H8577a H8577a
Jackal — a howling wild canine inhabiting ruins and wastelands, emblematic of utter desolation and divine judgment
The noun תַּן (tan) refers to the jackal, a wild canine that haunts deserted places and fills the night with eerie howling. In biblical imagery, the jackal is the quintessential inhabitant of ruins — its presence signals that a place has been given over to desolation. Job laments becoming 'a brother to jackals' (Job 30:29), and Micah wails like them in mourning (Mic 1:8). The prophets deploy the jackal as a marker of judgment: Babylon becomes 'a dwelling for jackals' (Isa 13:22; Jer 51:37), Edom's palaces a 'haunt of jackals' (Isa 34:13), and Jerusalem a jackal's lair (Jer 9:11; 10:22). Spanish 'chacal' and French 'chacal' translate directly.
Senses
1. jackal — The jackal (Canis aureus), a howling wild canine that inhabits ruins and wastelands, serving as the biblical emblem of total desolation. Job identifies with jackals in his misery (Job 30:29), and Micah wails like them in mourning (Mic 1:8). Prophetic judgment oracles consistently use the jackal's presence to mark a city's irreversible ruin: Babylon (Isa 13:22; Jer 51:37), Edom (Isa 34:13; 35:7), Hazor (Jer 49:33), and Jerusalem itself (Jer 9:11; 10:22). The jackal's nocturnal howling amid crumbling walls became a stock image of the reversal of civilization into wilderness. Spanish 'chacal' and English 'jackal' both derive from the same Semitic root family. 12×
AR["التَّنانينِ", "التَّنَانِينَ", "التَّنَانِينُ", "الذِّئَابِ", "بَنَاتِ-آوَى", "تَنَانِينَ", "كَ-التَّنَانِينِ", "لِ-التَّنانينِ", "وَ-الثَّعَالِبُ"]·ben["ও-শৃগালেরা", "শিয়ালদের", "শিয়ালদের-মতো", "শিয়ালেরা", "শৃগালদের"]·DE["Schakal", "[כתנים]", "[לתנים]", "jackals", "und-Schakal"]·EN["and-jackals", "for-jackals", "jackals", "like-jackals", "of-jackals"]·FR["chacal", "dragon", "et-chacal", "monstre-marin", "à-לתנים"]·heb["ו-תנים", "כ-תנים", "ל-תנים", "תנים", "תנינים"]·HI["और-गीदड़", "गीदड़", "गीदड़ों-का", "गीदड़ों-की", "गीदड़ों-की-तरह", "गीदड़ों-के"]·ID["bagi-serigala", "dan-anjing-hutan", "seperti-serigala", "serigala"]·IT["e-sciacallo", "grande-creatura", "per-per-jackals", "sciacallo"]·jav["asu-ajag", "asô-asô", "kados-asu-ajag", "kanggé-ula-gedhe", "lan-sona-wana"]·KO["승냥이들-처럼", "승냥이들의", "자칼들-의", "자칼들과", "자칼들이", "잡칼들-의", "재칼들-처럼", "재칼들의"]·PT["chacais", "como-chacais", "como-chacais;", "de-chacais", "e-chacais"]·RU["для-шакалов", "и-змеи", "как-шакалы", "шакалов", "шакалы"]·ES["chacales", "como-chacales", "como-los-chacales", "de-chacales", "y-dragones"]·SW["kama-mbweha", "mbwa-mwitu", "mbweha", "mbwehwa", "na-mbwa-mwitu", "wa-mbweha", "ya-mbweha"]·TR["cakallar", "cakallarin", "ve-cakallar", "çakallar-gibi", "çakallara", "çakalların"]·urd["اور-گیدڑ", "گیدڑ", "گیدڑوں کا", "گیدڑوں-کا", "گیدڑوں-کی", "گیدڑوں-کی-طرح", "گیدڑوں-کے"]
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…