Chamois
“Leaper, from a root meaning to leap”
Summary
An animal listed among the clean creatures permitted for food, though probably not the European chamois but a species of wild sheep or mountain goat.
☩Identification Problem
The Hebrew word zemer, rendered 'chamois' in English versions, probably does not refer to the European chamois (Rupicapra tragus), which inhabits only the high mountains from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus and has never been found in Palestine or Syria. The word comes from a root meaning 'to leap,' indicating an active climbing animal.
☩Possible Identifications
Several alternatives have been proposed. Some scholars suggest it is the Barbary sheep, others the Persian wild goat (pasang), and still others a species of wild mountain sheep still found in Sinai known to the Arabs as kebsh. The animal must be a clean ruminant accessible to the Hebrew people, which eliminates exotic animals like the giraffe (suggested by the Septuagint and Vulgate).
Related Verses1 mention
Deuteronomy· 1 verse
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Chamois," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Chamois," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Chamois," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).