Bible Encyclopedias
Hind

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(אִוָּלָה, ayalah', Genesis 49:21; 2 Samuel 22:34; Job 34:1; Psalms 18:33; Psalms 29:9; Song of Solomon 2:7; Song of Solomon 3:5; Habakkuk 3:19; or

אִוֶּלֶת, aye'leth, Proverbs 5:19; Jeremiah 14:5; "Aijaleth," Psalms 22 :title), the female of the hart or stag, "doe" being the female of the fallow-deer, and "roe" being sometimes used for that of the roebuck. All the females of the Cervidae, with the exception of the reindeer, are hornless. (See DEER). The hind is frequently noticed in the poetical parts of Scripture as emblematic of activity (Genesis 49:21; 2 Samuel 22:34; Psalms 18:33; Habakkuk 3:19), gentleness (Proverbs 5:19), feminine modesty (Song of Solomon 2:7; Song of Solomon 3:5), earnest longing (Psalms 42:1), and maternal affection (Jeremiah 14:5). Its shyness and remoteness from the haunts of men are also noticed (Job 39:1), and its timidity, causing it to cast its young at the sound of thunder (Psalms 29:9). The conclusion which some have drawn from the passage last quoted, that the hind produces her young with great difficulty, is not, in reality, deducible from the words, and is expressly contradicted by Job 39:3. It may be remarked on Psalms 18:33, and Habakkuk 3:19, where the Lord is said to cause the feet to stand firm like those of a hind on high places, that this representation is in perfect harmony with the habits of mountain stags; but the version of Proverbs 5:19, "Let the wife of thy bosom be as the beloved hind and favorite roe," seems to indicate that here the words are generalized so as to include under roe monogamous species of antelopes, whose affections and consortship are permanent and strong; for stags are polygamous. The Sept. reads אֵילָה in Genesis 49:21, rendering it στέλεχος ἀνειμένον, "a luxuriant terebinth," an emendation adopted by Bochart. Lowth has proposed a similar change in Psalms 29, but in neither case can the emendation be accepted. Naphtali verified the comparison of himself to a "graceful or tall hind" by the events recorded in Judges 4:6-9; Judges 5:18. The inscription of Psalms 22 :" the hind of the morning," probably refers to a tune of that name. (See AIJELETH).