H7090 H7090
hedgehog or porcupine, an unclean animal inhabiting ruins
This creature (possibly a hedgehog, porcupine, or bittern—ancient translators disagreed) symbolizes desolation in prophetic oracles. Isaiah and Zephaniah invoke it when describing lands reduced to uninhabitable wilderness. The identification remains uncertain, though the Greek uses 'hedgehog' and the Vulgate 'porcupine.' Whether referring to a spiny mammal or a marsh bird, the key is its association with abandoned, cursed places where human civilization has ceased.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The term designates a wild creature characteristic of desolate ruins, appearing in three judgment oracles. Isaiah 14:23 pronounces Babylon will become 'a possession for the hedgehog,' while Isaiah 34:11 includes it among the chaotic inhabitants of Edom's destruction. Zephaniah 2:14 similarly envisions this creature lodging in the ruined capitals of Nineveh. Whether hedgehog, porcupine, or bittern, the animal represents the reversal of human order—wild nature reclaiming what was once civilized. 3×
AR["الْقُنْفُذُ", "الْقُنْفُذِ", "وَ-القُنْفُذُ"]·ben["ও-সজারু", "কাঁটাপোকার", "সজারু"]·DE["[וקפוד]", "[קפד]"]·EN["and-hedgehog", "hedgehog", "the-hedgehog"]·FR["[וקפוד]", "[קפד]", "hérisson"]·heb["ו-קיפוד", "קיפוד"]·HI["और-साही", "कांटेदार-की", "साही"]·ID["dan-landak", "landak"]·IT["[קפד]", "e-rannicchiarsi", "rannicchiarsi"]·jav["lan-landak", "landak", "manuk-hantu"]·KO["고슴도치가", "고슴도치의", "그리고-고슴도치가"]·PT["e-porco-espinho", "ouriço"]·RU["ежа", "и-ёж", "ёж"]·ES["erizo", "y-el-erizo"]·SW["na-nungu", "nundu"]·TR["kirpi", "kirpinin", "ve-kirpi"]·urd["اور-جھنگر", "خارپشت", "ساہی-کی"]
Related Senses
H6629 1. flock, sheep/goats (small livestock) (274×)H1241 1. cattle, herd (bovine livestock) (183×)H0352a 1. ram (male sheep) (156×)H6499 1. young bull, bullock (130×)H3532 1. lamb, young male sheep (105×)H2543 1. donkey (male ass) (96×)H7794 1. ox, bull (79×)H7462b 1. shepherd (agent noun) (76×)H5795 1. she-goat(s), female goat(s) (68×)H7462b 2. to shepherd, tend, pasture (60×)H1581 1. camel (domestic animal) (54×)H0738b 1. lion (46×)G4263 1. sheep (39×)H5739 1. flock or herd of livestock (38×)H5695 1. calf, young bull (35×)H0738a 1. lion (large predatory feline) (34×)H0860 1. female donkey (34×)H3611 1. dog (animal) (32×)H3715a 1. young lion, lion cub (31×)G0721 1. Lamb (29×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† קִפֹּד n.[m.] porcupine (from rolling itself together; 𝔊 ἐχῖνοι (always pl.), 𝔙 ericius, BoHieroz. iii. cap. 36 Post Hastings DB bittern; > (from context) bittern TrNHB> 243 Hi Che GuKau; v. discussion by M`Lean-Shipley Ency. Bib. bittern);—ק׳ as haunting desolate places, Is 14:23; Zp 2:14, קִפּוֹד Is 34:11.