This word, in our version of Lev. xi, 30, answers to the word
תנשמת, which Bochart has shown to be the cameleon; but he conjectures,
with great propriety, that חלד, translated weasel,” in the preceding
verse, is the true word for the mole. The present name of the mole in
the east is _khuld_, which is undeniably the same word as the Hebrew
_choled_. The import of the Hebrew word is, to creep into,” and the same
Syriac word implies, to creep underneath,” to creep into by burrowing;
which are well known characteristics of the mole.
תנשמת, which Bochart has shown to be the cameleon; but he conjectures,
with great propriety, that חלד, translated weasel,” in the preceding
verse, is the true word for the mole. The present name of the mole in
the east is _khuld_, which is undeniably the same word as the Hebrew
_choled_. The import of the Hebrew word is, to creep into,” and the same
Syriac word implies, to creep underneath,” to creep into by burrowing;
which are well known characteristics of the mole.