Hebrew word · H2467

חֹ֫לֶד

hacholed

weasel

A small mammal. Two identifications compete: (1) the weasel, following the Septuagint (galē), the Vulgate (mustela) and rabbinic Hebrew ḥuldāh; (2) the mole-rat, from the Arabic cognate khuld (the blind mole-rat, Spalax), an animal common in Israel.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) weasel, mole

1a) perhaps an extinct animal, exact meaning unknown

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Leviticus 11:29

Range of meaning

A small mammal. Two identifications compete: (1) the weasel, following the Septuagint (galē), the Vulgate (mustela) and rabbinic Hebrew ḥuldāh; (2) the mole-rat, from the Arabic cognate khuld (the blind mole-rat, Spalax), an animal common in Israel.

Against the English

KJV, YLT and WEB have 'weasel'. BSB has 'mole', and other modern versions have 'mole' or 'mole rat'. 'Mole' is zoologically off, because true moles (Talpidae) are absent from Israel. 'Mole-rat' fixes that.

How it drifted

This is not drift so much as genuine uncertainty about an animal name that dropped out of everyday use.

Used elsewhere in the period

It appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. The Septuagint has galē, the Vulgate mustela, and the Mishnah and Talmud use ḥuldāh for the weasel (e.g. the proverb of 'the weasel and the pit', b. Ta'anit 8a).

Where it appears

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 11:29 הַחֹ֥לֶד the weasel

    The following creatures that move along the ground are unclean for you: the mole, the mouse, any kind of great lizard,

    Here: A small burrowing or prowling animal. The ancient Greek translation (the Septuagint) and the rabbis took it as the weasel. Arabic khuld (mole-rat) points to the blind mole-rat (Spalax), which is common in the land. True moles do not live in Israel.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.