List of Animals in The Bible - S

S

• Satyr. — So is the Hebrew sã'îr rendered Is., xiii, 21, and xxxiv, 14, by R.V. (D.V.: "hairy one"). The same word in Lev., xvii, 7, and II Par., xi, 15, is translated "devils" in all English Bibles. Sã'îr usually signifies the he-goat. In the latter passages this sense is clearly inapplicable; it seems hardly applicable in the former. The writers of Leviticus, and II Paralipomenon possibly intended some representation of the same description as the goat-headed figures of the Egyptian Pantheon. Concerning the sã'îr mentioned in Isaias, no satisfactory explanation has as yet been given.

• Scarlet. — See COCHINEAL (sup.).

• Sciniph. — See GNAT (sup.).

• Scorpion. — Very common in all hot, dry, stony places; is taken as an emblem of the wicked.

• Sea gull. — Its different kinds are probably signified by the word translated larus. See CUCKOO (sup.).

• seal. — See BADGER (sup.).

• Sea Monster, Lam., iv, 3, probably means such animals as the whale, porpoise, dugong, etc.

• Serpent. — A generic term whereby all ophidia are designated; ten names of different species of snakes are given in the Bible.

• Shrew. — So does D.V. translate the Hebr. 'anãqah, which however means rather some kind of lizard, probably the gecko.

• Siren, Is., xiii, 22, a translation for Hebrew tán, which, indicates an animal dwelling in ruins, and may generally be rendered by jackal. No other resemblance than a verbal one should be sought between this tán and the fabulous being, famous by its allurements, called Siren by the ancient poets.

• Snail should be read instead of wax in Ps., lvii (Hebr., lviii) 9, to translate the Hebrew shábelûl. Unlike the snails of northern climates which hibernate, those of Israel sleep in summer. The Psalmist alludes "to the fact that very commonly, when they have secured themselves in some chink of the rocks for their summer sleep, they are still exposed to the sun rays, which gradually evaporate and dry up the whole of the body, till the animal is shrivelled to a thread, and, as it were, melted away" (Tristram).

• Sparrow. — The Hebrew word çíppôr, found over 40 times, is a general name for all small passerine birds, of which there exist about 150 species in the Holy Land.

• Spider. — An arachnid living by millions in Israel, where several hundred species have been distinguished. Its web affords a most popular illustration for frail and ephemeral undertakings (Job 8:14; Isaiah 59:5); in three passages, however, the translators seem to have wrongly written spider for moth, sigh, and pieces (Hosea 8:6).

• Stork. — The Hebrew word hasîdhah, erroneously rendered "heron" by the Douay translators, Lev., xi, 19, alludes to the well-known affection of the stork for its young. Several passages have reference to this bird, its periodical migrations (Jeremiah 8:7), its nesting in fir-trees, its black pinions stretching from its white body (Zechariah 5:9; D.V., kite; but the stork, hasîdhah, is mentioned in the Hebrew text). Two kinds, the white and the black stork, live in Israel during the winter.

• Swallow. — Two words are so rendered: derôr, "the swift flyer", which means the chimney swallow and other species akin to it, whereas sûs or sîs may be translated as "swift", this bird being probably intended in Is., xxxviii, 14, and Jer., viii, 7.

• Swan. — Mentioned only in the list of unclean birds (Leviticus 11:18; Deuteronomy 14:16). The swan having always been very rare in Syria, there was little need of forbidding to eat its flesh; by the Hebrew tínshéméth, some other bird might possibly be designated.

• Swine. — The most abhorred of all animals among the Jews; hence the swineherd's was the most degrading employment (Luke 15:15; cf. Matthew 8:32). Swine are very seldom kept in Israel.