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Bible Encyclopedias
Roe
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or Rendering in the Authorized Version of the Hebrew 
which is sometimes translated also "roebuck" and "wild roe," and occasionally in the Revised Version "gazel." The roe is mentioned as an animal permitted as food (Deuteronomy 14:5); and it was furnished for Solomon's table (1 Kings 4:23). Its swiftness, gentleness, and grace are often alluded to (2 Samuel 2:18; Proverbs 6:5; Song of Solomon 2:9, 5:17). The feminine form "áºibyah" (Aramaic, "tabita") was used as a proper name (2 Kings 12:2, "Zibiah"; Acts 11:36, "Tabitha"). The Authorized Version renders "ya'alah" (Proverbs 5:19) also by "roe," and "'ofer" (Song of Solomon 4:5, 7:3) by "young roe." Of the CervidÅ the Gazella dorcas is the most abundant of all large game in Palestine.
In the Talmud the Hebrew "áºebi" and "ayyal" are the generic terms for all species of CervidÅ, so that it is impossible to determine which is meant in each case. In some passages, however, the roe seems specifically intended: e.g., Ḥul. 132a, where reference is made to the mating of the goat with the áºebi; ib. 59b, a reference to the áºebi with unbranched horns, the roe having as a rule only one branch on its antler, and sometimes none at all; Kil. 1:6, where the similarities between the goat and the áºebi are enumerated. In the same passage the "ya'el" is said to resemble the hart. The Antilope doreas is perhaps mentioned under the name 
= "goat of Kerkus" (Ḥul. 59b). See GOAT; HART (2); UNICORN.
- Tristram, Nat. Hist. p. 127;
- Lewysohn, Z. T. pp. 113, 126.
These files are public domain.
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Roe'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/r/roe.html. 1901.
