Hebrew word · H354

אַיָּל

'aiyal

deer

A deer, grammatically masculine: 'hart, stag' (Deut 12:15; Song 2:9; Isa 35:6, 'the lame shall leap like an ayyal'). The feminine is ayyalah or ayyelet, 'hind, doe' (Ps 18:33; Hab 3:19; Ps 22, superscription). Several kinds of deer lived in ancient Israel, including fallow and roe deer.

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

stag, deer, hart

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

In depth

From the study of Psalm 42:1

Range of meaning

A deer, grammatically masculine: 'hart, stag' (Deut 12:15; Song 2:9; Isa 35:6, 'the lame shall leap like an ayyal'). The feminine is ayyalah or ayyelet, 'hind, doe' (Ps 18:33; Hab 3:19; Ps 22, superscription). Several kinds of deer lived in ancient Israel, including fallow and roe deer.

Against the English

KJV's 'hart' follows the masculine form. Most modern versions say 'deer' and avoid the issue. YLT says 'a hart'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb is feminine (ta'arog). That points either to an original ayyelet ('hind'), with the final t lost before the t of ta'arog (a common copying slip), or to ayyal being used here for a deer of either sex. The Septuagint uses a feminine article, hē elaphos ('the hind'). The Vulgate has cervus ('stag').

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 4

  1. Deuteronomy 12:15 וְכָאַיָּֽל׃ and like <the> deer

    But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you. Both the ceremonially clean and unclean may eat it as they would a gazelle or deer,

  2. Deuteronomy 12:22 הָ֣אַיָּ֔ל the deer

    Indeed, you may eat it as you would eat a gazelle or deer; both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it.

  3. Deuteronomy 14:5 אַיָּ֥ל a deer

    the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.

  4. Deuteronomy 15:22 וְכָאַיָּֽל׃ and like <the> deer

    Eat it within your gates; both the ceremonially unclean and clean may eat it as they would a gazelle or a deer.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 4:23 מֵֽאַיָּ֤ל from deer

    ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 42:1 כְּאַיָּ֗ל like a deer

    For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.

    Here: The prefix ke- means 'like, as' and opens the comparison. Ayyal is the ordinary word for a deer, grammatically male ('hart, stag'), but its verb is feminine, so the animal pictured may well be a hind (a female deer). Deer were known in Hebrew poetry for being swift, graceful and dependent on water.

Song of Songs · 3

  1. Song of Songs 2:9 הָֽאַיָּלִ֑ים the deer<s>

    My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.

  2. Song of Songs 2:17 הָאַיָּלִ֖ים the deer<s>

    Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.

  3. Song of Songs 8:14 הָֽאַיָּלִ֔ים the deer<s>

    Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 35:6 כָּֽאַיָּל֙ like <the> deer

    Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.

    Here: "Like the deer." The deer stands for speed and sure footing on rough hill country (compare Ps 18:33; Hab 3:19). It is the strongest possible contrast to a person who cannot walk.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 1:6 כְּאַיָּלִים֙ like deer

    All the splendor has departed from the Daughter of Zion. Her princes are like deer that find no pasture; they lack the strength to flee in the face of the hunter.

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