This is a list of animals whose names appear in the Bible. Whenever required for the identification, the Hebrew name will be indicated, as well as the specific term used by zoologists. This list will include names such as griffon, lamia, Siren and unicorn, which, though generally applied to fabulous beings, have nevertheless, because of misunderstandings or educational prejudices of the Greek and Latin translators, crept into the versions, and have been applied to real animals. In the following list D.V. stands for Douay Version, A.V. and R.V. for Authorized and Revised Version respectively.
A
Addax — A kind of antelope with twisted horns; it very probably corresponds to the דִּישׁוֹן (dîshõn) of the Hebrews and the pygarg of the divers translations (Deuteronomy ). Adder — A poisonous snake of the genus Vipera. The word, unused in the D.V., stands in the A.V. for four different Hebrew names of serpents. Ant (נְמָלָה nəmālāh; Proverbs ; ) — Over twelve species of ants exist in Israel; among them the ants of the genus Atta are particularly common, especially the Atta barbara, of dark color, and the Atta structor, a brown species. These, with the Pheidole megacephala, are, unlike the ants of northern countries, accustomed to lay up stores of grain for winter use. Hence the allusions of the wise man in the two above-mentioned passages of Proverbs. Antelope — The word, first applied as a qualification to the gazelle, on account of the lustre and soft expression of its eye, has become the name of a genus of ruminant quadrupeds intermediate between the deer and the goat. Four species are mentioned in the Bible: , dîshon (D.V. pygarg; Deuteronomy ), commonly identified with the Addax (Addax nasomaculatus); , tsebhî (Deuteronomy , etc.; D.V. roe) or gazelle, Dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas); , the'ô (; D.V. wild goat; Isaiah , D.V. wild ox), which seems to be the bubal hartebeest (†Alcelaphus buselaphus buselaphus)); and , yákhmûr (), the name of which is given by the Arabs to the roebuck (Capreolus capreolus) of Northern Syria and to the Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx)) (the white antelope,) of the desert. Ape ( qōf) — Nowhere in the Bible is the ape supposed to be indigenous to Israel. Apes are mentioned with gold, silver, ivory, and peacocks among the precious things imported by Solomon from Tharsis (1 Kings ; 2 Chronicles ). The "ape" of the KJV is what is called an Old World monkey today. "Apes" in the modern colloquial sense, like chimpanzees and gorillas, were known of only later. Asp — This word, which occurs eleven times in D.V., stands for four Hebrew names: פֶתֶן péthén (; Job , ; Psalms 58 (Vulgate: Ps. 57):5; Isaiah ). From several allusions both to its deadly venom (Deuteronomy 32:33), and to its use by serpent-charmers (Ps. 58 (Vulgate: Ps. 57)), it appears that the cobra (naja aspis) is most probably signified. Safely to step upon its body, or even linger by the hole where it coils itself, is manifestly a sign of God's particular protection (Ps. 91 (Vulgate: Ps. 90); Isaiah 11:8]. Sophar, one of Job's friends, speaks of the wicked as sucking the venom of péthén, in punishment whereof the food he takes shall be turned within him into the gall of this poisonous reptile (Job 20:14, 16). עַכְשׁוּב ‘Akhshûbh, mentioned only once in the Hebrew Bible, namely Psalm 140, but manifestly alluded to in Psalm 13, and , seems to have been one of the most highly poisonous kinds of viper, perhaps the toxicoa, also called echis arenicola or scytale of the Pyramids, very common in Syria and North Africa. שַׁחַל sháhál is also found only once to signify a snake, Ps. 91 (Vulgate: Ps. 90): 13; but what particular kind of snake we are unable to determine. The word Sháhál (usually meaning "lion") might possibly, owing to some copyist's mistake, have crept into the place of another name now impossible to restore. צֶפַע tsif‘ōnî (), "the hisser", generally rendered by basilisk in ID.V. and in ancient translations, the latter sometimes calling it regulus. This snake was deemed so deadly that, according to the common saying, its hissing alone, even its look, was fatal. It was probably a small viper, perhaps a cerastes, possibly the daboia zanthina, according to Cheyne. Ass — The ass (male עַיִר ’ăyir, female אָתוֹן ’ăṯōn, wild פֶרֶא pere) has always enjoyed a marked favour above all other beasts of burden in the Bible. This is evidenced by more than one hundred and thirty mentions of this animal in Bible, and by the number of words in the Hebrew vocabulary used to designate the ass, by colour, sex, age, and so forth, in striking contrast with the ordinary penury of the sacred language. Of these various names the most common is חֲמוֹר (hamôr), "reddish", the hair of the eastern ass being generally of that colour.