LIZARD. Six words in the list of unclean animals (Lev 11:29, 30) are generally thought to refer to reptiles other than snakes. One further name is found in Proverbs 30:28. These are:

Palestine has many lizards and they are the most conspicuous vertebrates other than birds. Some forty species are listed, from desert monitor, which reaches a length of four ft., down to species of about two inches, and they belong to a number of different families. Most languages commonly have at least one general name for such a group, and this is known by most people; also individual names for conspicuous or important genera or species, but these are less widely known. This could be true of the above list; but with only one use each the reasoning is limited largely to philology. The following comments may be made:

Heb. צָ֥ב is not unlike Arab. dhubb, the name given to spiny-tailed Lizards of genus Uromastyx. These reach a length of well over one foot and are heavily built; they live in all types of desert and are partly vegetarian. They are eaten by Bedouins. The tr. tortoise and land crocodile are incorrect.

Heb. אֲנָקָ֥ה is elsewhere tr. “crying out,” “groaning,” “sighing.” Geckos are the only lizards that make a vocal sound. The tr. “ferret” is incorrect.

Heb. כֹּ֖חַ is from root meaning “strength.” (See Chameleon.) The expression “land crocodile” is meaningless. The Vul. stellio is interesting in that the most common large lizard in Pal. has the Lat. name Agama stellio. This is seen on roadsides, on old ruins, etc., sunning and doing “push-ups.”

Heb. לְטָאָ֑ה is prob. from root meaning “clinging to the ground” and all authorities agree that it is a lizard; perhaps general name for Lacertids, a family including many typical diurnal lizards, mostly under one foot long.

Heb. תִּנְשָֽׁמֶת is difficult; perhaps from ‘to breathe.” The tr. “mole” can be rejected. Sometimes identified with chameleon from its habit of inflating itself with air. Elsewhere tr. “swan” (Lev 11:18; Deut 14:16); the use of one name for two different animals is not unknown, cf. Eng. “turtle” for pigeon and water tortoise.

Heb. ֭שְׂמָמִית, “the spider taketh hold with her hands and is in kings’ palaces” (KJV, ASV); “the lizard you can take in your hands” (RSV) The former construction is preferred but many authorities tr. “lizard” or “gecko,” of which several species are closely associated with human habitations in warm countries. The under surfaces of all digits have rows of microscopic hairs which enable a gecko to cling to vertical surfaces and even to ceilings.

If the above suggestions are correct, this list covers most of the major families of Pal. lizards other than the monitors and the skinks, which are streamlined lizards adapted mostly to living in sand, but it must be emphasized that they are largely conjectural.

Bibliography H. B. Tristram, The Natural History of the Bible, 9th ed. (1898), ch. ix.