ארנבת, Arabic _arneb_, Lev. xi, 6; Deut. xiv, 7. This name is
derived, as Bochart and others suppose, from ארה, _to crop_, and ניב,
_the produce of the ground_; these animals being remarkable for
devouring young plants and herbage. This animal resembles the rabbit,
but is larger, and somewhat longer in proportion to its thickness. The
hare in Syria, says Dr. Russel, is distinguished into two species,
differing considerably in point of size. The largest is the Turkman
hare, and chiefly haunts the plains; the other is the common hare of the
desert: both are abundant. The difficulty as to this animal is, that
Moses says the _arnabeth_ chews the cud, which our hares do not: but
Aristotle takes notice of the same circumstance, and affirms that the
structure of its stomach is similar to that of ruminating animals. The
animal here mentioned may then be a variety of the species.
derived, as Bochart and others suppose, from ארה, _to crop_, and ניב,
_the produce of the ground_; these animals being remarkable for
devouring young plants and herbage. This animal resembles the rabbit,
but is larger, and somewhat longer in proportion to its thickness. The
hare in Syria, says Dr. Russel, is distinguished into two species,
differing considerably in point of size. The largest is the Turkman
hare, and chiefly haunts the plains; the other is the common hare of the
desert: both are abundant. The difficulty as to this animal is, that
Moses says the _arnabeth_ chews the cud, which our hares do not: but
Aristotle takes notice of the same circumstance, and affirms that the
structure of its stomach is similar to that of ruminating animals. The
animal here mentioned may then be a variety of the species.