1–4 describes the calving of the hinds. The hind showed grace and charm (Genesis 49:21; Proverbs 5:19). Its dark, gentle eyes and graceful limbs described a woman's beauty (Proverbs 5:18–19).

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