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Bible Dictionaries
Hyaena
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or HYÆNA ( zâbuâ‘ , Jeremiah 12:9 [but see art. Speckled Bird]. Zeboim [ 1 Samuel 13:18 ] probably means ‘[Valley of] Hyænas’). The hyæna (Arab. [Note: Arabic.] daba‘ ) is a very common Palestine animal, concerning which the fellahîn have countless tales. It is both hated and dreaded; it consumes dead bodies, and will even dig up corpses in the cemeteries; the writer has known such rifling of graves to occur on the Mount of Olives. It is nocturnal in its habits; in the day-time it hides in solitary caves, to which the fellahîn often follow it and attack it by various curious devices. In the gathering dusk and at night the hungry hyæna frequently becomes very bold, and will follow with relentless persistence a solitary pedestrian, who, if he cannot reach safety, will surely be killed. In spite of its habits it is eaten at times by the Bedouin.
E. W. G. Masterman.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Hyaena'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/h/hyaena.html. 1909.
