Bible Dictionary
Hoof
The hard covering of an animal’s foot. The division of the hoof was one of the distinctions used in Israel’s law to identify clean and unclean animals.
Definition
A hoof is the hard covering of an animal’s foot. In the biblical descriptions it may be cleft or divided, as with cattle, or may refer more generally to the hoof of an animal such as a horse.
Biblical Usage
The division or parting of the hoof was one of the distinctions used in Israel’s laws to identify clean and unclean animals.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
A cleft hoof as of neat cattle (Ex. 10:26; Ezek. 32:13); hence also of the horse, though not cloven (Isa. 5:28). The “parting of the hoof” is one of the distinctions between clean and unclean animals (Lev. 11:3; Deut. 14:7).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>hoof.</p><p>See CHEW; CLOVEN.</p>