'Wild' in the Bible

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind: livestock, crawling things, and wild animals of the earth according to their kinds”; and it was so [because He had spoken them into creation].

So God made the wild animals of the earth according to their kind, and the cattle according to their kind, and everything that creeps and crawls on the earth according to its kind; and God saw that it was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it.

So the Lord God formed out of the ground every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

And the man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for Adam there was not found a helper [that was] suitable (a companion) for him.

The Lord God said to the serpent,“Because you have done this,You are cursed more than all the cattle,And more than any animal of the field;On your belly you shall go,And dust you shall eatAll the days of your life.

they and every animal according to its kind, all the livestock according to their kinds, every moving thing that crawls on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every winged thing of every sort.

All living beings that moved on the earth perished—birds and cattle (domestic animals), [wild] animals, all things that swarm and crawl on the earth, and all mankind.

and with every living creature that is with you—the birds, the livestock, and the wild animals of the earth along with you, of everything that comes out of the ark—every living creature of the earth.

“He (Ishmael) will be a wild donkey of a man;His hand will be against every man [continually fighting]And every man’s hand against him;And he will dwell in defiance of all his brothers.”

I did not bring you the torn carcasses [of the animals attacked by predators]; I [personally] took the loss. You required of me [to make good] everything that was stolen, whether it occurred by day or night.

Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits (cisterns, underground water storage); then we will say [to our father], ‘A wild animal killed and devoured him’; and we shall see what will become of his dreams!”

He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces!”

If it is torn to pieces [by some predator or by accident], let him bring the mangled carcass as evidence; he shall not make restitution for what was torn to pieces.

but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie uncultivated, so that the poor among your people may eat [what the land grows naturally]; whatever they leave the animals of the field may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

I will not drive them out before you in a single year, so that the land does not become desolate [due to lack of attention] and the [wild] animals of the field do not become too numerous for you.

Or if someone touches any [ceremonially] unclean thing—whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal or the carcass of an unclean domestic animal or the carcass of unclean creeping things—even if he is unaware of it, he has become unclean, and he will be guilty.

even your domestic animals and the [wild] animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat.

I will also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down and there will be no one to make you afraid. I will also eliminate harmful animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land.

I will let loose the [wild] animals of the field among you, which will bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you so few in number that your roads will lie deserted and desolate.

“God brought them out of Egypt;They have the strength of a wild ox.

“God brought Israel out of Egypt;Israel has strength like the wild ox;He will devour [Gentile] nations, his adversaries (enemies),And will crush their bones in pieces,And shatter them with his arrows.

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

“His majesty is like a firstborn young bull,And his horns like the horns of the wild ox;With them he will gore the peoples,All of them together, to the ends of the earth.And those are the ten thousands of Ephraim,And those are the thousands of Manasseh.”

Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle; and behold, every [Philistine] man’s sword was against his companion, in wild confusion.

This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to search for David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.

Three sons of Zeruiah [the half sister of David] were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Now Asahel was as light and swift-footed as one of the [wild] gazelles in the field.

Then one [of them] went into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, although they did not know what they were.

Now there was a great famine in Samaria; and they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver.

Jehoash the king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The [little] thorn-bush in Lebanon sent word to the [tall] cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as wife.’ But a wild beast that was in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thorn-bush.

Then Joash king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, “The [little] thorn bush in Lebanon sent word to the [great] cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ But a wild beast in Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thorn bush.

So they proclaimed and published an announcement in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hills and bring olive branches, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy branches to make booths, as it is written.”

“For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;Therefore my words have been incoherent,

“Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass?Or does the ox low over his fodder?

“But a hollow (empty-headed) man will become intelligent and wise[Only] when the colt of a wild donkey is born as a man.

“Why do you persecute me as God does?Why are you not satisfied with my flesh (anguish)?

“Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert,The poor go to their work, diligently seeking food;As bread for their children in the desert.

“Among the bushes they cry out [like wild animals];Beneath the prickly scrub they gather and huddle together.

“Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock give birth [to their young]?Do you observe the calving of the deer?

“Who sent out the wild donkey free [from dependence on man]?And who has loosed the bonds of the wild donkey [to survive in the wild],

“Will the wild ox be willing to serve you,Or remain beside your manger at night?

“Can you bind the wild ox with a harness [to the plow] in the furrow?Or will he plow the valleys for you?

Forgetting that a foot may crush them,Or that the wild beast may trample them.

“Surely the mountains bring him food,And all the wild animals play there.

Save me from the lion’s mouth;From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.

He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,And Sirion (Mount Hermon) like a young, wild ox.

“I know every bird of the mountains,And everything that moves in the field is Mine.

Rebuke the beasts [living] among the reeds [in Egypt],The herd of bulls (the leaders) with the calves of the peoples;Trampling underfoot the pieces of silver;He has scattered the peoples who delight in war.

Oh, do not hand over the soul of your turtledove to the wild beast;Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.

A boar from the woods eats it away,And the insects of the field feed on it.

But my horn [my emblem of strength and power] You have exalted like that of a wild ox;I am anointed with fresh oil [for Your service].

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

The high mountains are for the wild goats;The rocks are a refuge for the shephanim.

You [O Lord] make darkness and it becomes night,In which prowls about every wild beast of the forest.

The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit [deep and inescapable];He who is cursed by the Lord [because of his adulterous sin] will fall into it.

He dug it all around and cleared away its stones,And planted it with the choicest vine (the people of Judah).And He built a tower in the center of it;And also hewed out a wine vat in it.Then He expected it to produce [the choicest] grapes,But it produced only worthless ones.

“What more could have been done for My vineyard that I have not done in it?When I expected it to produce good grapes, why did it yield worthless ones?

He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.

and because of the abundance of milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left in the land will eat [only] curds and [wild] honey.

But desert creatures will lie down there,And their houses will be full of owls;Ostriches also will live there, and wild goats will dance there.

Now look at the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)—this is the people which was not; the Assyrians allocated Tyre for desert creatures—they set up their siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.

For the palace has been abandoned, the populated city deserted;The hill [of the city] and the watchtower have become caves [for wild animals] forever,A delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,

Wild oxen will also fall with themAnd the young bulls with the strong bulls;And their land will be soaked with blood,And their dust made greasy with fat.

The creatures of the desert will encounter jackalsAnd the hairy goat will call to its kind;Indeed, Lilith (night demon) will settle thereAnd find herself a place of rest.

The Lord has cast the lot for them,And His hand has divided and apportioned Edom to the wild beasts by measuring-line.They will possess it forever;From generation to generation they will dwell in it.

And [the forests of] Lebanon cannot supply sufficient fuel to start a fire,Nor are its wild beasts enough for a burnt offering [worthy of the Lord].

“I will put the cedar in the wilderness,The acacia, the myrtle and the olive tree;I will place the juniper in the desertTogether with the box tree and the cypress,

“Yet I had planted you [O house of Israel as] a choice vine,A completely faithful seed.How then have you turned against MeInto degenerate shoots of a foreign and wild vine [alien to Me]?

Or [you have the untamed and reckless nature of] a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,That sniffs the wind in her passion [for the scent of a mate].In her mating season who can restrain her?No males seeking her need to weary themselves;In her month they will find her [looking for them].

“Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me [unlike the others]?Are the birds of prey (enemies) surrounding her on every side?Go, gather all the [wild] beasts of the field;Bring them to devour [her]!

“And the wild donkeys stand on the barren heights;They pant for air like jackals,Their eyesight failsBecause there is no grass.

“Therefore wild beasts of the desert will live there [in Babylon] with the jackals;The ostriches also will live there,And it will never again be inhabited [with people]Or lived in from generation to generation.

We get our bread at the risk of our livesBecause of the sword [of the Arabs] in the wilderness [who may attack if we go out to harvest the crop].

Further, I will send against you hunger and wild beasts, and they will bereave you of children; virulent disease and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”

“If I were to cause predatory beasts to pass through the land and they ravaged it and depopulated it of children, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through because of the predators,

For thus says the Lord God, “How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem—sword, famine, predatory beasts, and virulent disease—to cut off man and animal from it!

“I will abandon you to the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers;You will fall on the open field; and you will not be gathered up or buried.I have given you as food to the [wild] animals of the earth and the birds of the sky.

‘All the birds of the sky made their nests in its twigs,And under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth [to their young],And all of the great nations lived under its shadow.

All the birds of the sky will nest in its ruins, and all the animals of the field will rest on its fallen branches

They were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the predators of the field.

He was also driven from mankind, and his mind was made like that of an animal, and his dwelling place was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven until he came to know [without any doubt] that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind and He appoints it to whomever He wills.

“I will destroy her vines and her fig treesOf which she has said, ‘These are my wagesWhich my lovers have given me.’And I will make them a forest,And the animals of the open country will devour them.

Therefore the land [continually] mourns,And everyone who lives in it languishes [in tragic suffering]Together with the animals of the open country and the birds of the heavens;Even the fish of the sea disappear.

For they have gone up to Assyria,Like a wild donkey wandering alone and taking her own way;Ephraim has hired lovers (pagan allies).

I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs,And I will tear open their chests;There I will also devour them like a lioness,As a wild beast would tear them.

Even the wild animals pant [in longing] for You;For the water brooks are dried upAnd fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.

Do not be afraid, you animals of the field,For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green;The tree has produced its fruit,And the fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.

“Because just as you [Edom] drank on My holy mountain [desecrating it in the revelry of the destroyers],So shall all the nations drink continually [one by one, of My wrath];Yes, they shall drink and swallow [the full measure of punishment]And become as though they had never existed.

The chariots race madly in the streets;They rush wildly in the broad plazas.Their appearance is like torches;They rush in various directions like forked lightning.

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, set to wild and enthusiastic music.

“Therefore, as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,The God of Israel,“Moab will in fact become like SodomAnd the sons of Ammon like Gomorrah,A land possessed by nettles and salt pits,And a perpetual desolation.The remnant of My people will plunder themAnd what is left of My nation will inherit them [as their own].”

Flocks will lie down in her midst,All the animals which range in herds;Both the pelican and the short-eared owlWill roost on the top of Nineveh’s pillars.Birds will sing in the window,Desolation will be on the threshold;For He has uncovered the cedar paneling.

This is the joyous cityWhich dwells carelessly [feeling so secure],Who says in her heart,“I am, and there is no one besides me.”What a desolation she has become,A lair for [wild] animals!Everyone who passes by her will hiss [in scorn]And wave his hand in contempt.