Deuteronomy 15:21-23
ritually impure <02931> [the unclean.]
gazelle <06643> [the roe-buck.]
{Tzevee,} in Arabic {zaby,} Chaldee and Syriac {tavya,} denotes the gazelle or antelope, so called from its stately beauty, as the word imports. In size it is smaller than the roe, of an elegant form, and it motions are light and graceful. It bounds seemingly without effort, and runs with such swiftness that few creatures can exceed it. (2 Sa 2:18.) Its fine eyes are so much celebrated as even to become a proverb; and its flesh is much esteemed for food among eastern nations, having a sweet, musky taste, which is highly agreeable to their palates. (1 Ki 4:23.) If to these circumstances we add, that they are gregarious, and common all over the East, whereas the roe is either not known at all, or else very rare in these countries, little doubt can remain that the gazelle and not the roe is intended by the original word.
