H8568 H8568
jackal, wild canine found in desolate places, known for mournful howling
This Hebrew word denotes the jackal, a wild canine that inhabits deserted and desolate regions. The animal appears in Scripture as a symbol of devastation and abandonment, its eerie howling echoing through waste places. In Lamentations 4:3, the jackals are noted for nursing their young—contrasting with the cruelty of Jerusalem's people during the siege. Prophetic texts use jackals to mark places of divine judgment that have become uninhabitable ruins, their haunting cries a reminder of former glory turned to ash.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The jackal appears consistently across biblical passages as the archetypal creature of ruins and abandonment. Multilingual glosses show translators grappling with this animal designation—some rendering it as 'jackals' while others preserve the Hebrew transliteration, reflecting ancient uncertainty about exact identification. The creature's defining characteristic is its mournful howling in waste places, making it a powerful metaphor for desolation in prophetic literature from Jeremiah to Malachi. 3×
AR["(التَّنَانِينُ)", "[التَّنَانِينُ]", "لِبَنَاتِ-آوَى"]·ben["(শৃগালেরা)", "[শৃগাল]", "শিয়ালদের-জন্য"]·DE["[(תנים)]", "[[תנין]]", "[לתנות]"]·EN["(jackals)", "[jackals]", "for-jackals-of"]·FR["Topheth", "[(תנים)]", "[[תנין]]"]·heb["ל-תנות", "תנים", "תנינים"]·HI["के-लिए-गीदड़ों", "गीदड़"]·ID["(anjing-liar)", "[serigala]", "bagi-serigala-serigala"]·IT["[(תנים)]", "[[תנין]]", "lamento"]·jav["asu-ajag", "kagem-asu-ajag"]·KO["에게-삹리들", "자칼들-이", "케티브"]·PT["(chacais)", "[chacais]", "para-chacais-de"]·RU["(шакалы)", "[шакалы]", "для-шакалов"]·ES["(los-chacales)", "[chacales]", "para-chacales-de"]·SW["kwa-mbweha-wa", "mbweha"]·TR["(çakallar)", "-çakallara", "[çakal]"]·urd["گیدڑ", "گیدڑوں-کے-لیے"]
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
† [תַּן] n.[m. et.] f. La 4:3 jackal (so most; TrNHB 109 ff., 263 f. Shipley-CookEncy. Bib. Jackal; but wolf PostHast.DB; Dragon, cf. Che Is 13:22 and (rare) Arabic تِينَانٌ );—pl. תַּנִּים Mi 1:8 +, תַּנִּין La 4:3 (Ges§ 87 e), לְתַנּוֹת Mal 1:3 (si vera l.; 𝔊 Thes al. interpret = dwellings, Sta Now conjecturre נְאוֹת, Marti נָתַתִּי לְ);—jackal, howling mournfully in waste places, Mi 1:8; Jb…