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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadInternational Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Creeping Thing
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kreÌ„p´ing (רמשׂ, remes, ש×רץ, sherec; ἑÏπετοÌν, herpetoÌn): Remes and sherec, with the root verbs raÌ„mas and shaÌ„rac, are used without any sharp distinction for insects and other small creatures. RaÌ„mas means clearly “to creep,†and is used even of the beasts of the forest (), while shaÌ„rac is rather “to swarm.†But in at least one passage (), we have the noun, sherec, with the verb raÌ„mas; “with any manner of creeping thing that moveth upon the earth.†The principal passages where these words occur are the accounts of the Creation and the Flood and the references to unclean animals in Lev and in the vision of Peter. In the last we have the word herpeton as the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew words (). Winged creeping things (sherec haÌ„-‛oÌ„ph, ), as well as the wingless, are unclean, but an exception is made in favor of the locusts, “which have legs above their feet, where-with to leap upon the earth.†See INSECTS; LOCUST.