Lizard

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LIZARD
(1) lětâ’âh, a generic name for ‘lizard.’
(2) tsâb (cf. Arab [Note: Arabic.] , dabb), tr. [Note: translate or translation.] AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘tortoise,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘great lizard.’
(3) ’ănâqâh, tr. [Note: translate or translation.] AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘ferret,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘gecko.’
(4) kôach, tr. [Note: translate or translation.] AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘chameleon,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘land crocodile.’
(5) chômet, tr. [Note: translate or translation.] AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘snail,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘sandlizard.’
(6) tinshemeth, tr. [Note: translate or translation.] AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘mole,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘chameleon’ (wh. see).
All these names occur in Lev_11:29-30, as ‘unclean’ animals; most of them are very uncertain.
(7) sěmâmîth (Pro_30:28), tr. [Note: translate or translation.] AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘spider,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘lizard.’
Lizards are ubiquitous and exceedingly plentiful in Palestine: over 40 species have been identified. The most common is the green lizard (Lacerta viridis). The Palestinian gecko (Ptyodactylus Hasselquistii) is common in all native houses; it is able to walk up the walls and along the ceilings by means of the disc-like suckers at the ends of its toes. If sçmâmîth was, as many scholars claim, a lizard, then probably the gecko is the special species indicated. The dabb is a large lizard (Uromastix spinipes), with a long spiny tail. The sandlizards or skinks are common on soft, sandy soil; seven species are found in Palestine. The ‘land crocodile,’ known to the Arabs as the warrel, is a large lizard, sometimes five feet long; two species have been found in the Jordan valley—the Psammosaurus scineus and the Monitor niloticus. The chameleon is dealt with in a separate article.
E. W. G. Masterman.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

letaah. Lev_11:30. One of the monitors, the Lacerta Nilotica, Speaker's Commentary, (See CHAMELEON.) Smith's Bible Dictionary makes it the fan-foot lizard, gecko.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Li'nus. (that which clings to the ground). (Hebrew, letaah). Lev_11:30. Lizards of various kinds abound in Egypt, Palestine and Arabia. The lizard denoted by the Hebrew word is probably the fan-foot lizard (Ptyodactylus gecko) which is common in Egypt and in parts of Arabia, and perhaps, is found also in Palestine. It is reddish brown spotted with white. The gecko lives on insects and worms, which it swallows whole. It derives its name from the peculiar sound which some of the species utter.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

לטאה , Lev_11:30. All interpreters agree that the original word here signifies a sort of lizard. Bochart takes it for that kind which is of a reddish colour, lies close to the earth, and is of a venomous nature.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

liz?ard: The list of unclean ?creeping things? in Lev_11:29, Lev_11:30 contains eight names, as follows:

1. Names:
(1) חוד, ḥōledh, English Versions of the Bible ?weasel? (which see); (2) עכבּר, ‛akhbār, English Versions of the Bible ?mouse? (which see); (3) צב, cābh, the King James Version ?tortoise,? the Revised Version (British and American) ?great lizard? (which see); (4) אנקה, 'ănāḳāh, the King James Version ?ferret,? the Revised Version (British and American) ?gecko? (which see); (5) כּח, kōah, the King James Version ?chameleon,? the Revised Version (British and American) ?land-crocodile? (which see); (6) לטאה, leṭā'āh, English Versions of the Bible ?lizard?; compare Arabic laṭa', ?to cling to the ground?; (7) חמט, ḥōmeṭ, the King James Version ?snail,? the Revised Version (British and American) ?sand-lizard? (which see); (8) תּנשׁמת, tinshemeth, the King James Version ?mole,? the Revised Version (British and American) ?chameleon? (which see). In Pro_30:28, we find (9) שׁממית, semāmı̄th, the King James Version ?spider,? the Revised Version (British and American) ?lizard.?
Since (1), (3), (4), (5), (6) and (7) occur as names of animals only in this passage, and as the philological evidence available is in most cases not very convincing, their determination is difficult and uncertain. the Revised Version margin to ?gecko? (Lev_11:30) has ?Words of uncertain meaning, but probably denoting four kinds of lizards.?

2. Lizards of Palestine:
Among the many lizards of Palestine, the monitor and thorny-tailed lizard are remarkable for their size, and the chameleon for its striking appearance and habits. On etymological grounds, kōah, the King James Version ?chameleon,? the Revised Version (British and American) ?land-crocodile,? Septuagint chamailéōn, has been taken to be the monitor; cābh, the King James Version ?tortoise,? the Revised Version (British and American) ?great lizard,? Septuagint krokódeilos chersaı́os, to be the thorny-tailed lizard; and tinshemeth, the King James Version ?mole,? the Revised Version (British and American) ?chameleon,? Septuagint aspálax, to be the chameleon. On the same grounds, ḥōledh, English Versions of the Bible ?weasel,? Septuagint galḗ, might be the mole-rat. See CHAMELEON; TORTOISE; WEASEL.
The commonest lizard of Palestine is the rough-tailed agama, Agama stellio, Arabic ḥirdaun or ḥirdaun, which is everywhere in evidence, running about on the ground, rocks or walls, frequently lying still basking in the sun, or bobbing its head up and down in the peculiar manner that it has.
The gecko, Ptyodactylus lobatus, is common in houses. By means of adhesive disks on the under sides of its toes, it clings with ease to smooth walls which other lizards cannot scale. Although perfectly harmless, it is believed to be poisonous, and is much feared. It is called abu-brais, ?father of leprosy,? either on account of its supposed poisonous qualities or because it has a semi-transparent and sickly appearance, being of a whitish-yellow color with darker spots. It utters a little cry, which may be the reason why the Revised Version (British and American) has ?gecko? for 'ănāḳāh; the King James Version has ?ferret.?
Various species of the genus Lacerta and its allies, the true lizards, may always be found searching for insects on trees and walls. They are scaly, like all lizards, but are relatively smooth and are prettily colored, and are the most attractive members of the group which are found in the country. They are called by the Arabs saḳḳaiyeh or shammûseh.
The skinks include Scincus officinalis, and allied species. Arabic saḳanḳûr = Greek skı́gkos (skı́nkos). They are smooth, light-colored lizards, and are found in sandy places. They cannot climb, but they run and burrow in the sand with remarkable rapidity. The dried body of Scincus officinalis is an important feature of the primitive oriental materia medica, and may be found in the shops (officinae) of the old-style apothecaries.

3. Identifications:
Semāmı̄th (Pro_30:28, the King James Version ?spider,? the Revised Version (British and American) ?lizard?) is one of the ?four things which are little ... but ... exceeding wise.? the Revised Version (British and American) reads:
?The lizard taketh hold with her hands,
Yet is she in kings' palaces.?
The Septuagint has καλαβώτης, kalabṓtēs, which according to Liddell and Scott = ἀσκαλαβώτης, askalabṓtēs, ?a spotted lizard.? There is no other lizard which fits this passage as does the gecko. If Gesenius is correct in deriving semāmı̄th from the root sāmam (compare Arabic samma, ?to poison?), we have another reason for making this identification, in which case we must rule out the rendering of the Revised Version margin, ?Thou canst seize with thy hands.?
For none of the names in Lev_11:29, Lev_11:30 have we as many data for identification as for semāmı̄th. For leṭā'āh, English Versions of the Bible ?lizard,? the Septuagint has χαλαβώτης, chalabṓtēs, which is another variant of askalabṓtēs. If we follow the Septuagint, therefore, we should render leṭa'ah ?gecko.? Tristram quotes Bochart as drawing an argument that leṭā'āh is ?gecko? from the Arabic laṭa, ?to cling to the ground.? This view is at least in accordance with Septuagint. It is of course untenable if 'ănāḳāh is ?gecko,? but (see FERRET) the writer thinks it quite possible that 'ănāḳāh may mean the shrew or field-mouse, which is also in agreement with Septuagint. It will not do to follow Septuagint in all cases, but it is certainly safe to do so in the absence of a clear indication to the contrary.
There seems to be little evidence available for deciding the identity of ḥōmeṭ, the King James Version ?snail,? the Revised Version (British and American) ?sand-lizard.? Septuagint has σαῦρα, saúra, and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) lacerta, both words for lizard. Gesenius refers the word to an obsolete ḥāmaṭ, ?to bow down,? ?to lie upon the ground.? Tristram, NHB, cites Bochart as referring to a word meaning ?sand.? Hence, perhaps the Revised Version (British and American) ?sand-lizard.? If by this is meant the skink, there is no inherent improbability in the identification.
We have thus more or less tentatively assigned various words of the list to the monitor, the thorny-tailed lizard, the chameleon, the gecko and the skink, but we have done nothing with the rough-tailed agama and the Lacertae, or true lizards, which are the commonest lizards of Palestine, and this fact must be reckoned against the correctness of the assignment. The translation of the Revised Version (British and American) has this to commend it, that it gives two small mammals followed by six lizards, and is therefore to that extent systematic. It is, however, neither guided in all cases by etymological considerations, nor does it follow Septuagint.
As none of the etymological arguments is very cogent, the writer can see no harm in consistently following Septuagint, understanding for (1) galē, weasel or pole-cat; for (2) mús, mouse; for (3) krokodeilos chersaios, some large lizard, either the monitor or the thorny-tailed lizard; for (4) mūgalḗ, shrew or field-mouse; for (5) chamaileon, chameleon; for (6) chalabōtēs, gecko; for (7) saura, a Lacerta or true lizard; for (8) aspalax, mole-rat. On the other hand, if etymological considerations are to be taken into account and Septuagint abandoned when it conflicts with them we might have (1) ḥōledh, mole-rat; (2) ‛akhbār, mouse; (3) cābh, thorny-tailed lizard; (4) 'anāḳāh, field-mouse; (5) kōah, monitor; (6) leṭā'āh, gecko; (7) ḥōmeṭ, skink; (8) tinshemeth, chameleon.
Neither of these lists has the systematic arrangement of that of the Revised Version (British and American), but we must remember that the Biblical writers were not zoologists, as is seen in the inclusion of the bat among birds (Lev_11:19; Deu_14:18), and of the hare and coney among ruminants (Lev_11:5, Lev_11:6; Deu_14:7).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.


Fig. 249?Lizard?Lacerta Stellio
Under this denomination the modern zoologist places all the cold-blooded animals that have the conformation of serpents with the addition of four feet. Thus viewed, as one great family, they constitute the Saurians, Lacertinae, and Lacertidae of authors; embracing numerous generic divisions, which commence with the largest, that is, the crocodile group, and pass through sundry others, a variety of species, formidable, disgusting, or pleasing in appearance?some equally frequenting the land and water, others absolutely confined to the earth and to the most arid deserts; and though in general harmless, there are a few with disputed properties, some being held to poison or corrode by means of the exudation of an ichor, and others extolled as of medical use in pharmacy; but these properties in most, if not in all, are undetermined or illusory. Of some genera, such as the crocodile and chameleon, we have already made mention [CHAMELEON; CROCODILE; DRAGON; LEVIATHAN], and therefore we shall confine our present remarks to the lizards that are inhabitants of Western Asia and Egypt, and to those more particularly noticed in the Bible. Of these commentators indicate six or seven species, whereof some indeed may be misapprehended; but when it is considered that the regions of Syria, Arabia, and Egypt are overrun with animals of this family, there is every reason to expect allusion to more than one genus in the Scriptures, where so many observations and similes are derived from the natural objects which were familiar to the various writers. In Lev_11:29 mention is made of a species called tzab, which Bochart refers to one of the group of Monitors or Varanus, the Nilotic lizard. Like the other of this form, it is possessed of a tail double the length of the body, but is not so well known in Palestine, where there is only one real river (Jordan), which is not tenanted by this species. We have already shown that the true crocodile frequented the shores and marshes of the coast down to a comparatively late period; and therefore it may well have had a more specific name than Leviathan?a word apparently best suited to the dignified and lofty diction of the prophets, and clearly of more general signification than the more colloquial designation. Jerome was of this opinion; and it is thus likely that tzab was applied to both, as waran is now considered only a variety of, or a young, crocodile. There is a second of the same group, Lacerta Scincus of Merrem (Varanus Arenarius), Waran-el-hard, also reaching to six feet in length; and a third, not as yet clearly described, which appears to be larger than either, growing to nine feet, and covered with blight cupreous scales. This last prefers rocky and stony situations. It is in this section of the Saurians that most of the gigantic fossil species, the real 'children of the giants,' are found to be located; and of the existing species some are reported to possess great strength. One of the last-mentioned pursues its prey on land with a rapid bounding action, feeds on the larger insects, and is said to attack game in a body, sometimes destroying even sheep. The Arabs, in agreement with the ancients, assert that this species will do fierce and victorious battle with serpents.
We come next to the group of lizards more properly so called, which Hebrew commentators take to be the letaah, a name having some allusion to poison and adhesiveness. The word occurs only once (Lev_11:30), where Saurians alone appear to be indicated. If the Hebrew root were to guide the decision, letaah would be another name for the gecko or anakah, for there is but one species which can be deemed venomous; and with regard to the quality of adhesiveness, though the geckos possess it most, numerous common lizards run up and down perpendicular walls with great facility. We, therefore, take chomet, or the sand lizard of Bochart, to be the true lizard, several (probably many) species existing in myriads on the rocks in sandy places, and in ruins in every part of Palestine and the adjacent countries. There is one species particularly abundant and small, well known in Arabia by the name of Sarabandi. We now come to the Stelliones, which have been confounded with the noxious geckos and others from the time of Aldrovandus, and thence have been a source of inextricable trouble to commentators. They are best known by the bundles of starlike spines on the body.
Next we place the Geckotians, among which comes anakah,in our versions denominated ferret, but which is with more propriety transferred to the noisy and venomous abu-burs of the Arabs. The particular species most probably meant is the lacerta gecko of Hasselquist, the gecko lobatus of Geoffry, distinguished by having the soles of the feet dilated and striated like open fans, from whence a poisonous ichor is said to exude, inflaming the human skin, and infecting food that may have been trod upon by the animal. Hence the Arabic name of abu-burs, or 'father-leprosy,' at Cairo.
To these we add the Chameleons, already described [CHAMELEON]; and then follows the Scincus.
Of the species of Seps, that is, viviparous serpent lizards, having the body of snakes, with four weak limbs, a species, with only three toes on each foot, appears to extend to Syria.




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Lizard
appears in the Auth. Vers. in but one passage (Lev_11:30) as the rendering of לְטָאָה, letaah'; but different species of the animal seem to be designated by several Hebrew terms, variously rendered in the English translation. In the East numerous varieties of these reptiles are met with in great abundance, several of which are regarded as venomous (Hasselquist, Trav. pages 241, 344 sq.). Others, again, are used by the modern Arabs for food (comp. also Arrian, Matr. Eryth. page 17, ed. Hudson), whereas the Mosaic law (Leviticus 11) classes them among unclean animals.
(1.) KO´ÄCH (כֹּח, strength, Lev_11:30; Sept. χαμαιλέων, Auth. Vers. "chameleon"), prob. the Lacerta stellio, an olive-brown lizard, with black and white spots, and a tail about a span long, while the body itself is scarcely of this length (Hasselquist, Trav. page 352; figure in Ruppel, Atlas, tab. 2). Bochart (Hieroz. 2:493 sq.) understands this term to refer to the species called El-w-aral, which exhibits its great strength (hence its name) in combat with the crocodile and serpents, is disgusting in appearance. and said to be poisonous (Leon. Afric. Descript. Afric. 9:53). But Michaelis (Suppl. 2221) and Rosenmüller have long since remarked that the derivation of the name koach is perhaps from a different root. According to the Arabic interpreters, it is the land crocodile, or a species of it, perhaps the Waran el-hard or skink (Lacerta scincus), which sometimes attains a length of six feet or more. SEE CHAMELEON.
(2.) LETAAH´ (לְטָאָה, perh. so called from its hiding; Lev_11:30; Sept. χαλαβώτης, Vulg. stellio, Auth. Vers. "lizard"), perhaps the species called in Egypt Shechalit, described by Forskal (Descr. page 13) as a delicate little animal, about a span in length and of the thickness of the thumb, found in the neighborhood of houses. Bochart (Hieroz. 2:497 sq.) maintains that it is the wagrat of the Arabs, a kind of lizard that clings close to the ground (hence his derivation from an Arabic root, signifying to stick to the earth), to which also the Sept. alludes (comp. Oken, Naturgesch. III, 2:203). Geddes regards it as identical with the Lacerta gecko. (3.) CHO´MET (חֹמֶט, so called from lying close to the ground; Lev_11:30; Sept. σαύρα, Auth.Vers. "snail") has been supposed by Bochart (2:500 sq.) to mean the Galkan, a species of lizard that burrows in the sand (on the precarious interpretation of the Talmud). The interpretation snail rests on no better foundation. Both the Arabic interpreters understand the chameleon. The I species intended is uncertain. (See Fuller, Miscell. 6:9.)
(4.) ANAKAH' (אֲנָקָה, a shriek; Lev_11:30; Sept. and Vulg. shrewmouse, Auth.Vers. "ferret") is regarded by the Arab. Erpen. as the Waral, considered by some as identical with the Lacerta Nilotica (Hasselquist, Trav. p. 361 sq.), but which last Forskal (Descrit. Animal. page 13) calls Waranz (comp. Robinson, 2:253). The Waral is described by those who have personally seen it (see Leo Afric. Descr. 9:51) as having a length of three or four feet, a scaly, very strong, grayish-yellow skin, and is regarded as poisonous in every part. (See Rosenmüller, Alterth. IV, 2:256 sq.; Gesen. Thesaur. page 128.)
(5.) TSAB (צָב, prob. from its sluggishness; Lev_11:29; Sept. and Vulg. the crocodile, Auth.Vers. "tortoise") is doubtless the species of lizard still called by the Arabs Dhab (see Bochart, Hieroz. 2:463 sq.), a stupid creature tenanting rocky waters. According to Leo Afric. (9:52), it is about a yard long, without poisonous qualities, and incapable of drinking. They are caught and eaten in the desert. Forskal (Descript. Aninmal. page 13) and Hasselquist (Trasv. page 353 sq.) appear to have described it under the name of Lacertat, Egyptiaca (comp. Paulus, Samml. 2:263). According to Burckhardt (2:863 sq.), it has a scaly skin of a yellow color, and sometimes attains a length of eighteen inches.
(6.) TINSHE´METH (תַּנְשֶׁמֶת, the hard breather; Sept., Vulgate, and Auth. Vers. mole; Lev_11:30; being the same Heb. word used in Lev_11:18; Deu_14:16, to describe a bird, rendered "swan") is (according to Saadias) a species of lizard, probably the Gecko (Hasselquist, Trav. page 356 sq.), a kind described as having a round tail of moderate length, and tufted feet, lamellated lengthwise on the bottom, said to be peculiar for exuding poison from the divisions of its toes, eagerly seeking spots imbued with salt, which it leaves infected with a virus that engenders leprosy (see also Forskal, page 13). Bochart (2:503 sq.) understands the chameleon, deriving the etymology from the ancient belief that this creature lived upon the air (Pliny, Hist. Nat. 8:33, 51), a notion probably derived from its long endurance of hunger. (See Hasselquist, Trav. page 348 sq.; Sonnini, Trav. 1:87; Oken, Naturgesch. III, 2:306 sq.; Russel, Aleppo, 2:128 sq.) SEE CHAMELEON.
(7.) SEMAMITH´ (שְׂמָמַית, prob. as being held poisonous; Pro_30:28; Sept. καλαβώτης,Vulg. stellio, Auth. Vers. "spider") is mentioned as a small creature of active instincts; prob. the Arabic saum, a poisonous lizard with leopard-like spots (Bochart, Hieroz. 2:1084). Comp. Rosenmüller, Alterth. IV, 2:268. SEE SPIDER.
(8.) TANNIN' (תִּנַּין) or TANNIM' (תִּנַּים), otherwise TAN (תָּן), seems occasionally to signify a huge land serpent or saurian. SEE DRAGON.
(9.) LIVYATHAN' (לַיְיָתָן) sometimes stands for the largest of the lizard tribe, the crocodile. SEE LEIVIATHAN.
Under the denomination of lizard the modern zoologist places all the cold- blooded animals that have the conformation of serpents with the addition of four feet. Thus viewed as one great family, they constitute the Saurians, Lacertinae, and Lacertinae and Lacertidae of authors, embracing numerous generical divisions, which commence with the largest, that is, the crocodile group, and pass through sundry others, a variety of species, formidable, disgusting, or pleasing in appearance — some equally frequenting the land and water, others absolutely confined to the earth and to the most and deserts; and, though in general harmless, there are a few with disputed properties, some being held to poison or corrode by means of the exudation of an ichor, and others extolled as aphrodisiacs, or of medical use in pharmacy; but these properties in most, if not in all, are undetermined or illusory. One of the best known of these is the common chameleon (Chamaeleo vulgaris). SEE CHAMELEON.
When it is considered that the regions of Syria, Arabia, and Egypt are overrun with animals of this family, there is every reason to expect allusion to more than one genus in the Scriptures, where so many observations and similes are derived from the natural objects which were familiar to the various writers. Among the names enumerated above, Bochart refers צָב, tsub (Lev_11:29), to one of the group of Monitors or Varanus, the Nilotic lizard, Lacerta Nilotica, Varanus Niloticus, or Waran of the Arabs. Like the others of this form, it is possessed of a tail double the length of the body, but is not so well known in Palestine, where there is only one real river (Jordan), and that not tenanted by this species. It appears that the true crocodile frequented the shores and marshes of the coast down to a comparatively late period, and therefore it may well have had a more specific name than leviathan — a word apparently best suited to the dignified and lofty diction of the prophets, and clearly of more general signification than the more colloquial designation. Jerome was of this opinion; and it is thus likely that tsab was applied to both, as Waran is now considered only a variety of, or a young, crocodile. There is a second of the same group, Lacerta scincus of Merrem (Vatranus arenarius), Waran el-hard, also reaching to six feet in length; and a third, not as yet clearly described, which appears to be larger than either, growing to nine feet, and covered with bright cupreous scales. This last prefers rocky and stony situations. One of the last mentioned pursues its prey on land with a rapid bounding action, feeds on the larger insects, and is said to attack game in a body, sometimes destroying even sheep. The Arabs, in agreement with the ancients, assert that this species will do fierce and victorious battle with serpents. Considerations like these induce us to assign the Hebrew name כֹּח, koach (a designation of strength) to the species of the desert; and if the Nilotic watranz be the tsab, then the Arabian dhab, as Bruce asserts, will be Varanus arenarius, or watran el-hard of the present familiar language, and chardaun the larger copper-colored species above noticed. But it is evident from the Arabic authorities quoted by Bochart, and from his own conclusions, that there is not only confusion among the species of lizard, but that the ichneumon of Egypt (Horpestes Pharaonis) is mixed up with the history of these saurians.
We come next to the group of lizards more properly so called, which Hebrew commentators take to be the לְטָאָה, letaah, a name having some allusion to poison and adhesiveness. The word occurs only once (Lev_11:30), where saurians alone appear to be indicated. If the Heb. root were to guide the decision, letaah would be another name for the gecko or anakah, for there is but one species which can be deemed venomous; and with regard to the quality of adhesiveness, though the geckos possess it most, numerous common lizards run up and down perpendicular walls with great facility. We therefore take חוֹמֶט, chomet, or the sand lizard of Bochart, to be the true lizard, several (probably many) species existing in myriads on the rocks in sandy places, and in ruins in every part of Palestine and the adjacent countries. There is one species particularly abundant and small, well known in Arabia by the name of Sarabandi. We now come to the Stelliones, which have been confounded with the noxious geckos and others from the time of Aldrovandus, and thence have been a source of inextricable trouble to commentators. They are best known by the bundles of starlike spines on the body. Among these Lacerta stellio, Stellio Orientalis, the κροκόδειλος of the Greeks, and hardun of the Arabs, is abundant in the East, and a great frequenter of ruinous walls. The genus Uromastix offers Stellio spinipes of Daudin or Urspinipes, two or three feet long, of a fine green, and is the species which is believed to strike with the tail; hence formerly denominated Caudae verbera. It is frequent in the deserts around Egypt, and is probably the Guamril of the Arabs. Another subgenus, named Trapelus by Cuvier, is exemplified in the Tr. AEgyptiacus of Geoff., with a spinous swelled body, but remarkable for the faculty of changing color more rapidly than the chameleon. Next we place the Geckotians, among which comes אֲנָקָה, anakath, in our versions denominated ferret, but which is with more propriety transferred to the noisy and venomous abu-burs of the Arabs. There is no reason for admitting the verb אָנִק, anak, to groan, to cry out, as radical for the name of the ferret, an animal totally unconnected with the preceding and succeeding species in Lev_11:29-30, and originally found, so far as we know, only in Western Africa, and thence conveyed to Spain, prowling noiselessly, and beaten to death without a groan, though capable of a feeble, short scream when at play, or when suddenly wounded. Taking the interpretation “to cry out," so little applicable to ferrets, in conjunction with the whole verse, we find the gecko, like all the species of this group of lizards, remarkable for the loud grating noise which it is apt to utter in the roofs and walls of houses all the night through; one, indeed, is sufficient to dispel the sleep of a whole family. The particular species most probably meant is the Lacerta gecko of Hasselquist, the Gecko lobatus of Geoffroy, distinguished by having the soles of the feet dilated and striated like open fans, from which a poisonous ichor is said to exude, inflaming the human skin, and infecting food that may have been trod upon by the animal. SEE FERRET.
Hence the Arabic name of abusbirs, or "father of leprosy," at Cairo. The species extends northwards in Syria, but it may be doubted whether the Gecko fascicularuis, or tarentola of South- eastern Europe, be not also an inhabitant of Palestine; and in that case the שְׂמָמַית, semamith of Bochart, would find an appropriate location. To these we add the Chameleons proper; and then follows the Scincus (in antiquity the name of Varanus arenarius), among which Lacerta scincus, Linn., or Scincus officinalis, is the El-adda of the Arabs, figured by Bruce, and well known in the old pharmacy of Europe. S. Cyprius, or Lacerta Cyprius scincoides, a large greenish species, marked with a pale line on each flank, occurs also; and a third, Scincus variegatus or ocillatus, often noticed on account of its round black spots, each marked with a pale streak, and commonly having likewise a stripe on each flank, of a pale color. Of the species of Seps, that is, viviparous serpent-lizards, having the body of snakes, with four weak limbs, a species with only three toes on each foot, the Lacerta chalcides of Linn, appears to extend to Syria. See further details in the Penny Cyclopaedia, s.v. Varanidae; Wood, Bible Animals, page 534 sq.
From this examination, it appears probable that the generic name for the lizard among the Hebrews (being the only one thus rendered in the Auth. Version) is the לְטָאָה, letaah, which, although an unclean animal, does not usually designate a poisonous species. Among the various kinds with which the East abounds, the Lacerta stellio, or starry lizard, may be selected as probably affording the best type of the scriptural terms, or at least of letaah in general, as it is the most common in Egypt and Palestine. It is covered with tubercles, and is of a gray color. It lives in the holes of walls, and under stones, and covers itself with dirt. Belon states that it sometimes attains the size of a weasel. This is said to be the lizard which infests the Pyramids, and in other countries where it is found, harbors in the crevices and between the stones of old walls, feeding on flies and other winged insects. This may be the species intended by Bruce when he says, "The number I saw one day, in the great court of the Temple of the Sun at Baalbek, amounted to many thousands; the ground, the walls, the stones of the ruined buildings, were covered with them; and the various colors of which they consisted made a very extraordinary appearance, glittering under the sun, sin which they lay sleeping and basking." Lord Lindsay also describes the ruins at Jerash (the ancient Gerasa) as "absolutely alive with lizards." Near Suez, he speaks of "a species of gray lizard;" and on the ascent towards Mount Sinai, "hundreds of little lizards of the color of the sand, and called by the natives sarabandi, were darting about." In the Syrian desert, Major Skinner says, "The ground is teeming with lizards; the sun seems to draw them from the earth, for sometimes, when I have fixed my eye upon one spot, I have fancied that the sands were getting into life, so many of these creatures at once crept from their holes." Wilkinson says, “In Egypt, of the lizard tribe, none but the crocodile seems to have been sacred. Those which occur in the hieroglyphics are not emblematical of the gods, nor connected with religion." SEE SNAIL.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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