Bible Dictionaries
Antelope

Holman Bible Dictionary

A grass-eating deerlike animal which does not appear in the KJV but does in NAS, NIV, NRSV, TEV, translating Hebrew te'o, a word translated in different ways by the earliest translations. The references may be to a large white antelope or oryx (oryx leucoryx ) with striking long horns, black markings, and a tuft of black hair under its neck. It had a divided hoof and chewed the cud and so qualified as a clean animal to be eaten (Deuteronomy 14:5 ). They were hunted and caught with nets (Isaiah 51:20 ).

The original NIV read “antelope” in Isaiah 13:14 , but more recent editions read, “gazelle.” The biblical antelope lived in the Jordan Valley and the Arabian desert.