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In the East the ass takes the place which the horse has among European nations. It is there a much more noble animal, and is declared to be a very intelligent one: cf. Isa. 1: 3. It is highly valued there and is well treated. It was used for riding both by men and women, and for carrying burdens. Among a man's property the asses are often enumerated. Gen. 12: 16; Job 1: 3; Job 42: 12; Ezra 2: 67; Neh. 7: 69. There are five Hebrew words used for the domestic and the wild ass, referring to its strength or to its colour.
The 'white asses' mentioned in Judges 5: 10 are still greatly prized in the East. In some parts the flesh of the ass is highly esteemed for food, but it was forbidden as unclean to the Jews: it was however eaten in the dire famine at the siege of Samaria. 2 Kings 6: 25.
THE WILD ASS is very wild and very swift. It is seldom tamed. It is thus a fit emblem of man's natural birth. Job 11: 12. Jehovah demanded of Job "Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?" Job 39: 5: cf. Jer. 7: 24; Dan. 5:
21.