Biblical names
The animals of the Tanakh — 162 words, every animal the twenty-four books name, from the donkey of Bereshit 12 to the legendary creatures of Iyov and the Psalms. Each was enumerated from our own lexicon layer and read against the corpus: the count on a row is the count its door opens, the first appearance is the word's own, and where the tradition discusses what a word names, the row says so instead of inventing certainty.
A spelling is not a word: rachel the ewe and Rachel the matriarch share their letters, and only the ewe is counted here — the rows count the word's own lexicon entry, and where one entry bundles a creature with something else, the row counts the creature's verses alone and its note tells you.
Where the Torah names a kind, it rules the name: the kinds Devarim permits and the birds Vayikra prohibits are ruled by name, certain even where what the name names is discussed. The rest are ruled the way the Torah rules them — beasts by the signs of Vayikra 11, birds by that enumeration and by the tradition a bird has to carry, since the Torah gave signs for beasts and none for birds. Where the tradition itself discusses a status the row says so, and the legendary and collective rows carry no ruling at all. The offering mark stands on the korban species — the herd, the flock, the turtledove and the dove.
Land animals
71 words — the beasts of field, flock and wilderness — every four-footed creature the books name
×96 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The everyday beast of burden of the whole Tanakh — Avraham saddles one, the Mashiach rides one in Zechariah. The same letters also write Chamor, the prince of Shechem, and that name is its own lexicon entry, not counted here.
See all 96 places it stands →×34 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The aton — Bilam's mount that saw the angel and spoke, and the she-donkeys Shaul went out to seek. The books treat her as her own word, not the feminine of chamor.
See all 34 places it stands →×54 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The camel — Rivkah is found at the well watering them, and Iyov's wealth is counted in them.
See all 54 places it stands →×14 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The eglah — the heifer of the broken-necked atonement of Devarim 21, of Avraham's covenant between the pieces. The same letters also write agalah, a wagon; that is a different word with its own entry, not counted here.
See all 14 places it stands →×184 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The ayil — the ram caught in the thicket at the Akeidah, the ram of ordination, of the guilt offering. The lexicon carries chiefs, doorposts and mighty trees under the same entry, and those places are counted in this number; the ram is most of them. The same letters, under another entry, are the stag.
See all 184 places it stands →×75 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The ez, the she-goat — Rivkah's two kids, the goat-hair of the Mishkan's curtains. The Aramaic spelling of Ezra's offerings is counted with this row.
See all 75 places it stands →×10 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The pere, the onager of the open land — free of the driver's shout in Iyov 39, the figure of Yishmael in Bereshit 16.
See all 10 places it stands →×8 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The kivsah — the seven ewe lambs of Avraham's oath at Be'er Sheva, and the one little ewe lamb of Natan's parable to David.
See all 8 places it stands →×47 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The seh — a head of the flock, sheep or goat alike: the Pesach lamb is a seh, and Yeshayahu's figure is led like one to the slaughter. Where is the seh for the offering, Yitzchak asks.
See all 47 places it stands →×16 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The gedi — the kid of Rivkah's dish and of Yehudah's pledge, and of the thrice-written 'you shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.'
See all 16 places it stands →×59 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The sa'ir, the shaggy he-goat — the sin-offering goat, the two goats of Yom Kippur, the kid whose blood stained Yosef's coat. In Yeshayahu's desolations the same word is the se'irim that dance among the ruins, whose sense the tradition discusses; and the same letters write Se'ir the land, a separate entry not counted here.
See all 59 places it stands →×14 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The kesev — the Torah's own transposed spelling of keves, standing in Vayikra beside it; its feminine kisbah is counted with this row. A genuinely distinct written form, so it stands as its own row.
See all 14 places it stands →×4 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The tayish — the he-goats of Yaakov's gift to Esav, of Mishlei's stately walkers.
See all 4 places it stands →×29 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The attud — the he-goats of the flock, and in the prophets a standing figure for the leaders of the people; both senses are this one word and both are counted.
See all 29 places it stands →×16 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The kar, the pasture-fattened lamb — the tribute Moav sent, the fat ones of Bashan. The lexicon bundles meadows, saddle-cushions and the battering-ram under the same entry, and those places are in this number; the row says so rather than pretending otherwise.
See all 16 places it stands →×4 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The rachel, the mother ewe — silent before her shearers in Yeshayahu 53. Rachel the matriarch bears this word as her name; she is her own lexicon entry, counted on the names lists, not here.
See all 4 places it stands →×79 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The shor — the ox of the ox and the donkey, of the goring ox of Mishpatim, firstborn of Yosef's blessing. One beast, counted head by head; the herd as a whole is bakar, among the collective terms.
See all 79 places it stands →×9 in Tanakh Not kosher First 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.
See all 9 places it stands →×133 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The par, the young bull of the altar — the offering of the anointed kohen, of the congregation, of the day of atonement.
See all 133 places it stands →×26 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The parah — Pharaoh's seven cows of the dream, the red cow of Chukat whose ashes purify, and the nursing cows that carried the Ark home.
See all 26 places it stands →×139 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The war-horse of Pharaoh's chariots and of Iyov 39's great speech. Two of this entry's places are not the horse at all — in Yeshayahu 38:14 and Yirmiyahu 8:7 the same word is a bird, the sus, which has its own row among the birds.
See all 139 places it stands →×89 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The ari — Yehudah's blessing, Shimshon's riddle, David's boast before Golyat, and the den of the Aramaic chapters of Daniel, whose spelling is counted with this row. The Tanakh has more words for the lion than for any other beast; each stands as its own row.
See all 89 places it stands →×14 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The lavi — the couched lion and lioness of Bilam's oracle and Yaakov's blessing; the tradition reads the fiercer, the mother of the pride.
See all 14 places it stands →×9 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The gur — 'a lion's cub is Yehudah.' The cub still in the lair, of blessings and laments alike.
See all 9 places it stands →×11 in Tanakh Kosher First appearance:
The ayalah — Naftali the doe let loose, the doe of the dawn of Tehillim 22's title, the calving doe of Iyov 39. The construct spelling ayelet is counted with this row.
See all 11 places it stands →×7 in Tanakh Not kosher First 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.
See all 7 places it stands →×32 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The kelev — against whom no dog whets its tongue at the Exodus; the dogs of Izevel's judgment. Kalev the faithful spy bears his own name and his own entry, on the names lists.
See all 32 places it stands →×107 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The keves — the lamb of the daily offering, morning and evening, and of Pesach. The most-offered animal in the Torah.
See all 107 places it stands →×14 in Tanakh Kosher First appearance:
The tachash — its hides covered the Mishkan, and Yechezkel shoes Yerushalayim in its leather. Its status is the Gemara's and is not in doubt: only the hide of a tahor animal was fit for the work of heaven, so the tachash was tahor. What it WAS the same sugya leaves open — a creature of its own kind, one horn in its forehead, which the Sages ruled neither beast nor wild animal, provided for the hour and hidden after; the badger, the dolphin, a fine dyed leather. Tachash the son of Nachor is a different entry, on the names lists.
See all 14 places it stands →×35 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The egel — the calf of the golden calf, and of Yeravam's two at Beit-El and Dan; also simply the young of the herd, frisking in the prophets' figures.
See all 35 places it stands →×2 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The se'irat izim, the female goat of the individual's sin offering in Vayikra 4.
See all 2 places it stands →×4 as the creature Not kosher First appearance:
The shafan — bringing up the cud without parting the hoof in the Torah's lists, at home in the crags in Tehillim, wise and small in Mishlei. Traditionally coney; the hyrax of the naturalists — the identification is discussed. The same lexicon entry carries Shaphan the scribe, so this row counts only the four verses of the creature.
See all 4 places it stands →×2 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The arnevet — named with the shafan in both kosher lists, bringing up the cud without parting the hoof.
See all 2 places it stands →×7 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The chazir — parting the hoof but not chewing the cud, the Torah's own emblem of the forbidden; the boar from the forest ravages the vine in Tehillim 80.
See all 7 places it stands →×9 in Tanakh Kosher First appearance:
The re'em — its horns are the glory of Yosef's blessing, and Iyov 39 asks whether it will consent to serve. The naturalists point to the aurochs; older translations wrote 'unicorn'; the identification is discussed.
See all 9 places it stands →×11 in Tanakh Kosher First appearance:
The ayal, the stag — 'as the deer longs for streams of water' in Tehillim 42, swift on the mountains in Shir HaShirim. The same letters, under another lexicon entry, are the ram; the two are counted apart.
See all 11 places it stands →×32 in Tanakh Kosher First appearance:
The tzvi — swift as Asahel in Shmuel, the lover's figure in Shir HaShirim. The same word is also 'splendor' — the land of the tzvi, the tzvi of Israel — and the lexicon carries both under one entry, so both are in this number; in some verses the tradition itself reads it either way.
See all 32 places it stands →×2 in Tanakh Kosher First appearance:
In Devarim 14:5 among the seven kosher wild kinds, and in Yeshayahu 51:20 caught in a net. Traditionally a wild ox or antelope — the identification is discussed. The corpus writes it only with a particle attached.
See all 2 places it stands →×1 in Tanakh Kosher First appearance:
Once, in Devarim 14:5, among the seven kosher wild kinds. Traditionally the wild goat or ibex; the identification is discussed. The corpus writes it only with a particle attached.
See the one place it stands →×1 in Tanakh Kosher First appearance:
Once, in Devarim 14:5, last of the seven kosher wild kinds. The renderings run from wild sheep to giraffe; the identification is discussed. The corpus writes it only with a particle attached.
See the one place it stands →×2 in Tanakh Kosher First appearance:
In Devarim 14:5 among the kosher wild kinds, and on Shlomo's daily table. Traditionally the fallow deer or roebuck; the identification is discussed. The corpus writes it only with a particle attached.
See all 2 places it stands →×1 in Tanakh Kosher First appearance:
Once, in Devarim 14:5, among the seven kosher wild kinds. Traditionally rendered addax or bison; the identification is discussed. The corpus writes it only with a particle attached — and the same letters, under other entries, are Dishon the Chorite chief.
See the one place it stands →×32 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The kefir, the maned young lion in its strength — the roaring figure of the Psalms and the prophets. A handful of this entry's places are a different word, 'village'; the lexicon carries both together, so they are in this number.
See all 32 places it stands →×7 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The shu'al — Shimshon's three hundred, the little foxes of Shir HaShirim. Fox or jackal is discussed verse by verse; the Hebrew is one word.
See all 7 places it stands →×3 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The taleh — the nursing lamb Shmuel offered at Mitzpah, the lambs gathered in the shepherd's arm in Yeshayahu 40:11, the lamb grazing with the wolf in Yeshayahu 65.
See all 3 places it stands →×13 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The dov — the she-bear bereaved of her cubs, David's other adversary of the sheepfold, the second beast of Daniel's Aramaic vision, whose spelling is counted with this row.
See all 13 places it stands →×4 in Tanakh Kosher First appearance:
The ya'el — the high crags are theirs in Tehillim 104, and David hides by the Rocks of the Ibexes at Ein Gedi. Mishlei's 'graceful ya'alah' is the feminine, counted with this row.
See all 4 places it stands →×14 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The mule — Avshalom's mount, and the royal animal Shlomo rode to his anointing at Gichon.
See all 14 places it stands →×3 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The she-mule, the king's own — David's, on which Shlomo was set on the day of his anointing.
See all 3 places it stands →×4 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The rechesh — the fast horses of the king's service in Melachim, Michah and Esther. Whether a breed, a relay animal or simply the swiftest of the stable is discussed.
See all 4 places it stands →×2 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The kof — brought once every three years by Shlomo's ships of Tarshish, with the gold and the ivory. The corpus writes it only in the plural with a particle attached.
See all 2 places it stands →×2 in Tanakh Kosher — discussed First appearance:
The tukkiyim of Shlomo's ships, named beside the apes. Traditionally peacocks; some read parrots or baboons — the identification is discussed. The corpus writes it only with a particle attached.
See all 2 places it stands →×7 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The namer — 'can a Kushite change his skin, or a leopard his spots?' The leopard lies down with the kid in Yeshayahu 11; Daniel's Aramaic vision writes it too, counted with this row.
See all 7 places it stands →×6 in Tanakh First appearance:
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.
See all 6 places it stands →×1 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
Once, in Yeshayahu 13:21 — the ochim that fill the houses of fallen Bavel. Traditionally a howling desert creature, perhaps the eagle-owl; the identification is discussed. The bare letters are everywhere else 'brother.'
See the one place it stands →×3 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The iyim that answer in the desolate palaces of Bavel and Edom — traditionally rendered wild dogs or hyenas; the identification is discussed. The same letters write iyim, islands; that is a different entry, not counted here.
See all 3 places it stands →×3 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The layish, the old strong lion of the poets — Iyov, Mishlei, Yeshayahu. The same letters write Layish the town that became Dan; that is its own entry, not counted here.
See all 3 places it stands →×1 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The becher, the young camel — once, in Yeshayahu 60:6, the young camels of Midian and Eifah; the corpus writes it only with a suffix, never bare.
See the one place it stands →×1 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
Once, in Yeshayahu 66:20, among the mounts that will carry the exiles home. Traditionally the dromedary, from a root of dancing speed; the identification is discussed.
See the one place it stands →×1 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
Once, in Yirmiyahu 2:23 — the swift young she-camel crossing her paths, the prophet's figure for restless Israel.
See the one place it stands →×7 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The shachal — the roarer of Iyov and Hoshea, one of the Tanakh's five words for the lion, kept mostly for poetry.
See all 7 places it stands →×2 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The tannim of the wilderness — the howlers of Malachi's ruined Esav and of Iyov's lament. The lexicon writes most of the desolation prophecies' jackals under the tannin entry, among the legendary creatures; this entry carries the remainder, and the tradition discusses which places are the beast and which the sea-creature.
See all 2 places it stands →×2 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
The arod, named beside the pere in Iyov 39:5. Daniel 5:21 writes the same creature in Aramaic, and that spelling is counted with this row.
See all 2 places it stands →×1 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The gediyah — once, in Shir HaShirim 1:8: 'graze your kids by the shepherds' dwellings.'
See the one place it stands →×1 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
Once in the books — the mare among Pharaoh's chariots to whom the beloved is compared in Shir HaShirim 1:9, written there with a suffix, never bare.
See the one place it stands →×5 in Tanakh Kosher First appearance:
The ofer, the fawn of the does — Shir HaShirim's own word for the beloved. The same letters, under a different entry, are afar, dust; that word is not counted here.
See all 5 places it stands →×2 in Tanakh Kosher First appearance:
The tzviyah — the twin fawns of Shir HaShirim are 'the twins of a gazelle.'
See all 2 places it stands →×1 in Tanakh Not kosher First appearance:
Once, in Esther 8:10 — the couriers ride 'sons of the ramachim.' Traditionally brood mares of the royal stud; the identification is discussed.
See the one place it stands →×7 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The tor — the bullock of the Aramaic chapters, offered in Ezra and eaten as grass-fare by Nevuchadnetzar in Daniel. The same letters in the Hebrew chapters are the turtledove, which has its own row among the birds.
See all 7 places it stands →×7 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The tzafir — the he-goat of Daniel 8's vision that comes from the west, and of the offerings in Ezra and Divrei HaYamim; the Aramaic spelling is counted with this row.
See all 7 places it stands →×3 in Tanakh Kosher Offering species First appearance:
The immar — the lamb of the Aramaic chapters of Ezra, counted for the offerings of the returned exiles. The bare letters are everywhere else the Hebrew verb 'said'; that is a different word entirely.
See all 3 places it stands →Where these come from. The candidates were enumerated from the Hebrew lexicon our index carries — every entry whose definition names an animal sense — then each was verified against the corpus itself: its spelling, its count, its first stand. The gematria is computed by the same engine that runs every search, and the count on each row is the number of verses its door opens — the same walk, counted once. Deliberately absent: words that are only ever epithets (the אבירים of the Psalms), the scapegoat's destination עזאזל (the goat itself is the שעיר), and Yeshayahu 2:20's moles, which the ketiv writes across two words and are left to their verse.