Goat

Goat - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

(1.) Heb. ez, the she-goat (Gen. 15:9; 30:35; 31:38). This Hebrew word is also used for the he-goat (Ex. 12:5; Lev. 4:23; Num. 28:15), and to denote a kid (Gen. 38:17, 20). Hence it may be regarded as the generic name of the animal as domesticated. It literally means "strength," and points to the superior strength of the goat as compared with the sheep.

(2.) Heb. attud, only in plural; rendered "rams" (Gen. 31:10, 12); he-goats (Num. 7:17-88; Isa. 1:11); goats (Deut. 32:14; Ps. 50:13). They were used in sacrifice (Ps. 66:15). This word is used metaphorically for princes or chiefs in Isa. 14:9, and in Zech. 10:3 as leaders. (Comp. Jer. 50:8.)

(3.) Heb. gedi, properly a kid. Its flesh was a delicacy among the Hebrews (Gen. 27:9, 14, 17; Judg. 6:19).

(4.) Heb. sa'ir, meaning the "shaggy," a hairy goat, a he-goat (2 Chr. 29:23); "a goat" (Lev. 4:24); "satyr" (Isa. 13:21); "devils" (Lev. 17:7). It is the goat of the sin-offering (Lev. 9:3, 15; 10:16).

(5.) Heb. tsaphir, a he-goat of the goats (2 Chr. 29:21). In Dan. 8:5, 8 it is used as a symbol of the Macedonian empire.

(6.) Heb. tayish, a "striker" or "butter," rendered "he-goat" (Gen. 30:35; 32:14).

(7.) Heb. azazel (q.v.), the "scapegoat" (Lev. 16:8, 10, 26).

(8.) There are two Hebrew words used to denote the undomesticated goat:, Yael, only in plural mountain goats (1 Sam. 24:2; Job 39:1; Ps. 104:18). It is derived from a word meaning "to climb." It is the ibex, which abounded in the mountainous parts of Moab. And 'akko, only in Deut. 14:5, the wild goat.

Goats are mentioned in the New Testament in Matt. 25:32, 33; Heb. 9:12, 13, 19; 10:4. They represent oppressors and wicked men (Ezek. 34:17; 39:18; Matt. 25:33).

Several varieties of the goat were familiar to the Hebrews. They had an important place in their rural economy on account of the milk they afforded and the excellency of the flesh of the kid. They formed an important part of pastoral wealth (Gen. 31:10, 12;32:14; 1 Sam. 25:2).

Goat - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

GOAT, n. An animal or quadruped of the genus Capra. The horns are hollow, turned upwards, erect and scabrous. Goats are nearly of the size of sheep, but stronger, less timid and more agile. They delight to frequent rocks and mountains, and subsist on scanty coarse food. The milk of the goat is sweet, nourishing and medicinal, and the flesh furnishes provisions to the inhabitants of countries where they abound.

Kid - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

The young of the goat. It was much used for food (Gen. 27:9; 38:17; Judg. 6:19; 14:6). The Mosaic law forbade to dress a kid in the milk of its dam, a law which is thrice repeated (Ex. 23:19; 34:26; Deut. 14:21). Among the various reasons assigned for this law, that appears to be the most satisfactory which regards it as "a protest against cruelty and outraging the order of nature." A kid cooked in its mother's milk is "a gross, unwholesome dish, and calculated to kindle animal and ferocious passions, and on this account Moses may have forbidden it. Besides, it is even yet associated with immoderate feasting; and originally, I suspect," says Dr. Thomson (Land and the Book), "was connected with idolatrous sacrifices."

Kid - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

KID, n. [L. hoedus; vulgar.]

1. A young goat.

2. A faggot; a bundle of heath and furze.

KID, v.t. or i. To bring forth a young goat.

1. To make into a bundle, as faggots.

KID, v.t. To show, discover or make known.

Scapegoat - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

Lev. 16:8-26; R.V., "the goat for Azazel" (q.v.), the name given to the goat which was taken away into the wilderness on the day of Atonement (16:20-22). The priest made atonement over the scapegoat, laying Israel's guilt upon it, and then sent it away, the goat bearing "upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited."

At a later period an evasion or modification of the law of Moses was introduced by the Jews. "The goat was conducted to a mountain named Tzuk, situated at a distance of ten Sabbath days' journey, or about six and a half English miles, from Jerusalem. At this place the Judean desert was supposed to commence; and the man in whose charge the goat was sent out, while setting him free, was instructed to push the unhappy beast down the slope of the mountain side, which was so steep as to insure the death of the goat, whose bones were broken by the fall. The reason of this barbarous custom was that on one occasion the scapegoat returned to Jerusalem after being set free, which was considered such an evil omen that its recurrence was prevented for the future by the death of the goat" (Twenty-one Years' Work in the Holy Land). This mountain is now called el-Muntar.

got:

1. Names:

The common generic word for "goat" is `ez (compare Arabic `anz, "she-goat"; aix), used often for "she-goat" (Ge 15:9; Nu 15:27), also with gedhi, "kid," as gedhi `izzim, "kid of the goats" (Ge 38:17), also with sa`ir, "he-goat," as se`ir `izzim, "kid of the goats" or "he-goat," or translated simply "kids," as in 1Ki 20:27, "The children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of kids." Next, frequently used is sa`ir, literally, "hairy" (compare Arabic sha`r, "hair"; cher, "hedgehog"; Latin hircus, "goat"; hirtus, "hairy"; also German Haar; English "hair"), like `ez and `attudh used of goats for offerings. The goat which is sent into the wilderness bearing the sins of the people is sa`ir (Le 16:7-22). The same name is used of devils (Le 17:7; 2Ch 11:15, the Revised Version (British and American) "he-goats") and of satyrs (Isa 13:21; 34:14, the Revised Version, margin "he-goats," the American Standard Revised Version "wild goats"). Compare also se`irath `izzim, "a female from the flock" (Le 4:28; 5:6). The male or leader of the flock is `attudh; Arabic `atud, "yearling he-goat"; figuratively "chief ones" (Isa 14:9; compare Jer 50:8). A later word for "he-goat," used also figuratively, is tsaphir (2Ch 29:21; Ezr 8:35; Da 8:5,8,21). In Pr 30:31, one of the four things "which are stately in going" is the he-goat, tayish (Arabic tais, "he-goat"), also mentioned in Ge 30:35; 32:14 among the possessions of Laban and Jacob, and in 2Ch 17:11 among the animals given as tribute by the Arabians to Jehoshaphat. In Heb 9:12,13,19; 10:4, we have tragos, the ordinary Greek word for "goat"; in Mt 25:32,33, eriphos, and its diminutive eriphion; in Heb 11:37 derma aigeion, "goatskin," from aix (see supra). "Kid" is gedhi (compare En-gedi (1Sa 23:29), etc.), feminine gedhiyah (So 1:8), but also `ez, gedhi `izzim, se'-ir `izzim, se`ir `izzim, se`irath `izzim, bene `izzim, and eriphos. There remain ya`el (1Sa 24:2; Job 39:1; Ps 104:18), English Versions of the Bible "wild goat"; ya`alah (Pr 5:19), the King James Version "roe," the Revised Version (British and American) "doe"; 'aqqo (De 14:5), English Versions of the Bible "wild goat"; and zemer (De 14:5), English Versions of the Bible "chamois."

2. Wild Goats:

The original of our domestic goats is believed to be the Persian wild goat or pasang, Capra aegagrus, which inhabits some of the Greek islands, Asia Minor, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, Afghanistan, and Northwestern India. It is called wa'l (compare Hebrew ya`el) by the Arabs, who in the North apply the same name to its near relative, the Sinaitic ibex, Capra beden. The last, doubtless the "wild goat" (ya`el) of the Bible, inhabits Southern Palestine, Arabia, Sinai, and Eastern Egypt, and within its range is uniformly called beden by the Arabs. It is thought by the writer that the "chamois" (zemer) of De 14:5 may be the Persian wild goat. The word occurs only in this passage in the list of clean animals. See CHAMOIS; DEER; ZOOLOGY. Wild goats are found only in Southern Europe, Southwestern Asia, and Northeastern Africa. They include the well-known, but now nearly extinct, Alpine ibex, steinbok, or bouquetin, the markhor, and the Himalayan ibex, which has enormous horns. The so-called Rocky Mountain goat is not properly a goat, but is an animal intermediate between goats and antelopes.

3. Domestic Goats:

Domestic goats differ greatly among themselves in the color and length of their hair, in the size and shape of their ears, and in the size and shape of their horns, which are usually larger in the males, but in some breeds may be absent in both sexes. A very constant feature in both wild and domestic goats is the bearded chin of the male. The goats of Palestine and Syria are usually black (So 4:1), though sometimes partly or entirely white or brown. Their hair is usually long, hanging down from their bodies. The horns are commonly curved outward and backward, but in one very handsome breed they extend nearly outward with slight but graceful curves, sometimes attaining a span of 2 ft. or more in the old males. The profile of the face is distinctly convex. They are herded in the largest numbers in the mountainous or hilly districts, and vie with their wild congeners in climbing into apparently impossible places. They feed not only on herbs, but also on shrubs and small trees, to which they are most destructive. They are largely responsible for the deforested condition of Judea and Lebanon. They reach up the trees to the height of a man, holding themselves nearly or quite erect, and even walk out on low branches.

4. Economy:

Apart from the ancient use in sacrifice, which still survives among Moslems, goats are most valuable animals. Their flesh is eaten, and may be had when neither mutton nor beef can be found. Their milk is drunk and made into cheese and semn, a sort of clarified butter much used in cooking. Their hair is woven into tents (So 1:5), carpets, cloaks, sacks, slings, and various camel, horse and mule trappings. Their skins are made into bottles (no'dh; Greek askos; Arabic qirbeh) for water, oil, semn, and other liquids (compare also Heb 11:37).

5. Religious and Figurative:

Just as the kid was often slaughtered for an honored guest (Jud 6:19; 13:19), so the kid or goat was frequently taken for sacrifice (Le 4:23; 9:15; 16:7; Nu 15:24; Ezr 8:35; Eze 45:23; Heb 9:12). A goat was one of the clean animals (seh `izzim, De 14:4). In Daniel, the powerful king out of the West is typified as a goat with a single horn (8:5). One of the older goats is the leader of the flock. In some parts of the country the goatherd makes different ones leaders by turns, the leader being trained to keep near the goat-herd and not to eat so long as he wears the bell. In Isa 14:9, ".... stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth," the word translated "chief ones" is `attudh, "he-goat." Again, in Jer 50:8, we have "Go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks." In Mt 25:32, in the scene of the last judgment, we find "He shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats." It is not infrequent to find a flock including both goats and sheep grazing over the mountains, but they are usually folded separately.

Alfred Ely Day

(1) gedhi (Ex 23:19, etc.);

(2) feminine gedhiyah (Isa 11:6, etc.);

(3) gedhi `izzim, English Versions of the Bible "kid," literally, "kid of the goats," the King James Version margin (Jud 6:19, etc.);

(4) `ez, literally, "goat" (De 14:21; 1Ki 20:27);.

(5) se`ir `izzim, the King James Version "kid of the goats," the Revised Version (British and American) "he-goat" (Ge 37:31; Le 9:3, etc.);

(6) eriphos (Lu 15:29).

See GOAT.

Definition

A goat is a medium-sized, four-legged animal which is similar to a sheep and is raised primarily for its milk and meat. A baby goat is called a “kid.”

• Like sheep, goats were important animals of sacrifice, especially at Passover.
• Although goats and sheep can be very similar, these are some ways that they are different:

• Goats have coarse hair; sheep have wool.
• The tail of a goat stands up; the tail of a sheep hangs down.
• Sheep usually like to stay with their herd, but goats are more independent and tend to wander away from their herd.

• In Bible times, goats were often the main source of milk in Israel.
• Goat skins were used for tent coverings and to make bags for holding wine.
• In both the Old and New Testaments, the goat was used as a symbol for unrighteous people, perhaps because of its tendency to wander away from the one taking care of it.
• The Israelites also used goats as symbolic sin bearers. When one goat was sacrificed, the priest would lay his hands on a second, live goat, and send it into the desert as a symbol that the animal was bearing the people’s sins.

(See also: flock, sacrifice, sheep, righteous, wine)

Bible References

• Exodus 12:3-4
• Genesis 30:32
• Genesis 31:10
• Genesis 37:31
• Leviticus 3:12-14
• Matthew 25:33

Word Data

• Strong’s: H0689, H1423, H1429, H3277, H3629, H5795, H5796, H6260, H6629, H6842, H7716, H8163, H8166, H8495, G01220, G20550, G20560, G51310