Wolf. There can be little doubt that the wolf of Palestine is the common Canis lupus, and that this is the animal so frequently mentioned in the Bible.
(The wolf is a fierce animal of the same species as the dog, which it resembles. The common color is gray with a tinting of fawn, and the hair is long and black. The Syrian wolf is of lighter color than the wolf of Europe it is the dread of the shepherds of Palestine. - Editor).
Wolves were doubtless far more common in biblical times than they are now, though they are occasionally seen by modern travellers. The following are the scriptural allusions to the wolf:
Its ferocity is mentioned in Genesis 49:27; Ezekiel 22:27; Habakkuk 1:8; Matthew 7:15,
its nocturnal habits, in Jeremiah 5:6; Zephaniah 3:3; Habakkuk 1:8,
its attacking sheep and lambs, Matthew 10:16; Luke 10:3; John 10:12,
Isaiah Isaiah 11:6; Isaiah 65:25, foretells the peaceful reign of the Messiah under the metaphor of a wolf dwelling with a lamb:
cruel persecutors are compared with wolves. Matthew 10:16; Acts 20:29.