MULE

A mixed animal, the offspring of a horse and an ass. A mule is smaller than a horse, and has long ears, though not so long as those of an ass. It is a remarkably hardy, patient, obstinate, surefooted animal, lives twice as long as a horse, and is much more easily and cheaply fed. Mules are much used in Spain and South America, for transporting goods across the mountains. So also in the Alps, they are used by travelers among the mountains, where a horse would hardly be able to pass with safety. There is no probability that the Jews bred mules, because it was forbidden to couple creatures of different species, Le 19:19. But they were not forbidden to obtain them from abroad and use them, 1Ki 10:25 Eze 27:14. Thus we may observe, especially after David’s time, that mules, male and female, were common among the Hebrews; formerly they used only male and female asses, 2Sa 13:29 18:9 1Ki 1:33 10:25 18:5 Es 8:10,14. In Ge 36:24, Anah is said to have found "mules" in the desert; but the Hebrew word here probably means hot springs. See ANAH.

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Mule. Mule
(Heb. pered), so called from the quick step of the animal or its power of carrying loads. It is not probable that the Hebrews bred mules, as this was strictly forbidden in the law (Lev. 19:19), although their use was not forbidden. We find them in common use even by kings and nobles (2 Sam. 18:9; 1 Kings 1:33; 2 Kings 5:17; Ps. 32:9). They are not mentioned, however, till the time of David, for the word rendered “mules” (R.V. correctly, “hot springs”) in Gen. 36:24 (yemim) properly denotes the warm springs of Callirhoe, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. In David’s reign they became very common (2 Sam. 13:29; 1 Kings 10:25).

Mules are not mentioned in the New Testament. Perhaps they had by that time ceased to be used in Palestine.

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MULE. → Uses of
* For royal riders 2Sa 13:29; 18:9; 1Ki 1:33
* Ridden by phetic vision of the kingdom of Christ Isa 66:20
* As pack animals 2Ki 5:17; 1Ch 12:40

→ Tribute paid in 1Ki 10:25 → Used in barter Eze 27:14 → By the captivity in returing from Babylon Ezr 2:66; Ne 7:68 → In war Zec 14:15

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mule. Mule, n. an animal between an ass and a mare

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Mule (mūl), n. [[F., a she-mule, L. mula, fem. of mulus; cf. Gr. μύκλοσ, μυχλόσ. Cf. AS. mūl, fr. L. mulus. Cf. Mulatto.]] 1. 1. (Zoöl.) A hybrid animal; specifically, one generated between an ass and a mare, sometimes a horse and a she-ass. See Hinny.
☞ Mules are much used as draught animals. They are hardy, and proverbial for stubbornness. 2. 2. (Bot.) A plant or vegetable produced by impregnating the pistil of one species with the pollen or fecundating dust of another; — called also hybrid.
3. 3. A very stubborn person.
4. 4. A machine, used in factories, for spinning cotton, wool, etc., into yarn or thread and winding it into cops; — called also jenny and mule-jenny.
Mule armadillo (Zoöl.), a long-eared armadillo (Tatusia hybrida), native of Buenos Aires; — called also mulita. See Illust. under Armadillo. — Mule deer (Zoöl.), a large deer (Cervus, or Cariacus, macrotis) of the Western United States. The name refers to its long ears. — Mule pulley (Mach.), an idle pulley for guiding a belt which transmits motion between shafts that are not parallel. — Mule twist, cotton yarn in cops, as spun on a mule; — in distinction from yarn spun on a throstle frame.