Hebrew word · H6501

פֶּ֫רֶא

pere'

wild donkey

The wild ass or onager (Equus hemionus) of the Syro-Arabian steppe. It is swift, shy and untamable, lives in herds in barren country and is never domesticated or put to work.

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

wild 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 Jeremiah 2:24

Range of meaning

The wild ass or onager (Equus hemionus) of the Syro-Arabian steppe. It is swift, shy and untamable, lives in herds in barren country and is never domesticated or put to work.

Against the English

'Wild ass' (KJV) and 'wild donkey' (modern versions) are both accurate. The risk is that English readers picture a farmyard donkey. The point of the animal is that it has never known a halter.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 39:5–8: God set the wild ass free; it 'scorns the tumult of the city' and hears no driver's shout. Gen 16:12: Ishmael will be 'a wild ass of a man'. Hos 8:9: 'Ephraim is a wild ass wandering alone; Ephraim has hired lovers', the closest parallel, which also links the wild ass with paid lovers. Jer 14:6: wild asses 'pant for wind' in drought.

From the study of Job 11:12

Range of meaning

The wild donkey or onager, an animal of the dry steppe. It is associated with freedom, roaming, thirst, and resistance to any human control.

Against the English

KJV 'wild ass', and most modern versions 'wild donkey'. The translations are accurate. The problem is what English readers associate with 'ass' and 'donkey': stupidity and comic stubbornness.

How it drifted

English 'ass' became a word for a fool, and the familiar donkey is a domesticated beast of burden. Neither picture matches an untamed animal of the open country.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 16:12 (Ishmael as 'a wild donkey of a man'), Job 6:5; 24:5; 39:5–8, Jeremiah 2:24, Hosea 8:9, Psalm 104:11. A likely Akkadian relative of the word also names a wild equid. The Septuagint here uses 'donkey of the desert', but at Genesis 16:12 it has 'a rustic man'.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 16:12 פֶּ֣רֶא a wild donkey of

    He will be a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

Job · 4

  1. Job 6:5 פֶּ֥רֶא a wild donkey

    Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass, or an ox low over its fodder?

  2. Job 11:12 פֶּ֝֗רֶא a wild donkey

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

    Here: The untamed donkey of the open steppe, a byword for a creature no one can master. This foal is wild by birth, so the image stresses what a thing is by nature.

  3. Job 24:5 פְּרָאִ֨ים׀ wild donkeys

    Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.

  4. Job 39:5 פֶּ֣רֶא [the] wild donkey

    Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 104:11 פְרָאִ֣ים wild donkeys

    They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 32:14 פְּרָאִ֖ים wild donkeys

    For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever—the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks—

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 2:24 פֶּ֣רֶה׀ a wild donkey

    a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they will find her.

    Here: The wild ass of the steppe, the classic biblical picture of an animal no one can tame or harness. Spelled here with a final he instead of the usual aleph. The noun is masculine in form, but everything that follows treats the animal as female, because the image stands for Israel/Judah, addressed as a woman.

  2. Jeremiah 14:6 וּפְרָאִים֙ and wild donkeys

    Wild donkeys stand on barren heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of pasture.”

Hosea · 1

  1. Hosea 8:9 פֶּ֖רֶא a wild donkey

    For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers.

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