Bible Dictionary
Boar
The boar is mentioned as a destructive wild animal in Psalm 80, where it represents enemies ravaging God’s vine, understood as a picture of Israel.
Definition
The boar is a wild swine, a destructive animal associated with wooded and watery regions. The Hebrew term is elsewhere translated “swine.”
Biblical Usage
Psalm 80 compares the enemies ravaging Israel to a boar out of the wood and to wild beasts feeding upon the vine. The image represents destructive powers attacking the Jewish nation.
Historical Background
Wild boars were abundant in parts of Palestine and Syria, especially in thickets near lakes, rivers, and stream deltas. The Hebrews abhorred swine’s flesh, and swine were not generally reared except in the district beyond the Sea of Galilee.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Occurs only in Ps. 80:13. The same Hebrew word is elsewhere rendered “swine” (Lev. 11:7; Deut. 14:8; Prov. 11:22; Isa. 65:4; 66:3, 17). The Hebrews abhorred swine’s flesh, and accordingly none of these animals were reared, except in the district beyond the Sea of Galilee. In the psalm quoted above the powers that destroyed the Jewish nation are compared to wild boars and wild beasts of the field.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
[Swine]
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>bor (chazir): In lamenting the troubled state of the Jewish nation the Psalmist (Ps 80:13) says: "The boar out of the wood doth ravage it, and the wild beasts of the field feed on it," with evident reference to Israel's enemies, the Assyrians, etc. The wild boar is abundant in certain parts of Palestine and Syria, especially in the thickets which border the lakes and rivers, as about the Chuleh, the sea of Galilee, the Jordan, and in the deltas of streams flowing into the Dead Sea, as Ghaur-us-Cafiyeh. Several fountains in Lebanon bear the name, `Ain-ul-Chazir, though chazir is not an Arabic word, khanzir being the Arabic for "swine."</p><p>See SWINE.</p><p>Alfred Ely Day</p>