Animals

זְאֵב Wolf

Every verse in which this word stands — 7 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 10×7 in TanakhNot kosherFirst appearance:

The ze'ev — Binyamin the ravening wolf, the evening wolves of the prophets, and the wolf that will dwell with the lamb. Ze'ev the Midianite prince bears the word as his name; he is his own entry, on the names lists.

Genesis 49:27בראשית מט:כז

בִּנְיָמִין זְאֵב יִטְרָף בַּבֹּקֶר יֹאכַל עַד וְלָעֶרֶב יְחַלֵּק שָׁלָֽל

Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth; In the morning he devoureth the prey, And at even he divideth the spoil.’

Isaiah 11:6ישעיהו יא:ו

וְגָר זְאֵב עִם־כֶּבֶשׂ וְנָמֵר עִם־גְּדִי יִרְבָּץ וְעֵגֶל וּכְפִיר וּמְרִיא יַחְדָּו וְנַעַר קָטֹן נֹהֵג בָּֽם

And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, And the leopard shall lie down with the kid; And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.

Isaiah 65:25ישעיהו סה:כה

זְאֵב וְטָלֶה יִרְעוּ כְאֶחָד וְאַרְיֵה כַּבָּקָר יֹֽאכַל־תֶּבֶן וְנָחָשׁ עָפָר לַחְמוֹ לֹֽא־יָרֵעוּ וְלֹֽא־יַשְׁחִיתוּ בְּכָל־הַר קָדְשִׁי אָמַר יְהוָֽה

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, And the lion shall eat straw like the ox; And dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, Saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 5:6ירמיהו ה:ו

עַל־כֵּן הִכָּם אַרְיֵה מִיַּעַר זְאֵב עֲרָבוֹת יְשָׁדְדֵם נָמֵר שֹׁקֵד עַל־עָרֵיהֶם כָּל־הַיּוֹצֵא מֵהֵנָּה יִטָּרֵף כִּי רַבּוּ פִּשְׁעֵיהֶם עָצְמוּ משבותיהם

Wherefore a lion out of the forest doth slay them, A wolf of the deserts doth spoil them, A leopard watcheth over their cities, Every one that goeth out thence is torn in pieces; Because their transgressions are many, Their backslidings are increased.

Ezekiel 22:27יחזקאל כב:כז

שָׂרֶיהָ בְקִרְבָּהּ כִּזְאֵבִים טֹרְפֵי טָרֶף לִשְׁפָּךְ־דָּם לְאַבֵּד נְפָשׁוֹת לְמַעַן בְּצֹעַ בָּֽצַע

Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey: to shed blood, and to destroy souls, so as to get dishonest gain.

Habakkuk 1:8חבקוק א:ח

וְקַלּוּ מִנְּמֵרִים סוּסָיו וְחַדּוּ מִזְּאֵבֵי עֶרֶב וּפָשׁוּ פָּֽרָשָׁיו וּפָֽרָשָׁיו מֵרָחוֹק יָבֹאוּ יָעֻפוּ כְּנֶשֶׁר חָשׁ לֶאֱכֽוֹל

Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And are more fierce than the wolves of the desert; And their horsemen spread themselves; Yea, their horsemen come from far, They fly as a vulture that hasteth to devour.

Zephaniah 3:3צפניה ג:ג

שָׂרֶיהָ בְקִרְבָּהּ אֲרָיוֹת שֹֽׁאֲגִים שֹׁפְטֶיהָ זְאֵבֵי עֶרֶב לֹא גָרְמוּ לַבֹּֽקֶר

Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions; Her judges are wolves of the desert, They leave not a bone for the morrow.

Every Hebrew word for “wolf”, with its gematria →

Quick answers

What is the Hebrew word for wolf?

Wolf in Hebrew is זאב, with a gematria of 10 in the standard method.

How many times is the wolf mentioned in the Tanakh?

The word stands 7 times in the Tanakh, first at Genesis 49:27.

A spelling is not a word. The bare letters זאב stand 8 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 8 occurrences of the spelling זאב →