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Bible Dictionaries
Goat
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
or 1. Wild goat, yeliym , the ibex of ancient Moab.
2. The goat deer, or else gazelle, aqow .
3. The atuwd , "he goat", the leader of the flock; hence the chief ones of the earth, leaders in mighty wickedness; the ram represents headstrong wantonness and offensive lust (Isaiah 14:9; Zechariah 10:3; compare Matthew 25:32-33; Ezekiel 34:17). As the word "shepherds" describes what they ought to have been, so "he goats" what they were; heading the flock, they were foremost in sin, so they shall be foremost in punishment. In Song of Solomon 4:1 the hair of the bride is said to be "as a flock of goats that appear from mount Gilead," alluding to the fine silky hair of some breeds of goat, the angora and others. Amos (Amos 3:12) speaks of a shepherd "taking out of the mouth of the lion a piece of an ear," alluding to the long pendulous ears of the Syrian breed. In Proverbs 30:31 a he goat is mentioned as one of the "four things comely in going," in allusion to the stately march of the leader of the flock.
4. Sair , the goat of the sin-offering (Leviticus 9:3), "the rough hairy goat" (Daniel 8:21). Sa'ir is used of devils (Leviticus 17:7), "the evil spirits of the desert" (Isaiah 13:21; Isaiah 34:14).
5. Αzazeel , "the scape-goat" (Leviticus 16:8; Leviticus 16:10; Leviticus 16:26 margin) (See ATONEMENT, DAY OF.) The "he goat" represented Graeco-Macedonia; Caranus, the first king of Macedon, was in legend led by goats to Edessa, his capital, which he named "the goat city." The one-horned goat is on coins of Archclaus king of Macedon, and a pilaster of Persepolis. So Daniel 8:5.
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Fausset, Andrew R. Entry for 'Goat'. Fausset's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/fbd/g/goat.html. 1949.
