Hebrew word · H5895

עַ֫יִר

'ayir

colt

ʿAyir means a young, strong male donkey. Ben-ʾătōnôt ('son of she-donkeys') means a foal born of donkeys, possibly a pure-bred animal. Ḥămôr is the general word for a donkey.

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

he-ass, male ass

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 Zechariah 9:9

Range of meaning

ʿAyir means a young, strong male donkey. Ben-ʾătōnôt ('son of she-donkeys') means a foal born of donkeys, possibly a pure-bred animal. Ḥămôr is the general word for a donkey.

Against the English

KJV 'ass' now sounds comic or insulting in English. 'Colt' to most English readers means a young horse. 'The foal of a donkey' is accurate.

How it drifted

Changes in the English words. Also, Greco-Roman and modern Western culture rank donkeys below horses, which colours how the image is heard.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 49:10–11: Judah's ruler binds 'his colt (ʿîrōh)… his she-donkey's son (bənî ʾătōnô)', a clear verbal echo. Judges 10:4 and 12:14 show judges' sons riding on donkey colts as a mark of rank. Judges 5:10 mentions leaders 'riding on white she-donkeys'. In 1 Kings 1:33–38, Solomon is made king by riding David's own mule. In a Mari letter (18th century BC), the king is advised to ride a chariot or mule rather than a horse to honour his royal dignity. At Mari, killing a donkey foal (ḫayarum, a word related to ʿayir) also sealed treaties, though any link to this verse is uncertain.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 32:15 וַעְיָרִ֖ם and male donkeys

    30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys.

  2. Genesis 49:11 עִיר֔וֹ donkey his

    He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.

Judges · 2

  1. Judges 10:4 עֲיָרִ֔ים donkeys

    He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth-jair.

  2. Judges 12:14 עֲיָרִ֑ם donkeys

    He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years.

Job · 1

  1. Job 11:12 וְעַ֥יִר and a male donkey of

    But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!

    Here: A young male donkey, a word used elsewhere of riding animals. Choosing a foal puts the second line at the very start of life, which suits the verb 'born'.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 30:6 עֲיָרִ֜ים donkeys

    This is the burden against the beasts of the Negev: Through a land of hardship and distress, of lioness and lion, of viper and flying serpent, they carry their wealth on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people of no profit to them.

    Here: Young, strong male donkeys, the ordinary pack animal of the hill country. Compare Gen 49:11 and Zech 9:9.

  2. Isaiah 30:24 וְהָעֲיָרִ֗ים and the donkeys

    The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and pitchfork.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 9:9 עַ֖יִר a male donkey

    Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

    Here: A young, vigorous male donkey. The word recalls Jacob's blessing of Judah, the royal tribe, in Genesis 49:11: 'binding his colt (ʿîrōh) to the vine, his donkey's foal'.

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