צִיִּים Desert creatures (tziyim)
Every verse in which this word stands — 6 places, in canonical order, first appearance to last. These are the places the lexicon carries under this word's own entry, counting every form the text writes it in, which is the number on the list.
The tziyim, the dwellers of the dry places in the desolation prophecies and the Psalms — wildcats by some renderings, desert-dwelling men by others; the identification is discussed.
וְרָבְצוּ־שָׁם צִיִּים וּמָלְאוּ בָתֵּיהֶם אֹחִים וְשָׁכְנוּ שָׁם בְּנוֹת יַֽעֲנָה וּשְׂעִירִים יְרַקְּדוּ־שָֽׁם
But wild-cats shall lie there; And their houses shall be full of ferrets; And ostriches shall dwell there, And satyrs shall dance there.
הֵן אֶרֶץ כַּשְׂדִּים זֶה הָעָם לֹא הָיָה אַשּׁוּר יְסָדָהּ לְצִיִּים הֵקִימוּ בחיניו עֹרְרוּ אַרְמְנוֹתֶיהָ שָׂמָהּ לְמַפֵּלָֽה
Behold, the land of the Chaldeans—this is the people that was not, when Asshur founded it for shipmen—they set up their towers, they overthrew the palaces thereof; it is made a ruin.
וּפָגְשׁוּ צִיִּים אֶת־אִיִּים וְשָׂעִיר עַל־רֵעֵהוּ יִקְרָא אַךְ־שָׁם הִרְגִּיעָה לִּילִית וּמָצְאָה לָהּ מָנֽוֹחַ
And the wild-cats shall meet with the jackals, And the satyr shall cry to his fellow; Yea, the night-monster shall repose there, And shall find her a place of rest.
לָכֵן יֵשְׁבוּ צִיִּים אֶת־אִיִּים וְיָשְׁבוּ בָהּ בְּנוֹת יַֽעֲנָה וְלֹֽא־תֵשֵׁב עוֹד לָנֶצַח וְלֹא תִשְׁכּוֹן עַד־דּוֹר וָדֽוֹר
Therefore the wild-cats with the jackals shall dwell there, And the ostriches shall dwell therein; and it shall be no more inhabited for ever, Neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
לְפָנָיו יִכְרְעוּ צִיִּים וְאֹיְבָיו עָפָר יְלַחֵֽכוּ
Let them that dwell in the wilderness bow before him; and his enemies lick the dust.
אַתָּה רִצַּצְתָּ רָאשֵׁי לִוְיָתָן תִּתְּנֶנּוּ מַאֲכָל לְעָם לְצִיִּֽים
Thou didst crush the heads of leviathan, Thou gavest him to be food to the folk inhabiting the wilderness.
Quick answers
What is the Hebrew word for desert creatures?
Desert creatures in Hebrew is ציים, with a gematria of 150 in the standard method.
How many times is the desert creatures mentioned in the Tanakh?
The word stands 6 times in the Tanakh, first at Isaiah 13:21.
A spelling is not a word. The bare letters ציים stand 5 times in the corpus, which is a different question and often a different number: the same letters can spell a name or another word entirely, and the creature written with a particle attached is a spelling that search never returns. It is here, as itself.
See all 5 occurrences of the spelling ציים →