Animals

עִיר Donkey-colt

Every verse in which this word stands — 9 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.

Land animalGematria 280×9 in TanakhNot kosherFirst appearance:

The ayir, the young donkey — Yaakov's blessing binds it to the vine, and Zechariah's king rides one. The same letters far more often write ir, a city; that is a different word with its own lexicon entry, and it is not counted here.

Genesis 32:16בראשית לב:טז

גְּמַלִּים מֵינִיקוֹת וּבְנֵיהֶם שְׁלֹשִׁים פָּרוֹת אַרְבָּעִים וּפָרִים עֲשָׂרָה אֲתֹנֹת עֶשְׂרִים וַעְיָרִם עֲשָׂרָֽה

thirty milch camels and their colts, forty kine and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals.

Genesis 49:11בראשית מט:יא

אֹסְרִי לַגֶּפֶן עירה וְלַשֹּׂרֵקָה בְּנִי אֲתֹנוֹ כִּבֵּס בַּיַּיִן לְבֻשׁוֹ וּבְדַם־עֲנָבִים סותה

Binding his foal unto the vine, And his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; He washeth his garments in wine, And his vesture in the blood of grapes;

Judges 10:4שופטים י:ד

וַֽיְהִי־לוֹ שְׁלֹשִׁים בָּנִים רֹֽכְבִים עַל־שְׁלֹשִׁים עֲיָרִים וּשְׁלֹשִׁים עֲיָרִים לָהֶם לָהֶם יִקְרְאוּ חַוֺּת יָאִיר עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר בְּאֶרֶץ הַגִּלְעָֽד

And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth-jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

Judges 10:4שופטים י:ד

וַֽיְהִי־לוֹ שְׁלֹשִׁים בָּנִים רֹֽכְבִים עַל־שְׁלֹשִׁים עֲיָרִים וּשְׁלֹשִׁים עֲיָרִים לָהֶם לָהֶם יִקְרְאוּ חַוֺּת יָאִיר עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר בְּאֶרֶץ הַגִּלְעָֽד

And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havvoth-jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

Judges 12:14שופטים יב:יד

וַיְהִי־לוֹ אַרְבָּעִים בָּנִים וּשְׁלֹשִׁים בְּנֵי בָנִים רֹכְבִים עַל־שִׁבְעִים עֲיָרִם וַיִּשְׁפֹּט אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁמֹנֶה שָׁנִֽים

And he had forty sons and thirty sons’sons, that rode on threescore and ten ass colts; and he judged Israel eight years.

Isaiah 30:6ישעיהו ל:ו

מַשָּׂא בַּהֲמוֹת נֶגֶב בְּאֶרֶץ צָרָה וְצוּקָה לָבִיא וָלַיִשׁ מֵהֶם אֶפְעֶה וְשָׂרָף מְעוֹפֵף יִשְׂאוּ עַל־כֶּתֶף עֲיָרִים חֵֽילֵהֶם וְעַל־דַּבֶּשֶׁת גְּמַלִּים אֽוֹצְרֹתָם עַל־עַם לֹא יוֹעִֽילוּ

The burden of the beasts of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and flying serpent, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.

Isaiah 30:24ישעיהו ל:כד

וְהָאֲלָפִים וְהָעֲיָרִים עֹֽבְדֵי הָֽאֲדָמָה בְּלִיל חָמִיץ יֹאכֵלוּ אֲשֶׁר־זֹרֶה בָרַחַת וּבַמִּזְרֶֽה

The oxen likewise and the young asses that till the ground shall eat savoury provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.

Zechariah 9:9זכריה ט:ט

גִּילִי מְאֹד בַּת־צִיּוֹן הָרִיעִי בַּת יְרוּשָׁלִַם הִנֵּה מַלְכֵּךְ יָבוֹא לָךְ צַדִּיק וְנוֹשָׁע הוּא עָנִי וְרֹכֵב עַל־חֲמוֹר וְעַל־עַיִר בֶּן־אֲתֹנֽוֹת

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, He is triumphant, and victorious, Lowly, and riding upon an ass, Even upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Job 11:12איוב יא:יב

וְאִישׁ נָבוּב יִלָּבֵב וְעַיִר פֶּרֶא אָדָם יִוָּלֵֽד

But an empty man will get understanding, when a wild ass’s colt is born a man.

Quick answers

What is the Hebrew word for donkey-colt?

Donkey-colt in Hebrew is עיר, with a gematria of 280 in the standard method.

How many times is the donkey-colt mentioned in the Tanakh?

The word stands 9 times in the Tanakh, first at Genesis 32:16.

A spelling is not a word. The bare letters עיר stand 139 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 139 occurrences of the spelling עיר →