Bible Dictionary
VENISON
In Scripture, “venison” refers generally to hunted game or the spoils of the chase, not necessarily to deer’s flesh specifically.
Definition
Venison properly means the spoils of the chase. In ordinary modern English it usually means deer’s flesh, but the English Bible uses it for Hebrew words meaning hunted game generally.
Biblical Usage
The term occurs in the accounts concerning Isaac, Esau, and Jacob. The Hebrew words translated venison derive from a word meaning to hunt and do not require that the game be deer.
Historical Background
The English word came through French from Latin terms meaning to hunt. Because deer were a principal object of the chase, venison later acquired its narrower modern meaning.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>ven'-i-z'-n, ven'-z'-n: Is derived (through the French venaison) from the Latin venari, "to hunt," and means properly "the spoils of the chase." As, however, the object of the chase, paragraph excellence, was the deer, venison came to mean usually (as it invariably does in modern English) "deer's flesh." But in English Versions of the Bible this technical force seems not to be implied, for "venison" is used only for the two Hebrew words tsayidh (Ge 25:28; 27:5), and tsedhah (Ge 27:3), and both these words (from tsudh, "to hunt") mean simply "game" of any kind.</p>