Animals in the Bible

== Animals in the Bible ==
The Bible names over 120 species of animals by current interpretive standards.
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.
Although no regular classification is to be sought for in the Bible, animal creation is there practically divided into four classes, often called kinds,[citation needed] 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 they have, or have not, fins and scales (Leviticus 11:9, 10).
The reptiles, or "creeping things", form the fourth class. References to this class are relatively few. However, it should be noticed that the "creeping things" include not only the reptiles properly so called, but also 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.
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. In the following list D.V. stands for Douay Version, A.V. and R.V. for Authorized and Revised Version respectively.
=== Animals in the Bible A ===
=== Animals in the Bible B ===
=== Animals in the Bible C ===
=== Animals in the Bible D ===
=== Animals in the Bible E ===
=== Animals in the Bible F ===
=== Animals in the Bible G ===
=== Animals in the Bible H ===
=== Animals in the Bible I ===
=== Animals in the Bible J ===
=== Animals in the Bible K ===
=== Animals in the Bible L ===
=== Animals in the Bible M ===
=== Animals in the Bible N ===
=== Animals in the Bible O ===
=== Animals in the Bible P ===
=== Animals in the Bible Q ===
=== Animals in the Bible R ===
=== Animals in the Bible S ===
=== Animals in the Bible T ===
=== Animals in the Bible U ===
=== Animals in the Bible V ===
=== Animals in the Bible W ===
=== Animals in the Bible X ===
=== Animals in the Bible Y ===
=== Animals in the Bible Z ===
== Notes ==
== References ==
Category:Animals in the Bible