GREYHOUND

A very swift, keen-sighted dog, with a pointed muzzle, a slender streamlined body and long, strong legs. There is considerable uncertainty, though, as to what is designated by the Hebrew expression zar·zirʹ math·naʹyim, literally meaning “the (animal) girded in at the hips (loins).” A number of Bible translations use “greyhound” in the main text at Proverbs 30:31, but in footnotes list “war horse” and “rooster” as alternate renderings. (AS, NW, 1957 ed., Ro) The reading “rooster” or “cock” (AT, Dy, JB, Kx, Mo, RS) has the support of the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate. “Greyhound” is an appropriate rendering, however, for it fits the description of an animal that does well with its “pacing.” (Prov. 30:29) The greyhound has been clocked at a speed of 40 m.p.h. (c. 64 k.p.h.). Also, the slenderness of the greyhound’s lumbar regions, as if the animal is “girded in at the hips,” would harmonize with what is considered to be the literal significance of the Hebrew designation.