Hebrew word · H2386

חֲזִיר

chazir

swine

Pig or swine, including the wild boar of Psalm 80:13. The term is descriptive and does not by itself say anything about ritual.

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

1) hog, swine, boar

1a) swine (as forbidden food)

1b) wild boar

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: Pig or swine, including the wild boar of Psalm 80:13. The term is descriptive and does not by itself say anything about ritual.
Against the English: "Swine," "pig," "sow" (YLT) and "pork" (NLT) all convey the animal. YLT's "sow" specifies a female that the Hebrew form does not require.
Used elsewhere in the period: It occurs only seven times in the Hebrew Bible: Leviticus 11:7; Deuteronomy 14:8; Psalm 80:13; Proverbs 11:22; Isaiah 65:4; 66:3; 66:17. Animal bones from Iron Age highland sites in Israel and Judah show very few pigs (Sapir-Hen et al. 2013). Elsewhere around the eastern Mediterranean, pigs were used in rites of purification and rites directed toward underworld powers (de Vaux 1958; Collins 2006). In the second century BC, forced pig sacrifice became the test of Jewish loyalty (1 Maccabees 1:47; 2 Maccabees 6-7), but that belongs to a later period.

Range of meaning: Pig or swine, domestic or wild (Ps 80:13, 'the boar from the forest').
Against the English: 'Pig', 'swine' and 'sow' (YLT) are all adequate. What English cannot carry is the ritual and cultural revulsion attached to the animal.
Used elsewhere in the period: Unclean for Israel (Lev 11:7; Deut 14:8). Eating pork marks apostasy in Isaiah 65:4 and 66:17. Later, in the Maccabean crisis, refusing pork became a test of loyalty (1 Macc 1:47; 2 Macc 6–7). The New Testament proverb about the washed sow returning to the mud (2 Pet 2:22) shows how pigs stood for incurable filthiness.

Range of meaning: Pig, both domestic and wild (the "boar from the forest" in Psalm 80:13). Used in a proverb for something grotesque: "a gold ring in a pig's snout" (Proverbs 11:22).
Against the English: English "swine/pig" is accurate. The danger is not the word but the frame: a modern reader may hear a health or diet question. In the text it is a covenant identity marker and, here, part of a ritual.
Used elsewhere in the period: Forbidden in Leviticus 11:7 and Deuteronomy 14:8. Isaiah 66:3 ("one who offers pig's blood") and 66:17 (eating "pig's flesh, the detestable thing and the mouse" in garden rites) put pig in a cult setting. Pigs were offered to underworld powers in some Hittite and Greek rituals. Pig bones are notably rare in Iron Age Israelite highland settlements compared with Philistine sites (a pattern discussed by Finkelstein, Faust and others, though the details are debated). Later, Antiochus IV forced Jews to sacrifice pigs (1 Maccabees 1:47), and martyrdom stories turned refusing pork into a test of loyalty (2 Maccabees 6–7).

Leviticus · 1

Leviticus 11:7 הַ֠חֲזִיר the pig

And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.

Deuteronomy · 1

Deuteronomy 14:8 הַ֠חֲזִיר the pig

as well as the pig; though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. It is unclean for you. You must not eat its meat or touch its carcass.

Psalms · 1

Psalm 80:13 חֲזִ֣יר wild boar

The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.

Here: The ordinary Hebrew word for pig, here clearly the wild boar because it comes 'from the forest'. To an Israelite it was both a real pest of vineyards and an unclean animal under the food laws (Lev 11:7; Deut 14:8).

Proverbs · 1

Proverbs 11:22 חֲזִ֑יר a pig

Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

Here: An unclean animal under Israel's law (Lev 11:7; Deut 14:8). It roots in mud and refuse with its snout, and to an Israelite it stood for filth and the foreign. The first half of the proverb ends on this jarring word.

Isaiah · 3

Isaiah 65:4 הַחֲזִ֔יר the pig

sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls.

Here: "The pig." An animal that Leviticus 11:7 and Deuteronomy 14:8 forbid, and the clearest sign of covenant food rules being broken. Isaiah 66:3 and 66:17 put it in a cult setting too (pig's blood offered, pig eaten in garden rites).
Isaiah 66:3 חֲזִ֔יר a pig

Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations.

Here: An unclean animal (Lev 11:7; Deut 14:8). In this part of Isaiah pig-eating is a mark of illicit cult practice (65:4; 66:17).
Isaiah 66:17 הַחֲזִ֔יר the pig

“Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves—to follow one in the center of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats—will perish together,” declares the LORD.

Here: "The pig," the animal the food laws name as forbidden (Leviticus 11:7; Deuteronomy 14:8). Isaiah's closing chapters mention it three times, each time in connection with unacceptable worship (65:4; 66:3; here).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.