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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comAdam Clarke Commentary - Leviticus 11:30 - 11:30
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The ferret - אנקה anakah, from אנק anak, to groan, to cry out: a species of lizard, which derives its name from its piercing, doleful cry. See Bochart, vol. ii., col. 1066.
The chameleon - כח coach. Bochart contends that this is the waril or guaril, another species of lizard, which derives its name from its remarkable strength and vigor in destroying serpents, the Hebrew כח cach signifying to be strong, firm, vigorous: it is probably the same with the mongoose, a creature still well known in India, where it is often domesticated in order to keep the houses free from snakes, rats, mice, etc.
The lizard - לטאה letaah. Bochart contends that this also is a species of lizard, called by the Arabs wahara, which creeps close to the ground, and is poisonous.
The snail - חמט chomet, another species of lizard, according to Bochart, called huluka by the Arabians, which lives chiefly in the sand - Vol. ii., col. 1075.
The mole - תנשמת tinshameth, from נשם nasham, to breathe. Bochart seems to have proved that this is the chameleon, which has its Hebrew name from its wide gaping mouth, very large lungs, and its deriving its nourishment from small animals which float in the air, so that it has been conjectured by some to feed on the air itself - Vol. iii., col. 1073. A bird of the same name is mentioned Lev 11:18, which Bochart supposes to be the night-owl - Vol. iii., col. 286.