Leviticus 11:29

“These also [shall be] unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth, etc.] As distinguished from those creeping things that fly, these having no wings as they; and which were equally unclean, neither to be eaten nor touched, neither their blood, their skin, nor their flesh, as the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it: and the Misnic doctors say f363 that the blood of a creeping thing and its flesh are joined together: and Maimonides f364 observes, that this is a fundamental thing with them, that the blood of a creeping thing is like its flesh; which in Siphre (an ancient book of theirs) is gathered from what is said in (<031129>Leviticus 11:29) “these shall be unclean”,…”

“the weasel--rather, the mole. the mouse--From its diminutive size it is placed among the reptiles instead of the quadrupeds. the tortoise--a lizard, resembling very nearly in shape, and in the hard pointed scales of the tail, the shaketail.”

“The identification of “the creeping things” here named is not always certain. They are most likely those which were occasionally eaten. For the “Tortoise” read “the great lizard,” for the “ferret” the “gecko” (one of the lizard tribe), for the “chameleon” read the “frog” or the Nile lizard: by the word rendered “snail” is probably meant another kind of lizard, and by the “mole” the “chameleon.” return to 'Top of Page'”

“11:29-31 This list of unclean creatures that crawl contains both warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals that scurry along the ground. Snakes are also included in this category (11:42).”

“creeping things that creep: Lev 11:20, Lev 11:21, Lev 11:41, Lev 11:42; Psa 10:3, Psa 17:13, Psa 17:14; Hag 2:6; Luk 12:15, Luk 16:14; Joh 6:26; Joh 6:66; Eph 4:14; Phi 3:19; Col 3:5; Ti2 3:2-5; Heb 13:5 Leviticus 11:31”

“To these there are attached analogous instructions concerning defilement through contact with the smaller creeping animals (Sherez), which formed the fourth class of the animal kingdom; though the prohibition against eating these animals is not introduced till Lev 11:41, Lev 11:42, as none of these were usually eaten. Sherez, the swarm, refers to animals which swarm together in great numbers (see at Gen 1:21), and is synonymous with remes (cf. Gen 7:14 and Gen 7:21), "the creeping;" it denotes the smaller land animals which move without feet, or with feet that are hardly perceptible (see at Gen 1:24). Eight of the creeping animals are named, as defiling not only the men with whom they might…”