Leviticus 11:30

“And the ferret, etc.] Whatever creature is here meant, it has its name in Hebrew from the cry it makes; and so the ferret has but one note in its voice, which is a shrill, but small, whining cry: it is used to drive rabbits out of their holes: the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render the word by “mygale”, the weasel mouse, or “mus areneus” of the Latins, the shrew or shrew mouse: it has something of the mouse and weasel, from whence it has its name in Greek, being of the size of the one, and the colour of the other: but Bochart f384 is of opinion, that a sort of lizard called “stellio”, an evet or newt, is meant; one sort of which, according to Pliny f385 , makes a bitter noise and…”

“the ferret--the Hebrew word is thought by some to signify the newt or chameleon, by others the frog. the chameleon--called by the Arabs the warral, a green lizard. the snail--a lizard which lives in the sand, and is called by the Arabs chulca, of an azure color. the mole--Another species of lizard is meant, probably the chameleon.”

“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'”