Hunting

One of the old Lexicons for the Bible speaks of hunting as the apprenticeship of war; and certain it is, that the transition from hunting beasts is easily made to that of hunting men. It seems to be no unfair inference, that he who can take pleasure in tearing poor timid hares to pieces by dogs, would not melt into tears in beholding men torn to pieces by horses, Nimrod is the first hunter we read of in history, and of him it is said to a proverb, that he was a mighty hunter before the Lord. (Gen. x. 9.) And as the beginning of hiskingdom was Babel and Erech, and other places, it is very probable, that be was a mighty conqueror also of men, It is worthy remark, that when the Lord speaks: of sending a scourge upon the earth, he speaks of his instrument to punish under the character of hunters. (Jer. 16. 16.) And it is still worthy of farther remark, that at a time when the Lord delivered David from his enemies, he describes the deliverance under the name of the snare of the fowler? (Ps. xci. 3.)

The pursuit and capture of beasts of the field was the first means of sustenance which the human race had recourse to, this mode of gaining a livelihood having naturally preceded the engagements of agriculture, as it presented food already provided, requiring only to be taken and slaughtered; whereas tillage must have been an afterthought, and a later resource, since it implies accumulated knowledge, skill, and such provision aforehand of subsistence as would enable a clan or a family to wait till the fruits of the earth were matured. Hunting was, therefore, a business long before it was a sport. And originally, before man had established his empire on the earth, it must have been not only a serious but a dangerous pursuit. In process of time, however, when civilization had made some progress, when cities were built and lands cultivated, hunting was carried on not so much for the food which it brought as for the recreation it gave and its conduciveness to health.

The East—the cradle of civilization—presents us with hunting in both the characters now spoken of, originally as a means of support, then as a manly amusement. In the early records of history we find hunting held in high repute, partly, no doubt, from its costliness, its dangers, its similitude to war, its capability of combining the energies of many, and also from the relief which it afforded to the stagnant monotony of a court, in the high and bounding spirits that it called forth. Hunting has always borne somewhat of a regal character, and down to the present hour has worn an aristocratic air. In Babylon and Persia this attribute is presented in bold relief. Immense parks were enclosed for nurturing and preserving beasts of the chase. The monarch himself led the way to the sport, not only in these preserves, but also over the wide surface of the country, being attended by his nobles, especially by the younger aspirants to fame and warlike renown.

In the Bible we find hunting connected with royalty so early as in Genesis 10. The great founder of Babel was in general repute as ’a mighty hunter before the Lord.’ The patriarchs, however, are to be regarded rather as herdsmen than hunters, if respect is had to their habitual mode of life. The condition of the herdsman ensues next to that of the hunter in the early stages of civilization; and so we find that even Cain was a keeper, of sheep. This, and the fact that Abel is designated ’a tiller of the ground,’ would seem to indicate, a very rapid progress in the arts and pursuits of social life. The same contrast and similar hostility we find somewhat later, in the case of Jacob and Esau; the first, ’a plain man dwelling in tents;’ the second, ’a cunning hunter, a man of the field’ (Genesis 25 sq.). The account given of Esau in connection with his father seems to show that hunting was, conjointly with tillage, pursued at that time as a means of subsistence, and that hunting had not then passed into its secondary state, and become an amusement.

In Egypt the children of Israel would be spectators of hunting carried on extensively and pursued in different manners, but chiefly, as appears probable, with a view rather to recreation than subsistence. That the land of promise into which the Hebrews were conducted on leaving Egypt was plentifully supplied with beasts of the chase appears clear from Exo 22:29, ’I will not drive them out in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field multiply against thee’ (comp. Deu 3:22). And from the regulation given in Lev 17:15, it is manifest that hunting was practiced after the settlement in Canaan, and was pursued with the view of obtaining food. Pro 12:27 proves that hunting animals for their flesh was an established custom among the Hebrews, though the turn of the passage may serve to show that, at the time it was penned, sport was the chief aim. If hunting was not forbidden in the ’year of rest,’ special provision was made that not only the cattle, but ’the beast of the field’ should be allowed to enjoy and flourish on the uncropped spontaneous produce of the land (Exo 23:11; Lev 25:7). That the lion and other ravenous beasts of prey were not wanting in Palestine, many passages of the Bible make obvious (1Sa 17:34; 2Sa 23:20; 1Ki 13:24). The lion was even made use of to catch other animals (Eze 19:3), and Harmer long ago remarked, that as in the vicinity of Gaza, so also in Judea, leopards were trained and used for the same purpose (Harmer iv. 358; Hab 1:8). That lions were taken by pitfalls as well as by nets appears from Eze 19:4; Eze 19:8 (Shaw, p. 172). In the latter verse the words of the prophet, ’and spread their net over him,’ allude to the custom of enclosing a wide extent of country with nets, into which the animals were driven by hunters. The spots thus enclosed were usually in a hilly country and in the vicinity of water-brooks; whence the propriety and force of the language of Psa 42:1 ’As the (hunted) hart panteth after the water brooks.’ These places were selected because they were those to which the animals were in the habit of repairing in the morning and evening. Scenes like the one now supposed are found portrayed in the Egyptian paintings. Hounds were used for hunting in Egypt, and, if the passage in Josephus (Antiq. iv. 8. 9) may be considered decisive, in Palestine as well. From Gen 27:3, ’Now take thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow,’ we learn what arms were employed at least in capturing game. Bulls, after being taken, were kept at least for a time in a net (Isa 51:20). Various missiles, pitfalls, snares, and gins were made use of in hunting (Psa 91:3; Amo 3:5; 2Sa 23:20). That hunting continued to be followed till towards the end of the Jewish state appears from Josephus, who speaks of Herod as ’ever a most excellent hunter, for in one day he caught forty wild beasts.’ The same passage makes it clear that horses were employed in the pursuits of the chase.

Hunting. Hunting, as a matter of necessity, whether for the extermination of dangerous beasts or for procuring sustenance, betokens a rude and semi-civilized state;

as an amusement, it betokens an advanced state.

The Hebrews, as a pastoral and agricultural people, were not given to the sports of the field; the density of the population, the earnestness of their character, and the tendency of their ritual regulations, particularly those affecting food, all combined to discourage the practice of hunting.

The catching of smaller animals was, first, either by digging a pitfall; or, secondly, by a trap which was set under ground, Job 18:10, in the run of the animal, Pro 22:5, and caught it by the leg, Job 18:9, or lastly, by the use of the net, of which there were various kinds, as or the gazelle, Isa 51:20, Authorized Version, "wild bull," and other animals of that class.

By: Joseph Jacobs

Pursuit of wild game; the common means of obtaining food before the pastoral or agricultural stage of development. The Hebrews of the Biblical age, however, seem to have passed this stage, as the heroes of Biblical story (Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David) are invariably regarded as shepherds. Hunting was at that time regarded as something foreign. Nimrod was "a mighty hunter before the Lord" (Gen. x. 9), and Esau, as a cunning hunter, is contrasted with Jacob (Gen. xxxv.). Yet the pursuit of wild game was frequent even after the Israelites had settled in Canaan (comp. Lev. xvii. 13). Provision was made for the undisturbed use of the timber-lands by the beasts of the field in Sabbatical years (Ex. xxiii. 11; Lev. xxv. 7). Many wild animals, like the hart, roebuck, chamois, and antelope, were used for food and regarded as clean. A few dangerous beasts of prey, like the bear and the lion, had their habitats in Palestine, and means were taken to destroy them, as shown in the well-known instances of Samson and David. Pitfalls as well as nets were employed to entrap the lion (Ezek. xix. 4, 8); bows and arrows (Gen. xxvii. 3) as well as the snare (Ps. xci. 3) were used against game. Nets were employed also to capture the gazel (Isa. xxxi. 1). Other traps were also utilized (Ps. xcii. 3; II Sam. xxiii. 15). It is doubtful whether Prov. xii. 27 refers to hunting as a sport or as a means of livelihood, though the term "ẓedo" seems to imply that part of the food of the Hebrews was derived from the chase.

Hunting is not often mentioned after Bible times, and Herod's proficiency in this direction (Josephus, "B. J." i. 20, § 13) may have been a result of his Hellenistic tendencies. Horses were used regularly for the chase (idem, "Ant." xv. 7, § 7; xvi. 10, § 3). Few references to hunting occur in the Talmud (B. B. 75a; Ḥul. 60b; Ab. Zarah 18b). Objection to hunting seems to have arisen on the ground that it was cruel, and therefore un-Jewish. "He who hunts game with dogs as Gentiles do will not enjoy the life to come," said Meïr of Rothenberg (Responsa, No. 27). Instances occur of Jews enjoying the chase in medieval times (comp. Zunz, "Z. G." p. 173). In Provence they were even skilled in falconry, and followed the game on horseback (Berliner, "Aus dem Innern Leben," p. 17). An instance is on record in which the Jews of Colchester, in 1267, joined some Gentile neighbors in the pursuit of a doe (Jacobs, "Jewish Ideals," p. 226). One objection to hunting on the part of Jews was due to the fact that, owing to the requirements of the dietary laws, they could rarely enjoy the results of the hunt (S. Morpurgo, Responsa, 66b).

Bibliography:

Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, pp. 375-376.

HUNTING is not conspicuous in the literature of the Hebrews that remains to us. We may probably infer that it did not bulk largely in their life. As an amusement, it seems to belong to a more advanced stage of civilization than they had reached. The typical hunter was found outside their borders (Gen 10:9). Esau, skilful in the chase, is depicted as somewhat uncouth and simple (Gen 25:27 etc.). Not till the time of Herod do we hear of a king achieving excellence in this form of sport (Jos. [Note: Josephus.] BJ I. xxi. 13). Wild animals and birds were, however, appreciated as food (Lev 17:13, 1Sa 26:20 etc.); and in a country like Palestine, abounding in beasts and birds of prey, some proficiency in the huntsman’s art was necessary in order to secure the safety of the community, and the protection of the flocks. Among these ‘evil beasts’ lions and bears were the most dangerous (Gen 37:33, 1Ki 13:24, 2Ki 2:24, Pro 28:15 etc.). Deeds of prowess in the slaughter of such animals—by Samson in self-defence (Jdg 14:6), David the shepherd to rescue his charges (1Sa 17:34), and Benaiah (2Sa 23:20)—gained for these men abiding fame. H. P. Smith (Samuel, in loc.) would read of Benaiah: ‘He used to go down and smite the lions in the pit on snowy days,’ when he could track them easily. The difficulty is that snowy days would be rather few to permit of his making a reputation in this way.

Among the animals hunted for food were the gazelle, the hart, the roebuck, and the wild goat (Deu 12:15; Deu 12:22; Deu 14:5 etc.). The first three are mentioned specially as furnishing the table of Solomon (1Ki 4:23). The partridge was perhaps the bird chiefly hunted in ancient times, as it is at the present day (1Sa 26:20). Neither beast nor bird might be eaten unless the blood had been ‘poured out’ (Lev 17:13, Deu 12:16 etc.)—a law still observed by the Moslems.

Little information is given in Scripture as to the methods followed by the huntsmen. The hunting dog is not mentioned; but it is familiar to Josephus (Ant. VI. viii. 9). The following implements were in use, viz.:—the bow and arrow (Gen 27:3 etc.), the club (Job 41:29), nets (Job 19:6, Psa 9:16, Isa 51:20 etc.), pits, in which there might be a net, dug and concealed to entrap the larger animals (Psa 9:15, Eze 19:8 etc.), the sling (1Sa 17:40), the snare of the fowler (Psa 64:5; Psa 91:3; Psa 124:7). The tame partridge in a cage was used as a decoy (Sir 11:30). The modern Syrian is not greatly addicted to hunting. Occasional raids are made upon the bears on Mt. Hermon. To the scandal of Jew and Moslem, Christians sometimes hunt the wild boar in the Huleh marshes, and in the thickets beyond Jordan. See also Nets, Snares, etc.

W. Ewing.

hunt´ing (ציד, cayidh): The hunting of wild animals for sport, or for the defense of men and flocks, or for food, was common in Western Asia and Egypt, especially in early times. Some of the Egyptian and Assyrian kings were great hunters in the first sense, for example Amenhotep III (1411-1375 bc “a lion-hunting and bull-baiting Pharaoh,” who boasted of having slain 76 bulls in the course of one expedition, and of having killed at one time or other 102 lions; and the Assyrian conqueror, Tiglath-pileser I (circa 1100 bc), who claimed 4 wild bulls, 14 elephants and 920 lions as the trophies of his skill and courage.

1. Nimrod and His Like

The Biblical prototype of these heroes of war and the chase is Nimrod, “a mighty hunter before Yahweh” (Gen 10:9), that is perhaps “a hunter who had no equal,” a figure not yet clearly identifiable with any historical or mythical character in the Assyro-Bab monuments, but possibly the Gilgamesh of the great epic, who may be the hero represented on seals and reliefs as victorious over the lion (Skinner, “Gen,” ICC, 208). We are reminded also of Samson’s exploit at Timnah (Jdg 14:5 f), but this, like David’s encounter with the lion and the bear (1Sa 17:34 f) and Benaiah’s struggle with a lion in a pit on a snowy day (2Sa 23:20), was an occasional incident and scarcely comes under the category of hunting. There is no evidence that hunting for sport was ever practiced by the kings of Judah and Israel. Not until the time of Herod the Great, who had a hunting establishment and was a great hunter of boars, stags, and wild asses (Josephus, BJ, I, xxi, 13), mastering as many as 40 beasts in one day, do we find a ruler of Palestine indulging in this pastime.

2. Hunting in the Old Testament

Hunting, however, for the two other purposes mentioned above was probably as frequent among the Israelites, even after they had ceased to be nomads, as among their neighbors. We know indeed of only two personal examples, both in the patriarchal period and both outside the direct line of Israelite descent: Esau (Gen 25:27) and Ishmael (Gen 21:20); but there are several references and many figurative allusions to the pursuit and its methods and instruments. Hunting (inclusive of following) is mentioned in the Pentateuch in the regulation about pouring out the blood and covering it with dust (Lev 17:13); and there is a general reference in the proverb (Pro 12:27): “The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting.” The hunting of the lion is assumed in Ezekiel’s allegory of the lioness and her two whelps (Eze 19:1-9; compare Job 10:16); of the antelope or oryx (Deu 14:5; Isa 51:20); of the roe (Pro 6:5); of the partridge in the mountains (1Sa 26:20), and of birds in general in many passages. Hunting is probably implied in the statement about the provision of harts, gazelles and roebucks for Solomon’s kitchen (1Ki 4:23), and to some extent in the reference to the den of lions in Babylon (Dan 6:7).

3. Methods of Hunters

The weapons most frequently employed by hunters seem to have been bows and arrows. Isaac (Gen 27:3) commands Esau to take his bow and quiver and procure him venison or game (compare also Isa 7:24; Job 41:28). This method is amply illustrated by the monuments. Ashur-nazir-pal lII (885-860 bc) and Darius (circa 500 bc), for example, are depicted shooting at lions from the chariot. Use was also made of the sword, the spear, the dart or javelin, the sling and the club (Job 41:26, Job 41:28 f, where the application of these weapons to hunting is implied). The larger animals were sometimes caught in a pit. The classical reference is in Ezekiel’s allegory, “He was taken in their pit” (shaḥath, Eze 19:4, Eze 19:8; compare also Isa 24:17 f; Jer 48:43 f; Psa 35:7, etc.). The details of this mode of capture as practiced at the present day, and probably in ancient times, are described by Tristram in his Natural History of the Bible (118 f). A more elaborate method is described by Maspero in Lectures historiques (285). To make the pit-capture more effective, nets were also employed: “They spread their net over him” (Eze 19:8; compare Psa 35:7). When caught, the lion was sometimes placed in a large wooden cage (Eze 19:9, ṣūghar, the Assyrian shigāru; for the word and the thing compare SBOT, “Ezk,” English, 132; Heb, 71). The lion (or any other large animal) was led about by a ring or hook (ḥāḥ) inserted in the jaws or nose (2Ki 19:28 = Isa 37:29; Eze 19:4, Eze 19:9; Eze 29:4; Eze 38:4). From wild animals the brutal Assyrians transferred the custom to their human captives, as the Israelites were well aware (2Ch 33:11 the Revised Version margin, Hebrew ḥō^aḥ; for monumental illustrations compare SBOT, “Ezk,” English, 132 f). Nets were also used for other animals such as the oryx or antelope (Isa 51:20). The Egyptian and Assyrian monuments show that dogs were employed in hunting in the ancient East, and it is not improbable that they were put to this service by the Hebrews also, but there is no clear Biblical evidence, as “greyhound” in Pro 30:31 is a questionable rendering. Josephus indeed (Ant., IV, viii, 9) mentions the hunting dog in a law ascribed to Moses, but the value of the allusion is uncertain.

4. Fowlers and Their Snares

The hunting of birds or fowling is so often referred or alluded to that it must have been very widely practiced (compare Psa 91:3; Psa 124:7; Pro 1:17; Pro 6:5; Ecc 9:12; Amo 3:5, etc.). The only bird specifically mentioned is the partridge, said to be hunted on the mountains (1Sa 26:20). The method of hunting is supposed by Tristram (NHB, 225) to be that still prevalent - continual pursuit until the creature is struck down by sticks thrown along the ground - but the interpretation is uncertain. Birds were generally caught by snares or traps. Two passages are peculiarly instructive on this point: Job 18:8-10, where six words are used for such contrivances, represented respectively by “net,” “toils,” “gin,” “snare,” “noose,” “trap”; and Amo 3:5, which is important enough to be cited in full: “Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is set for him? shall a snare spring up from the ground, and have taken nothing at all?” The word for “snare” in this passage (paḥ) probably describes a net laid on the ground, perhaps a circular net like the Egyptian bird-trap represented in the Cambridge Bible, “Amos,” 157. The word for “gin,” usually ira in the Revised Version (British and American) “snare” (mōḳēsh, literally, “fowling instrument”) is supposed to refer either to the bait (ibid., 158) or to the catch connected with it which causes the net to collapse (Siegfried). For a full account of Egyptian modes of following which probably illustrate ancient Palestinian methods, compare Wilkinson, Popular Account, II, 178-83. The two words (mōḳēsh and paḥ) mentioned above are used figuratively in many Old Testament passages, the former repeatedly of the deadly influence of Canaanitish idolatry on Israel, as in Exo 23:33, “For if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee” (compare Exo 34:12; Deu 7:16; Jos 23:13). The use of the hawk in fowling, which is at- tested for Northern Syria by a bas-relief found in 1908 at Sakje-Geuzi, is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but there may perhaps be an allusion in Apocrypha (Baruch 3:17, “they that had their pastime with the fowls of the air”). A reference to the use of decoys has been found in Jer 5:27, “a cage ... full of birds,” but that is a doubtful interpretation, and in the Greek of Sirach 11:30, “As a decoy partridge in a cage, so is the heart of a proud man,” but the Hebrew text of the latter is less explicit. See FOWLER.

5. Allusions in the New Testament

The New Testament has a few figurative allusions to hunting. The words for “catch” in Mar 12:13 and Luk 11:54 (agreúō and thēreúō) mean literally, “hunt.” The verb “ensnare” (pagideúō) occurs in the Gospels (Mat 22:15), and the noun “snare” (pagı́s) is met with in 5 passages (Luk 21:34; Rom 11:9; 1Ti 3:7; 1Ti 6:9; 2Ti 2:26). Another word for “snare” (bróchos), which means literally, “noose” (Revised Version margin), is used in 1Co 7:35. The words for “things that cause stumbling” and “stumble” (skándalon and skandalı́zō) may possibly conceal in some passages an allusion to a hunter’s trap or snare. Skandalon is closely allied to skandálēthron, “the stick in a trap on which the bait is placed,” and is used in Septuagint for mōḳēsh. The abundant use of imagery taken from hunting in the Bible is remarkable, in view of the comparative rarity of literal references.

Literature

In addition to the works cited in the course of the article, the article “Hunting” in DB², HDB large and small, EB, Jewish Encyclopedia; and “Jagd” in German Bible Dicts. of Guthe, Riehm², and Wiener, and in RE³.