Roe, Roebuck

The Hebrew words thus translated denote some species of antelope, probably the Gazella arabica of Syria and Arabia. The gazelle was allowed as food, (12:15,22) etc.; it is mentioned as very fleet of foot, (2 Samuel 2:18; 1 Chronicles 12:8) it was hunted, (Isaiah 13:14; Proverbs 6:5) it was celebrated for its loveliness. (Song of Solomon 2:9,17; 8:14)

(Heb. tsebi), properly the gazelle (Arab. ghazal), permitted for food (Deut. 14:5; comp. Deut. 12:15, 22; 15:22; 1 Kings 4:23), noted for its swiftness and beauty and grace of form (2 Sam. 2:18; 1 Chr. 12:8; Cant. 2:9; 7:3; 8:14).

The gazelle (Gazella dorcas) is found in great numbers in Palestine. “Among the gray hills of Galilee it is still ‘the roe upon the mountains of Bether,’ and I have seen a little troop of gazelles feeding on the Mount of Olives close to Jerusalem itself” (Tristram).

The Hebrew word (‘ayyalah) in Prov. 5: 19 thus rendered (R.V., “doe”), is properly the “wild she-goat,” the mountain goat, the ibex. (See 1 Sam. 24:2; Ps. 104:18; Job 39:1.)