Off the top of your head, can you come up with the names of ten animals that are mentioned in the Book of Mormon? There are a lot more than that (soon to be revealed, with links). This is just an exercise to see what you might come up with from memory.
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I recently became curious about what animals or perhaps what might be described as inhuman creatures were mentioned in the Book of Mormon. There are a number of general words used to describe animals or creatures.
animal/animals (also “wild animals“)
beast/beasts (also “wild beasts“)
fish
flocks
fowl/fowls
game
herds
insects
monster
shepherd/shepherds
As far as more animal names or animal-related terms, I came up with quite a list. I tried to put together those terms that are related or that describe the same kinds of animals. Since there are some unknown, mystical, mythical or angelic beings mentioned, I threw their names in as well.
ass/asses
asp
bats
bear
bee (or honey bee)/bees
bittern
bull/calf/calves/cattle/cow/cows/ox/oxen
chickens/hen
cherubim
cockatrice
cureloms
cumoms
dog/dogs
dove
dragon/dragons
elephants
goat/goats (also “wild goat)
horse/horses
lamb/lambs/sheep/lamb-skin
leopard
lion/lions
moles
moth
owls
roe
sow/swine
satyrs
serpent/serpents
vultures
whale
wolf/wolves
worm/worms
Going through these, it is clear that many times animals are mentioned as a simile or as a comparison, rather than as a mention of the actual creature. Also, many animals/creatures are brought into the Book of Mormon through biblical quotations from Isaiah chapters and the like.
If I missed any animals/creatures in this list, feel free to let me know.
1Kaimi on Aug 22, 2006 at 2:36 pm:
Oooh. Fun quiz.
I got 14 (though one was young/old animals):
horse
oxen
sheep
lamb
bees
curelom
cumom
lion
goat/kid
serpent
dove (which you missed)
hen
eagle (which was wrong)
pig/sow
2Daniel B. on Aug 22, 2006 at 2:41 pm:
Cool. I’m glad I can now add dove to the list. Good call!
3Dan Richards on Aug 22, 2006 at 3:10 pm:
How about:
fish
asp
worms
4Daniel B. on Aug 22, 2006 at 3:13 pm:
Excellent call. I had written “asp” down on paper but neglected to put it into the final list. For some reason “fish” and “worms” did not occur to me. Thanks! I’m adding them to the list.
5Dan Richards on Aug 22, 2006 at 3:20 pm:
Also:
bull
whale
6Daniel B. on Aug 22, 2006 at 3:23 pm:
Hah! I had “whale” on my handwritten list too … it was a page with writing all over the place, so I obviously didn’t copy it very well. I did not have “bull”. Again, I’ll add these to my list. If you find more, please continue to let me know. The more comprehensive this list, the better.
7Dan Richards on Aug 22, 2006 at 3:26 pm:
Also:
leopard
bear
mankind
I now return to my regularly scheduled day job
8Daniel B. on Aug 22, 2006 at 3:33 pm:
Mankind I’m leaving off, mainly because I’m looking for non-human animals/creatures. But “leopard” and “bear” certainly belong on the list! Thanks for plugging so many missing spots in the list. If you (or anyone) find more, please continue to let me know.
9Daniel B. on Aug 22, 2006 at 3:40 pm:
Kaimi, just as a note of interest, I just tried to do a search on the word “pig” in our scriptures and came up with absolutely nothing. I had thought the word “pig” was in the Book of Mormon, but I guess it is not. Nor is it in the other books of our canon. “Sow” and “swine” are in these books and of course to a great degree (in regards to the Bible) this is really just a matter of what translation a person is reading. Still, I thought the word “pig” would show up in the KJV somewhere.