of foxes and jackals in the holy land

[metaphorge]

One part of the Jewish Mysticism, Magic and Folklore class I'm taking this semester is determining a Hebrew personal name. I've approached this from the logical standpoint of a literal translation of "Fox"-you know, the small furry creature-into the equivalent Hebrew word.

My research thus far has turned up this:

There are at present two species of fox inhabiting Palestine: the Canis flavescens, found in the north, and the C. niloticus, common in the central and southern regions. But most of the passages of the Old Testament in which "shu'al" occurs seem to apply rather to the jackal (Canis aureus), the commonest beast of prey in Palestine. On the other hand, there are two special names for the jackal in the Old Testament, both of which are found only in the plural, "iyyim" and "tannim" (Isa. xiii. 22, xxxiv. 13 et seq., xxxv. 7; Jer. ix. 10, x. 22, xlix. 33, etc.). It may be that "shu'al" in the Old Testament is intended as a general term for the whole family or for several species of the Canidæ, while "iyyim" and "tannim" denote the jackal specifically as the "howler" (comp. the Arabic "wawi," or "ibn awa") and as the animal with the outstretched body. According to Tristram, even at the present day the two animals are commonly confounded in Syria, though the inhabitants are aware of their distinction.

Thus the catching of 300 shu'alim in the story of Samson (Judges xv. 4) seems to refer to jackals rather than to foxes, since the former are gregarious and remain in droves, while the latter prowl singly and are taken alive with difficulty. So also in Ps. lxiii. 11, the word probably applies to the jackal, as it is characteristic of the latter, but not of the fox, to feed on dead bodies. Lam. v. 18 and Neh. iii. 35 are applicable alike to the fox and the jackal, as both are in the habit of burrowing among rocks and ruins; while Ezek. xiii. 4 and Cant. ii. 15 no doubt refer to the proverbial cunning of the fox and its fondness for grapes, though the jackal is equally destructive to vineyards.

That foxes and jackals were formerly, as now, common in Palestine, may be inferred from the names derived from these animals, as "Hazar-shual" (Josh. xv. 28) and "Shalim" (I Sam. ix. 4).

—In Rabbinical Literature:

There is no ascertained reference to the jackal in the rabbinical writings, while the fox is often spoken of. The latter's term of gestation is six months; it prowls among ruins, burrows in the earth, is even found to inhabit a hollow gourd; kills poultry and young lambs and kids, and is noxious to vineyards (Bek. 8a; Mak. 24b; Ned. 81b; Ket. 111b; Ḥul. 53a; B. Ḳ. 92a; Eccl. R. 98a, etc). In proverbial expressions the cunning and treacherous fox is often contrasted with the kingly lion: "Be rather the tail [i.e., the last] among lions than the head of foxes" (Sanh. 37a; Ab. iv. 15). Of one who belied his great reputation it was said: "The lion has become a fox" (B. Ḳ. 117a; comp. also B. M. 84b; Meg. 16b; Ned. 81b; Ab. ii. 15). The "fox fables" ("mishle shu'alim"), of which 300 were known to R. Meïr (Sanh. 38b; Suk. 28a), had no doubt escapades of the fox for their themes (comp. Ber. 61b; Esth. R. iii. 1; Eccl. R. v. 14; L. Levysohn, in "Jüdisches Volksblatt," vol. iii.). See æsop's Fables Among the Jews.

The fox was also employed in the magic of the time. The tail of a fox was suspended between the eyes of the horse to protect it against the evil eye (Shab. 53a); its tooth was carried to promote or prevent sleep, according as it was taken from a live or a dead animal (Shab. 67a, Rashi); while the passing of a fox on one's left side was considered an evil omen (Sanh. 65b).

So maybe a literal translation is not such a great idea after all....

Edit: More food for thought:

שועל

(shu'al in wikipedia-hebrew)

Further edit: One of the side-effects of this class is that I'm now absolutely committed to become fluent in Hebrew.

Comments

[zunger.livejournal.com]

Hmm. There's very likely a case of linguistic drift here; as you say, the ancient term may have referred to either a jackal or a fox. In modern usage, the word unambiguously refers to a fox, but I've noticed that (unlike most similar mammals) it's pretty much unheard-of as a personal name. Male names in Hebrew tend to be either nature names, especially animals, or biblical names; female names are most often either biblical or plants.

Part of the rarity of shu'al could be that there isn't any folklore around the fox analogous to what you would find in the US or other places; if there's anything around it at all, it's exactly what you've cited, and animal descriptions that include the word "noxious" rarely lead people to name their children. :)

Although it's by no means the same species, a close name that might actually be used if a parent wanted to name someone after a fox would be Ze'ev (wolf). For some reason, the two are considered fairly close kin.

[vega-33.livejournal.com]

that's pretty bloody interesting. Why hadn't I thought of checking the Latin appellation for the jackal ages ago? Canis aureus? This just confirms my theory about the dogs head surmounted by a helmet being relating to Hermanubis in alchemical literature, and adds all kinds of interesting to the mix... the fondness for grapes being the only other thing I wasn't aware of there which is also very apropriate.

BTW, am I the only one who finds it interesting that the word shamash for sun is made up of all 3 hebrew mother letters in specific order?

[zunger.livejournal.com]

Huh? Shemesh is spelled שמש. No aleph.

[whitecrow0.livejournal.com]

I could write a comment about how that really interested me (for it did), but all I can think of is:
Want Hebrew Crow!

I go bobble off now. ;}

[zunger.livejournal.com]

עורב, "orev." It's not in common use as a name -- I've never met anyone called that -- but it's not something that would be utterly surprising to hear as a name, either. Unlike foxes/jackals, crows don't seem to have a lot of Hebrew mythology associated with them.

[whitecrow0.livejournal.com]

Well, see, I have this thing for Hamsas, and some Hamsa hands have Hebrew words on them. I was thinking about making myself a jewelry box or something decorated with a Hamsa, and instead of using whatever-it-is-that-it-says on it, I was considering using the Hebrew word for crow in it's place. I am obviously fond of the creatures / mythology, and to put the word on a box for shiny things ... I thought it might fit. But I also am interested in the actual meaning and connotations of names, and I don't want to, erm, jinx myself.

[zunger.livejournal.com]

Actually, scratch that previous comment. Thinking about it this morning... the only connotation I can think of for crows in Hebrew is carrion-birds. It would be roughly equivalent to being named "Vulture" or "Buzzard" in English.

The moral of this story being that names really don't tend to translate very well, especially when they're being chosen for their attached fables.

[whitecrow0.livejournal.com]

Oh. Poop. But I really appreciate the effort! Thanks!