Goat

Goats were everyday animals in Israel, kept for meat, hair and sacrifice. Moses lists “the ox, the sheep, and the goat” among the beasts that may be eaten (Deuteronomy 14:4), and a Passover lamb may be taken “from the sheep, or from the goats” (Exodus 12:5). Goats’ hair was woven into the curtains that covered the tabernacle (Exodus 26:7). Wild goats climb the high hills, which are “a refuge for the wild goats” (Psalm 104:18), and the Song of Solomon compares a loved one’s hair to a flock of goats coming down from Gilead.

11 verses

Genesis

Genesis 27:9

Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:

Exodus

Exodus 12:5

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

Exodus 26:7

And thou shalt make curtains of goats' hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle: eleven curtains shalt thou make.

Exodus 35:23

And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought them.

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 14:4

These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,

Deuteronomy 32:14

Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 24:2

Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.

1 Samuel 25:2

And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.

Psalms

Psalms 104:18

The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.

Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon 4:1

Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.

Song of Solomon 6:5

Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

(1.) Heb. ‘ez, the she-goat (Gen. 15:9; 30:35; 31:38). This Hebrew word is also used for the he-goat (Ex. 12:5; Lev. 4:23; Num. 28:15), and to denote a kid (Gen. 38:17, 20). Hence it may be regarded as the generic name of the animal as domesticated. It literally means “strength,” and points to the superior strength of the goat as compared with the sheep.

(2.) Heb. ‘attud, only in plural; rendered “rams” (Gen. 31:10,12); he-goats (Num. 7:17-88; Isa. 1:11); goats (Deut. 32:14; Ps. 50:13). They were used in sacrifice (Ps. 66:15). This word is used metaphorically for princes or chiefs in Isa. 14:9, and in Zech. 10:3 as leaders. (Comp. Jer. 50:8.)

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(3.) Heb. gedi, properly a kid. Its flesh was a delicacy among the Hebrews (Gen. 27:9, 14, 17; Judg. 6:19).

(4.) Heb. sa’ir, meaning the “shaggy,” a hairy goat, a he-goat (2 Chr. 29:23); “a goat” (Lev. 4:24); “satyr” (Isa. 13:21); “devils” (Lev. 17:7). It is the goat of the sin-offering (Lev. 9:3, 15; 10:16).

(5.) Heb. tsaphir, a he-goat of the goats (2 Chr. 29:21). In Dan. 8:5, 8 it is used as a symbol of the Macedonian empire.

(6.) Heb. tayish, a “striker” or “butter,” rendered “he-goat” (Gen. 30:35; 32:14).

(7.) Heb. ‘azazel (q.v.), the “scapegoat” (Lev. 16:8, 10,26).

(8.) There are two Hebrew words used to denote the undomesticated goat:, Yael, only in plural mountain goats (1 Sam. 24:2; Job 39:1; Ps.104:18). It is derived from a word meaning “to climb.” It is the ibex, which abounded in the mountainous parts of Moab. And ’akko, only in Deut. 14:5, the wild goat.

Goats are mentioned in the New Testament in Matt. 25:32,33; Heb. 9:12,13, 19; 10:4. They represent oppressors and wicked men (Ezek. 34:17; 39:18; Matt. 25:33).

Several varieties of the goat were familiar to the Hebrews. They had an important place in their rural economy on account of the milk they afforded and the excellency of the flesh of the kid. They formed an important part of pastoral wealth (Gen. 31:10, 12;32:14; 1 Sam. 25:2).

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

There appear to be two or three varieties of the common goat, Hircus agagrus , at present bred in Palestine and Syria, but whether they are identical with those which were reared by the ancient Hebrews it is not possible to say. The most marked varieties are the Syrian goat(Capra mammorica, Linn.) and the Angora goat (Capra angorensis , Linn.), with fine long hair. As to the "wild goats," (1 Samuel 24:2; Job 39:1; Psalms 104:18) it is not at all improbable that some species of ibex is denoted.