GAZELLE ( zebî , tr. [Note: translate or translation.] 2 Samuel 2:18 , 1 Chronicles 12:8 etc. in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘roe’; in Deuteronomy 14:5 etc. ‘roebuck,’ but in RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘gazelle’). The gazelle (Arab. [Note: Arabic.] ghazal , also zabi ) is one of the commonest of the larger animals of Palestine; it is one of the most beautiful and graceful of antelopes. It is fawn and white in colour; it is much hunted ( Proverbs 6:5 , Isaiah 13:14 ); it is noted for its speed ( 2 Samuel 2:13 , 1 Chronicles 12:8 ); its flesh is considered, at least in towns, a delicacy.
Ghazaleh (‘female gazelle’) is a favourite name for a girl among the Yemin Jews, as Dorcas and Tabitha , with the same meaning, were in NT times ( Acts 9:36; Acts 9:40 ).
E. W. G. Masterman.