Wolf

WOLF, Lupus; in Greek, Lycos; in He-

Zeeb, brew, Zeeb. A wild Creature, very well Lupus. known. The Scripture takes notice of these nine remarkable things of the Wolf: 1. That it lives upon Rapine. 2. That it is violent, cruel, and bloody. 3. That it is voracious and greedy. 4. That it goes abroad by Night to seek its Prey. 5. That is is very sharp-sighted. 6. That it is the great Enemy of Flocks of Sheep. 7. That Benjamin shall raven as a Wolf. 8. That false Teachers Gen. xlix. 27.are Wolves in Sheep’s Cloathing. 9. That the Persecutors of the Church, and false Pastors, are also ravenous Wolves. The Prophets, in more Places than one, speak of the Wolves of the Evening. For example, Jeremiah says, A wolf of the evenings shall spoil them. And Habakkuk says, Their horses Jerem. v. 6. Hab. i. 8. Zeph. iii. 3.are more fierce than the evening wolves. And Zephaniah says, Her judges are evening wolves. St. Jerome, upon Habakkuk observes, that towards Evening Wolves are more dangerous, as being then more hungry. Instead of the wolves of the evening, the Septuagint translate it, The Wolves of Arabia; because the Hebrew Word Arab signifies both the Evening and Arabia. Wolves indeed are common in Arabia, but they have nothing peculiar in that Country; so that there can be no reason to have recourse to that Translation.

Judg. xxi. 21.As to what is said in Genesis, that Benjamin shall ravine as a Wolf, the Chaldee Interpreters explain it of the Altar of Burnt -Offerings, which was at Jerusalem, in the Tribe of Benjamin, and upon which they burnt the Morning and Evening Sacrifices to the Lord. Others refer it to that violent Seizure made by the Children of Benjamin, of the young Women that came to the Tabernacle at Shiloh. Others again refer it to Mordecai, or to Saul, who were of the Tribe of Benjamin. Lastly, there are others that explain it of St. Paul, who was also of this Tribe; and this Interpretation has commonly prevailed among Christian Interpreters.a For a farther Account of the Wolf, see Bochart, de Animal. Sacr. p. 1. l. 3. c. 11.

The Wolf is a fierce Creature, abiding in Forests, an Enemy to Cattle, ravenous, greedy, crafty, of an exquisite Quickness of Smell, having an Head something square, and his Hair inclined to Grey. ‘Tis commonly said, that what makes him so voracious is, that he has but one very large, short Gut, in which his Food stays but a little time. But this is a popular Mistake: His Guts are as long as other Animals, or as a Dog’s, being himself a kind of wild Dog. There are many kinds of Wolves: The Morning Wolf, that lives only on Carrion; the Hare-Wolf, that lives upon the Prey that he catches by his Swiftness; the Deer-Wolf, which some confound with the Lynx, and others with the Wild-Cat. Dogs carried from Europe into New Spain, have degenerated into Wolves.

Isai. i. 6. lxv. 25.Isaiah, describing the Tranquillity of the Reign of the Messiah, says, The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together, Matth. x. 6. Luk. x. 3.and a little child shall lead them. Our Saviour, in the Gospel, says, that he sends his Apostles as Sheep among Wolves. And indeed, both Jews and Pagans were at first like ravenous and voracious Wolves, let loose against the Faithful. They persecuted, and put to a violent Death almost all the Apostles and Disciples of our Saviour. But at last these same Wolves themselves became Converts, and grew to be Lambs: St. Paul, one of the most eager Persecutors of the Church, was after¹ wards one of its most zealous Defenders.

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