Over 120 species of animals are mentioned in the Bible, ordered alphabetically in this article by English vernacular name. Animals mentioned in the Old Testament will be listed with their Hebrew name, while those mentioned in the New Testament will be listed with their Greek names. This list includes names of mythical creatures such as the griffin, lamia, siren and unicorn, which have been applied to real animals in some older translations of the Bible due to misunderstandings or educational prejudices of the Greek and Latin translators.
Natural history of the Holy Land The fauna of the Holy Land (modern-day Israel and Palestine) has significantly changed since Biblical times, with many animals mentioned in the Bible being locally extinct or endangered in modern times. For example, the aurochs (the most likely referent of the Hebrew rəʾēm) is globally extinct, being extinct in the Levant by the time of the Babylonian captivity. Locally extinct species include lions, leopards and bears.
The frequency of references to given animals may be used to date parts of the Bible. For example, recent excavations in the Timna Valley discovered what may be the earliest camel bones found in Israel or even outside the Arabian peninsula, dating to around 930 BCE. This is seen as evidence that the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Jacob and Esau were written after this time. However, other scholars argue that camels were already domesticated in Mesopotamia by the early second millennium BCE and that their presence in the patriarchal narratives is not anachronistic.
The Bible mentions animals from varying regions of the Middle East. The ostrich, for instance, a denizen of the torrid regions, and the camel, of the waterless districts around Palestine, are mentioned side by side with the roebuck and deer of the woody summits of Lebanon. This variety, greater probably in Palestine than in any other country in the same latitude, is attributed to the great extremes of elevation and temperature in this small area. Palestinian fauna is not as rich today as it was during the Biblical times. The land is barren today but was well wooded when the Bible was written, especially on the hills east of the Jordan River.
Biblical taxonomy Although no regular classification is to be sought for in the Bible, animal creation is there practically divided into four classes, often called kinds,"after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth" - Genesis 1:11 according to the four different modes of locomotion. The first class, the beasts, in the Biblical parlance, includes all large, walking animals, with the exception of the amphibia, such small animals as moles, mice and the like, and humans as they were not classified as animals.
Beasts are divided into cattle, or domesticated (behemoth in the strict sense), and beasts of the field, i.e. wild animals. The fowls, which constitute the second class, include not only the birds, but also "all things that fly", even if they "go upon four feet", as the different kinds of locusts. Of the many "living beings that swim in the water" no particular species is mentioned; the "great whales" are set apart in that class, while the rest are divided according to whether or not they had fins or scales (Leviticus 11:9, 10).
The reptiles, or "creeping things", form the fourth class. References to this class are relatively few. The "creeping things""and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air" - Acts 10:12 include not only reptiles, but all short-legged animals or insects which seem to crawl rather than to walk, such as moles, lizards, etc. From a religious viewpoint, all these animals are divided into two classes, clean and unclean, according to whether they can, or cannot, be eaten.
List of animals In the following list D.V. stands for Douay Version, A.V. and R.V. for Authorized and Revised Version respectively. A Addax — a now critically-endangered species of antelope with twisted horns; the most likely referent of the Hebrew (dîšôn), translated as "pygarg" in the King James Version (KJV) and D.V. (). Adder — the translation of four Hebrew words for types of snakes in the A.V.. Ant ( nəmālāh) — Allusion are made to ants' habits of storing food in and . Antelope — four species are mentioned in the Bible: , dîšôn — the addax , ṣəb̲î — translated as "roe" in of the DV and KJV; most likely the gazelle (specifically the Dorcas gazelle, Gazella dorcas). means "gazelle" in Modern Hebrew. , ṯəʾô — in of the D.V., translated as "wild goat", and as "wild ox" in of this version. This term seems to have referred to the now-extinct bubal hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus buselaphus). , yaḥmûr — in ; cognate with the Arabic word for roebuck (Capreolus capreolus) and Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx). Ape ( qôp̲) — Apes are mentioned alongside gold, silver, ivory, and peacocks among the precious things imported by Solomon from Tarshish (1 Kings ; 2 Chronicles ). "Ape" in the KJV referred to what is called an Old World monkey today. "Apes" in the modern colloquial sense, were known of only later. Asp — This word, which occurs eleven times in D.V., stands for four Hebrew names: p̲et̲en (; and ; ; ). From several allusions both to its deadly venom (Deuteronomy 32:33), and to its use by serpent-charmers (Ps. 58 (Vulgate: Ps. 57)), it appears that the cobra (naja aspis) is most probably signified. Safely to step upon its body, or even linger by the hole where it coils itself, is manifestly a sign of God's particular protection (Ps. 91 (Vulgate: Ps. 90); Isaiah 11:8). Sophar, one of Job's friends, speaks of the wicked as sucking the venom of péthén, in punishment whereof the food he takes shall be turned within him into the gall of this poisonous reptile (Job 20:14, 16). ʿak̲šûb̲, mentioned only once in the Hebrew Bible, namely Psalm 140, but manifestly alluded to in Psalm 13, and , seems to have been one of the most highly poisonous kinds of viper, perhaps the toxicoa, also called echis arenicola or scytale of the Pyramids, very common in Syria and North Africa. šaḥal is also found only once to signify a snake, Ps. 91 (Vulgate: Ps. 90): 13; but what particular kind of snake we are unable to determine. The word Sháhál (usually meaning "lion") might possibly, owing to some copyist's mistake, have crept into the place of another name now impossible to restore. ṣep̲aʿ (), "the hisser", generally rendered by basilisk in ID.V. and in ancient translations, the latter sometimes calling it regulus. This snake was deemed so deadly that, according to the common saying, its hissing alone, even its look, was fatal. It was probably a small viper, perhaps a cerastes, possibly the daboia zanthina, according to Cheyne. Ass — The ass (male ḥămôr, female ʾāt̲ôn, juvenile ʿayir) has always enjoyed a marked favour above all other beasts of burden in the Bible. This is evidenced by more than 130 mentions of this animal, and by the number of words in the Hebrew vocabulary used to designate the ass, by colour, sex, age, and so forth. Of these various names the most common is . White asses, more rare, were also more appreciated and reserved for the use of the nobles (). Asses have always been an important item in the resources of the Eastern peoples, and we are repeatedly told in the Bible about the herds of these animals owned by the patriarchs (; 30:43; 36:24, etc.), and later by wealthy Israelites (; , etc.). Hence the several regulations brought forth by Israel's lawgiver on this subject: the neighbour's ass should not be coveted (Exodus 20:17); moreover, should the neighbour's stray ass be found, it should be taken care of, and its owner assisted in tending this part of his herd ().
The ass serves in the East for many purposes. Its even gait and sure-footedness, so well suited to the rough paths of the Holy Land, made it at all times the most popular of all the animals for riding in those hilly regions (Genesis 22:3; Luke 19:30). Neither was it ridden only by the common people, but also by persons of the highest rank (Judges 5:10; 10:4; 2 Samuel 17:23; 19:26, etc.). No wonder therefore that Jesus, about to come triumphantly to Jerusalem, commanded His disciples to bring Him an ass and her colt; no lesson of humility, as is sometimes asserted, but the affirmation of the peaceful character of His kingdom should be sought there. Although the Scripture speaks of "saddling" the ass, usually no saddle was used by the rider. A cloth was spread upon the back of the ass and fastened by a strap was all the equipment. Upon this cloth the rider sat with a servant usually walking alongside. Should a family journey, the women and children would ride the asses, attended by the father (Exodus 4:20). This mode of traveling has been popularized by Christian painters, who copied the eastern customs in their representations of the Holy Family's flight to Egypt.
Scores of passages in the Bible allude to asses carrying burdens. The Gospels, at least in the Greek text, speak of millstones run by asses (Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:41; Luke 17:2); Josephus and the Egyptian monuments teach us that this animal was used for threshing wheat. Finally, we repeatedly read in the Old Testament of asses hitched to a plough (Deuteronomy 22:10; Isaiah 30:24, etc.), and in reference to this custom, the Law forbade ploughing with an ox and an ass together (Deuteronomy 22:10). From Is., 21:7, confirmed by the statements of Greek writers, we learn that part of the cavalry force in the Persian army rode donkeys. We should perhaps understand from IV K., vii, 7, that the Syrian armies followed the same practice; but no such custom seems to have ever prevailed among the Hebrews. With them the ass was essentially for peaceful use, the emblem of peace, as the horse was the symbol of war. The flesh of the donkey was unclean and forbidden by the Law. In some particular circumstances, however, no law could prevail over necessity, and we read that during Joram's reign, when Ben-hadad besieged Samaria, the famine was so extreme in this city, that the head of an ass was sold for 120 pieces of silver (IV K., vi, 25).
Ass, colt — This is more specially the symbol of peace and meek obedience (John 12:15, πῶλον ὄνου pōlon onou). Ass, wild, corresponds in the Old Testament to two words, p̲ereʾ and ʿārôd̲. Whether these two names originally referred to different species, or are respectively Hebrew and Aramaic words for the same animal, is uncertain. Both signify one of the wildest and most untamable animals. In Modern Hebrew, is used for the Asiatic wild ass, while is used for the African wild ass. Its strength joined to its nimbleness and love of freedom made it a fit symbol for the first born son of Abraham who like Joseph was separated from his father and like Joseph became a great leader Ismael [gen;17;20] (Genesis 16:12). The Asiatic wild ass has been successfully reintroduced to the Negev Desert following its extinction there in the early 20th century. Attacus (Leviticus 11:22) — Instead of this Latin word, the A.V. reads bald-locust. According to the tradition enshrined in the Talmud, a locust with a very long smooth head (Truxalis spp.) is probably signified. The Hebrew word is solʿām.