Book 3, chapter 33: The shafan

II, 409 col. 1001 Chapter 33.

It is proved that שפן saphan is not the rabbit, as they hold, but a kind of larger mouse in Eretz Yisrael, Egypt and Libya, which is called Δίπους [Dipous] by Herodotus and others, Χοιρογρύλλιος [Choirogryllios] by the Elders [=the translators of the Septuagint], Ἀρκτομῦς [Arktomys] by Jerome, and اليربوع [al-yarbūʿ] aljarbuo by the Arabs; many things about it, not yet published, are brought forward from the writings of the Arabs.

In Lev 11:5 and Deut 14:7, among those animals which do chew the cud but col. 1002 do not have a cloven hoof, and are therefore unclean, השפן, ὁ σαφάν [ho saphan], is listed together with the camel and the hare. The plural שפנים sephanim occurs in Ps 104:18: The rock is a refuge לשפנים, τοῖς σεφανίμ [tois sephanim]. And in Prov 30:26: שפנים sephanim, a feeble folk, make their house in the rock. Most of the more recent interpreters explain them as rabbits. Many things seem on the face of it to favour this interpretation. 1. That twice in the Law השפן is joined with הארנבת, that is, with the hare, as a kindred animal. 2. That the passage of the Psalm which we have just cited is rendered thus in the Greek edition: Πέτρα καταφυγὴ τοῖς λαγωοῖς [Petra kataphygē tois lagōois], The rock is a refuge for the hares. Some copies have τοῖς χοιρογρυλλίοις [tois choirogrylliois], that is, as they hold, for the hedgehogs. But the most ancient writers follow the former reading. Jerome, Epistle 135, to Sunia and Fretela: All translated it with a similar word, χοιρογρυλλίους [choirogryllious]; only the LXX rendered it hares. So too read Theodoret in his Commentary on this Psalm, Basil on Isaiah, chapter 2, and Apollinaris in his Paraphrase:

Πέτροις ἠλιβάτοις περιθάρσεες εἰσὶ λαγωοὶ [Petrois ēlibatois peritharsees eisi lagōoi],

The hares trust in the sheer rocks; and the Arabic version, which was made from the Greek: The rock is the refuge الارانب [al-arānib] of the hares. Others join both: thus Augustine on this passage: The rock is a refuge for the hedgehogs and the hares. Arnobius: There is the rock, affording a refuge either to the young of the hedgehogs, etc., or to the hares. Bede on Proverbs, chapter 30: And it is to be noted that in the Psalm, where we sing „The rock is a refuge for the hedgehogs, in some manuscripts for the hares is found, in some for the choerogryllii“. 3. The Hebrew of Prov 30:26, שפנים עם לא עצום, the Vulgate translator rendered thus: The little hare, a feeble folk, following, if I am not mistaken, II, 410 some Greek translator who had explained שפנים as λαγίδεις [lagideis], little hares, that is, rabbits. For thus in Strabo, book 3, λαγίδεις [lagideis], little hares, are taken for rabbits. The Greeks have no other name for the rabbit. For κόνιλος [konilos] in Aelian, κούνικλος [kouniklos] in Polybius and Galen, words of the Spaniards, and λεβηρὶς [lebēris] in Strabo and Erotian, a word of the Massilians, were local terms not used in Greece. 4. The old Book of Names, which they ascribe to Philo, has this under Jeremiah: SAPHAN, choerogryllius, hare, or hedgehog. And under Ezekiel: SAPHAN, hedgehog, or hare. 5. In Giggeius' [=Antonio Giggei, Thesaurus linguae Arabicae (Milan 1632)] Arabic Lexicon, p. 854, vol. 2, سفن [safan] saphan is rendered cuniculus [rabbit]. Where he got this from, however, I do not know at all, for I have found it nowhere else. 6. The Hebrew name שפן saphan seems to allude to the Hebrew verbs ספן and צפן, of which the former means to cover, the latter to hide. And it seems to fit the rabbit, which seeks the hiding places of burrows, so as to lurk in them and be, as it were, covered over. Martial:

The rabbit delights to dwell in dug-out caves.

7. It is certain that the Hebrews have called the rabbit by this name for some centuries now. Thus Baal Aruch [=Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome, the ʿArukh], almost five hundred years ago, under the word תלא אילן thela Aelan, or ilan, says of ferrets: ושמענו שמצויין הן במקומות שצדין בהן שפנים We have heard that they are found in certain places where rabbits are hunted with them. And in R. Isaac, son of Solomon [=Isaac ibn Sahula, Meshal ha-qadmoni], about one century later, in the book entitled Masal Kadmoni, which contains fables similar to Aesop's, written in bound language, the speakers in the fiftieth fable are השפן והזרזיר, that is, the rabbit and the starling, as the accompanying pictures make plain. And in the Porta coeli, whose author is R. Gersom [=Gershon ben Solomon of Arles, Shaʿar ha-shamayim (Porta coeli)], tract. 4, ch. 1, fol. 19d: וקצתם יולידו ולדות רבות כחתול ושפן וארנבת ועכבר And some of them (the animals) produce many young; such as the cat, and the rabbit, and col. 1003 the hare, and the mouse. And fol. 20d: ויש מב״ח אשר ביציהם תלוים בכיס ויש מהם שהם דבוקים בבטן כשפן וארנבת וחחול In some animals the testicles hang in a scrotum, but in others they adhere to the belly, as in the rabbit, the hare and the cat. David de Pomis [=David de Pomis, Ṣemaḥ David (Venice 1587), a Hebrew-Latin-Italian dictionary], in his Lexicon: שפן ב״ח או חיה הנקרא קוני״לו בלעז Saphan, an animal, or wild beast, which in the vernacular (that is, Italian) is called Coniglio. And elsewhere: טפז שפן, rabbit, coniglio, animaletto. And again: חגס שפן, rabbit, coniglio. Nor is there any of the Hebrews who interprets it otherwise. 8. Finally, if שפן saphan is the rabbit, it will at once be perfectly clear whence Σπανία [Spania] Spania, or Hispania, took its name. And Σπανία [Spania] will be in Hebrew שפניה, abounding in rabbits. It would have been so called by the Phoenicians because it teems above all with this animal. This we prove at length elsewhere. Hence it is that on a coin of Hadrian, representing Hispania, there is a seated woman with an olive branch in her hand and a rabbit at her feet. From all this, then, it seems to follow that שפן is the rabbit.

Yet three objections can be raised against this interpretation. 1. That rabbits do not ruminate, as is expressly asserted in the Porta coeli, fol. 20b: אין השפן והארנבת מעלה II, 411 גרה, The rabbit and the hare do not chew the cud. 2. That they do not live in rocks, but in earthy soil that is easily dug through. 3. That this animal was formerly peculiar to Spain, which is an immense distance from Judaea. Varro, On Agriculture, book 3, chapter 12: There is a third kind, which is born in Spain, in some respects similar to our hare, but low, which they call the rabbit. Pliny, book 8, chapter 55: Of the hare kind also are those which Spain calls rabbits. Aelian, On Animals, book 13, chapter 15: Κόνιλος ὄνομα αὐτῷ [Konilos onoma autō], Its name is conilus (I would prefer κένικλος [keniklos], as in Galen). And a little later: Φυλάττω τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς, ἥνπερ οὖν Ἰβηρίαν Ἑσπέριοι ἔθεντο οἱ πάρος, παρ᾽ οἷς καὶ γίνεταί τε, καὶ ἔστι πάμπολις [Phylattō tēn epōnymian tēn ex archēs, hēnper oun Ibērian Hesperioi ethento hoi paros, par' hois kai ginetai te, kai esti pampolis]. I keep the old Iberian name, which the ancient Spaniards had given it from the beginning, among whom it is both born and most abounds. Galen, book 3 On Foods: Οὐκοῦν ἔτι δεήσομαι λόγων μακρῶν εἰς τὸ τὰ καθ᾽ ἕκαστον ἔθνος ἐπιχώρια τῶν ζώων ἅπαντα διέρχεσθαι· καθάπερ ἐν Ἰβηρίᾳ τὸ τοῖς λαγωοῖς ὅμοιον ζωΰφιον, ὃ καλοῦσι κένικλον [Oukoun eti deēsomai logōn makrōn eis to ta kath' hekaston ethnos epichōria tōn zōōn hapanta dierchesthai; kathaper en Ibēria to tois lagōois homoion zōyphion, ho kalousi keniklon]. There will be no need of more words to go through all the animals that are peculiar and native to the individual nations: such as in Spain the little animal similar to hares, which they call the rabbit. Since, then, it is established from these passages that the rabbit was a Spanish animal, what need was there to forbid the eating of it to the Jews, to whom it was entirely unknown? R1

Gesner [=Conrad Gesner, Historia animalium], who maintains with most of the more recent interpreters that שפן is the rabbit, answers the first objection by saying that he caught rabbits chewing after their meal, half an hour after the food had been given them. And it would be vain to object with what we cited from the Porta coeli. For the scribes corrupted the passage by wrongly inserting a negation into the text, against the intention of the author. It is not credible that he was so foolish as to deny that השפן והארנבת ruminate. For he would then be expressly denying what Moses expressly asserts in Lev 11:6 and Deut. XIV, 7., and he would be charging the divinely inspired (θεοπνεύστῳ [theopneustō]) writer with falsehood. The negation אין must therefore be removed. This is further shown by the whole sequence of the passage, which, if you take away the negation, will run as follows: There are animals which ruminate, and others which do not ruminate. The reason is that those which ruminate have no upper teeth except molars. Therefore they cannot cut up their food at one time. And the stomach cannot receive it complete until it has been ground a second time. Hence they have a double crop: an upper one, into which the food descends the first time, and a lower one, by which it is received after it has been II, 412 ground the second time. אך השפן והארנבת מעלה גרה ויש להם שינים למעלה אבל שיניהם הם חדות מאד ולא יוכלו לטחון האוכל היטב והגמל יש לו שינים col. 1004 למעלה אבל הם קטנות וחלושות Nevertheless the rabbit and the hare ruminate, although they have upper teeth. But their teeth are very sharp and cannot grind the food perfectly. The camel also has upper teeth, but small and weak.

To the second objection Gesner gives some sort of answer, but very hesitantly. Someone may doubt, he says, whether the sephanim are rabbits, since, as far as I know, these do not usually live among rocks or in rocky places, because they are prevented from digging there, but rather in earthy ground, etc. But since among rocks on hills certain caves or long passages are found which are suitable as dens for rabbits, it should be asked whether in other regions rabbits also usually live in these. Nor is a certain Spaniard, whom Gesner consulted on this matter, much more certain: Among us rabbits are very plentiful in mountainous places and on steep mountains. And I have no doubt that they have underground passages in rougher and stony places, although I have never observed it closely. Again: I once took part in a rabbit hunt in a mountainous place full of rocks, among which I saw little burrows dug out; but whether in the inner parts there was rock or softer earth, I cannot affirm. Nor is it more to the point that Papire Masson writes in his Descriptio Franciae per flumina that little hares, that is, rabbits, almost without number are bred on the island of Calonesus off the Armorican coast, although it is entirely rock and has only its surface covered with earth. This, I say, is not to the point, because the rabbits can stay in that earthy surface and have no need to hollow out the rock beneath it. But one should consult Pierre Quiqueran de Beaujeu [=De laudibus Provinciae] in his description of Provence, from which Camerarius quotes these things in his Historiae vol. 2, book 5, ch. 20.

There remains the third objection, which takes more effort to refute, since the ancients state so plainly that the rabbit was an animal formerly peculiar to Spain. This is why, of the Greeks, only the Massilians, who live almost on the border of Spain, knew it. This argument therefore makes me somewhat doubtful whether שפן is really the rabbit. I think the question should be examined further, and that we should not rely on the masters of the Hebrews but rather consult the older interpreters, although they are not consistent with one another, so that it is very difficult to extract the truth from them. I pass over the Chaldee versions, the Syriac and the Samaritan, because for the Hebrew שפן they use words that are entirely unknown. For no one knows what טפזא taphza is in Onkelos [=Targum Onkelos], for which Jonathan [=Targum Jonathan] reads טווזא tauza, and the Samaritan ࠈࠐࠎࠄ [טפסה] taphsa, except that it seems to be a leaping (ἁλτικὸν [haltikon]) animal, because טפז tephaz in Chaldee and Syriac means to leap or to jump up. Nor is the Syriac ܚܓܣܐ [חגסא] chagasa better known, whose plural חגסי chagase the Chaldee also uses for שפנים sephanim, Prov 30:26 But the Ethiopic ለጊሔ፡ legiche, II, 413 Psal. CIII. (in the Hebrew CIV,) 19., I think should be rendered hares, because it corresponds to the Greek τοῖς λαγωοῖς [tois lagōois]. The Arabs, following the same, have الارنب [al-arnab] hares. But the same translators have something else in Proverbs, namely القنافد [al-qanāfid] hedgehogs. And in the Law something else again: there, for השפן, one has الوبر [al-wabr] alwebro, and another الفنك [al-fanak] alpheneco.

Of these animals, Giauhari [=al-Jawharī, al-Ṣiḥāḥ] describes the former as follows: الوبر دويبة اصغر من السنور كحلا اللون لا ذنب لها تدجن في البيوت [al-wabr duwayba aṣghar min al-sinnawr kaḥlā al-lawn lā dhanab lahā tadjun fī al-buyūt], Alwebro is a small animal, smaller than a cat, of dusky colour, without a tail, living in houses. But, as Damir [=al-Damīrī, Ḥayāt al-ḥayawān] observes, قوله لا ذنب لها اي لا ذنب لها col. 1005 طويل والا فالوبر له ذنب قصير جدا [qawluhu lā dhanab lahā ay lā dhanab lahā ṭawīl wa-illā fa-l-wabr lahu dhanab qaṣīr jiddan] When he denies that it has a tail, he means that its tail is not long; for alwebro does indeed have a tail, but a very short one. He also states that some call it غنم بني اسرايل [ghanam banī Isrāyil] the sheep of the children of Israel; لان ذنبها مع صغره يشبه الية الخروف [li-anna dhanabahā maʿa ṣigharihi yushbih alyat al-kharūf] because its tail, by its shortness, resembles a lamb's tail R2. But in Giauhari it is called زلم [zulam] zulem, for what reason I do not sufficiently know. In the book entitled كفاية المتحفظة [Kifāyat al-mutaḥaffiẓa] we read that الوبر [al-wabr] alwebro is دويبة قريبة من السنور ولها بول يتخثر فيتداوي به الناس [duwayba qarība min al-sinnawr wa-lahā bawl yatakhaththar fa-yatadāwī bihi al-nās] a small animal like a cat, whose urine thickens and is used among the remedies for diseases. Mawardi and Rujiani say that it is an animal في عظم الجرذ الا انه انبل منه والعرب تاكله [fī ʿiẓam al-juradh illā annahu anbal minhu wa-l-ʿArab taʾkuluhu] of the size of a larger mouse, but finer, which the Arabs eat. By others it is described as دويبة سودا في قدر الارنب واكبر من ابن عرس [duwayba sūdā fī qadr al-arnab wa-akbar min ibn ʿirs] a small black animal, approaching the size of a hare, and larger than a weasel. The same animal, as some add, كالارنب يعتلف النبات والبقول [ka-l-arnab yaʿtalif al-nabāt wa-l-buqūl] feeds, like the hare, on herbs and vegetables. I take it to be the marmot, or mountain mouse, which Gesner describes thus: It is more corpulent than a cat, but shorter in the legs, etc. Its colour is for the most part reddish, brighter in some, darker and dusky in others. And Scaliger [=J. C. Scaliger, Exercitationes (1557)] against Cardano, Exercise 203: They are of the size and fur of badgers, and likewise have almost no tail. He adds that he kept a tame one among the Taurini. And Gesner: I shall describe its natural history, partly as I myself II, 414 observed it when I kept this animal at home. And Stumpf [=Johannes Stumpf, Swiss chronicle]: Of the wild animals of our part of the world you will scarcely find any that becomes so tame and familiar to man. He had, namely, kept one at home for two years. Pliny, book 8, chapter 37, calls it the Alpine mouse, because it is common in the Alps. But lest anyone think that these mice are peculiar to the Alps, he describes similar ones in Egypt R3. Nor is it only for the Arabs that the שפן saphan of Moses is الوبر [al-wabr] alvvebro, or the mountain mouse. For among our own scholars too Junius [=Franciscus Junius, of the Tremellius-Junius Latin Bible], who had by no means consulted the Arabs, consistently renders the Hebrew שפן II, 415 in this way. So too another anonymous writer, of whom Gesner says in the chapter On the Alpine mouse: Saphan, a Hebrew word, etc., a certain learned man among us interprets as the Alpine mouse. Note in passing that the Italian name of the mountain or Alpine mouse, marmota, is found, slightly altered, in two places in Bereschith Rabba. The first is section 17, on the words of Gen 2:21 The Lord God caused תרדמה thardema (that is, a deep sleep) to fall upon Adam. רב אמר שלש תרדמת הן תרדמת שינה תרדמת נבואה ותרדמת מרמיטה תרדמת שינה ויפול יהוה תרדמה על האדם col. 1006 וישן תרדמת נבואה ויהי השמש לבא ותרדמה נפלה על אברם תרדמת מרמיטה אין רואה ואין יודע ואין מקיץ כי כלם ישנים כי תרדמת י״ נפלה עליהם Rab said: there are three kinds of deep sleep: the deep sleep of slumber, the deep sleep of prophecy, and the deep sleep of מרמיטה marmita. The deep sleep of slumber, Gen 2:21: “The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. The deep sleep of prophecy, Gen 15:12: And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram. The deep sleep of מרמיטה marmita, 1 Sam 26:12: There was no one who saw, nor who understood, nor who awoke, but they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.” The other place is section 43, where these same words are repeated on Gen 15:12 In both places the word מרמיטה marmita has tormented the interpreters not a little. R. Selomo renders it בהלה, that is, terror and confusion. So too the Scholiast on these passages, and the most distinguished Buxtorf. Baal Aruch renders it marble; as if it were called the sleep of marble, in which we become stupefied like marble or, in general, like stone: as is said of the Egyptians in Exod 15:16 ידמו כאבן, let them be still as a stone. Postel [=Guillaume Postel]: the deep sleep of carrus, or of the vehemence of a more profound sleep. One should read cari, that is, κάρου [karou]. Boderianus [=Guy Le Fèvre de la Boderie], Pomarius and Aquinas emend מרמיטה marmita to דורמיטה dormita, so that it would mean dormitatio [dozing]. Yet our copies consistently read מרמיטה marmita, and Baal Aruch, without Yod, מרמטה. But the true reading is מרמוטה marmota: as this animal is called in the Alps themselves, an animal than which not even the dormouse is sleepier. Scaliger, On Subtlety, Exercise 203: They (the marmots) agree with the dormouse kind in sleep. For they pass whole winter months in torpor. Gesner: These mice sleep a great deal, and lie hidden in their burrows, which they dig with wonderful skill, etc. Agricola [=Georgius Agricola]: It indulges very much in sleep, etc. In the mountains they gather the hay that grows softest among the rocks and carry it into the burrow, so that they may sleep more softly in winter. Stumpf, in the Chronicles of Switzerland: For the sake of food they are dug out only in winter, while asleep. Likewise: And having dug up the earth, they carry them off asleep. And a little later: when the place is dug up, they are found asleep, etc., and they are carried asleep wherever one pleases. For they do not easily wake up unless the heat of the sun, of a fire or of a stove has loosened them. And again: They are even killed while still asleep, by driving a knife into the throat, whereupon they begin to move their forefeet a little. But they expire before they are fully awake. And long before, Pliny, the only one of the ancients who mentions this mouse, book 8, chapter 37: In winter II, 416 the Pontic mice also hide away, etc. The Alpine ones also hide away. That is, to sleep deeply in their burrows. Therefore the sleep of Saul and of the soldiers around him, who slept so deeply that they did not notice David and Abishai advancing right up to the royal tent and carrying off Saul's spear, is rightly called by the Hebrew writer תרדמת מרמוטה, the sleep of the marmot.

Now we must say what الفنك [al-fanak] alphenec is, the word by which, as we said, other Arabs rendered the Hebrew שפן saphan. Gabriel Sionita [=translator of al-Idrīsī's geography into Latin (Geographia Nubiensis, Paris 1619)], in the Geography of Nubia, Clim. [=climate (section) of al-Idrīsī's geography, in the Latin Geographia Nubiensis] 1, section 1, interprets it as white weasel. Golius [=Jacobus Golius, Lexicon Arabico-Latinum (1653)] renders it mustela foenaria, vulgo fovina [hay-weasel, commonly called fovina], because that most learned man thought that فنك [fanak] phenec alludes to foenum [hay], and that fovina is named from foenum, whereas it takes its name from the French word for the beech. For Giggeius فنك [fanak] phenec is a certain very useful beast, from whose skin fur garments are made. But it is better to hear the Arabs themselves. Abenbitar [=Ibn al-Bayṭār]: الفنك حر طيب الرايحة اطيب من جميع انواع الفرأء يجلب كثيرا [al-fanak ḥarr ṭayyib al-rāyiḥa aṭyab min jamīʿ anwāʿ al-farāʾ yujlab kathīran] col. 1007 من الصقالبة ويشبه ان يكون في لحمه حلاوة وهو ابرد من السمور واحر من السنجاب واكثر الناس علي اختلاف اسنانهم يحتملون لبس الفنك [min al-ṣaqāliba wa-yushbih an yakūn fī laḥmihi ḥalāwa wa-huwa abrad min al-sammūr wa-aḥarr min al-sinjāb wa-akthar al-nās ʿalī ikhtilāf asnānihim yaḥtamilūn lubs al-fanak]: Phenec is an animal whose skin is warm and of good odour, the most fragrant of all kinds of furs. It is brought in great quantity from Secalia. It seems to have sweet flesh. Its skin is cooler than the skin of τοῦ [tou] simor, but warmer than the skin of τοῦ [tou] sungiab. It is the custom above all for those advancing in age to be clothed in this skin. Razi: الفنك والقماقم والحواصل معتدلة في الحرارة وهو مع ذلك خفيفة [al-fanak wa-l-qamāqim wa-l-ḥawāṣil muʿtadila fī al-ḥarāra wa-huwa maʿa dhālika khafīfa]: The skins alphenec, and alkamakim, and alhawasil are of moderate warmth, and moreover light. Damir: الفنك دويبة يوخذ منها الفرو قال ابن البيطار انه اطيب من جميع الفراء يجلب كثيرا من بلاد الصقلاب [al-fanak duwayba yūkhadh minhā al-farw qāla Ibn al-Bayṭār innahu aṭyab min jamīʿ al-firāʾ yujlab kathīran min bilād al-ṣaqlāb]: Alphenec, a small animal from which fur is taken. Abenbitar said that it is the most fragrant of all furs, and that it is brought in great quantity from the Sclavic region. This is how it should be read above, not صقالية [ṣaqāliya] Secalia (the Sclavic region, that is, the region of the Sclavs, was once in European Scythia, toward the Western Ocean, as Simocatta attests, book 6, ch. 2). Ibnomar Ben Abdalbar [=Abū ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, author of al-Tamhīd], in the book entitled غهيد [ghhyd], that is, Explanation: الفنك والسنجاب والسمور كل ذلك سبع كالثعلب وابن عرس [al-fanak wa-l-sinjāb wa-l-sammūr kull dhālika sabʿ ka-l-thaʿlab wa-ibn ʿirs]: Phenec, and sungiab, and simur are all wild beasts like the fox and the weasel. So they say; from which one might gather that these skins belong to the species of marten. Yet, rather[?], الفنك [al-fanak] alphenec

II, 417 is the Pontic mouse, that is, a species of mouse or squirrel, which Hermolaus calls Venetian and Agricola Finnish, after the Veneti and the Finni, peoples on the Vistula in Prussia, from whom it is brought to us for use as fur. Of these peoples Ptolemy writes thus in his description of Sarmatia: Παρὰ μὲν τὸν Οὐιστούλαν ποταμὸν ὑπὸ τοὺς Οὐενέδας Γύθωνες, εἶτα Φίννοι [Para men ton Ouistoulan potamon hypo tous Ouenedas Gythōnes, eita Phinnoi]· Along the Vistula river, below the Veneti, are the Gythones, then the Finni. From these Finni, I say, the Finnish mouse seems to be named, in Arabic فنك [fanak] phenec, which the French, from its size and colour, call petigris R4. But سنجاب [sinjāb] sungiab too is for Golius the squirrel, an animal of ash-grey colour, and its skin, with which garments are lined, or rather minium (he meant, I believe, herminium [ermine]). Damir says it is an animal in the shape of a mole, larger than a mouse, living at the tops of trees, with a bluish, very soft and very beautiful skin, in which people of refinement are clothed. It is evident that a species of squirrel is being described. Simur, too, is a kind of mouse, not entirely unknown to the Greeks. Hesychius: Σίμωρ παρὰ Πάρθοις καλεῖταί τι μυὸς ἀγρίου εἶδος, οὗ ταῖς δοραῖς [Simōr para Parthois kaleitai ti myos agriou eidos, hou tais dorais] col. 1008 χρῶνται πρὸς χιτῶνας [chrōntai pros chitōnas]· Simor is the name among the Parthians of a certain species of wild mouse whose skins are used for garments. For others simur is the marten. Damir says it is an animal similar to a cat, or, in the opinion of some, النمس [al-nims] to a ferret, whose skin so excels in softness, lightness, warmth and beauty that kings and magnates are clothed in it. About both skins I could add much more, drawn from the books of the Arabs; but to explain these particulars more precisely is not a matter for our leisure, nor does it contribute much to the present subject.

Among the Greeks there is equal inconsistency in explaining the word שפן saphan.

1. There are some who render it λαγωοὺς [lagōous]; so the Vulgate translator, little hares: this we have already examined above.

2. There were some who preferred the hyena; so Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus book 2, ch. 10, where he presents Moses as saying, Οὐκ ἔδεσαι τὸν λαγὼν, οὐδὲ τὴν ὕαιναν [Ouk edesai ton lagōn, oude tēn hyainan], You shall not eat the hare, nor the hyena, that is הארנבת והשפן. Similar to this is what is read in the Epistle of Barnabas: Ἀλλὰ καὶ δασύποδα οὐ φάγῃ [Alla kai dasypoda ou phagē], But neither shall you eat the hare. And a little later, Ἀλλὰ οὐδὲ τὴν ὕαιναν φάγῃ [Alla oude tēn hyainan phagē], for which the old version has, But neither shall you eat the beast [belluam]. I would prefer beluum or belbum. For so Julius Capitolinus in Gordian III: Under Gordian there were at Rome 32 elephants, 10 elks, 10 tigers, 60 tame lions, 30 tame leopards II, 418, 10 belbi, that is, hyenas. Yet in the Glossary Philoxenus has: Ὕαινα· ζῶον [Hyaina; zōon], bellua [beast].

3. For most Greeks שפן saphan is χοιρογρύλλιος [choirogryllios]. This rendering is the most widely accepted, and accordingly also the most ancient. For so the Elders render it in Levit. XI, 5., Deut. XIV, 7. and Prov 30:26 Moreover, in Psalm. CIII, (Hebraeis CIV,) 18., in place of τοῖς λαγωοῖς [tois lagōois], all the others, that is, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, etc., translated with the similar word χοιρογρυλλίους [choirogryllious], as Jerome testifies in his Epistle to Sunia. From there it also crept into some copies of the Elders. And following the same, the Ethiopic translator of the Pentateuch, in a manuscript at Rome, has for השפן ኮሮገሬሊወን፡ choerogryllion. But this, I would almost say, is to explain the unknown by the more unknown. For it is not sufficiently established what the χοιρογρύλλιος [choirogryllios] is, since those of the ancients who wrote about animals, Aristotle, for instance, Pliny, Aelian, Oppian, Philes, etc., say nothing whatever about it. Yet the Scholiast on Aristophanes, on the Peace, acknowledges that the word is Greek; but about it he has only this: Ἔστι δὲ ζῶον, ὃ καλεῖται ὑπό τινων χοιρογρύλλιος [Esti de zōon, ho kaleitai hypo tinōn choirogryllios]; It is an animal which is called choerogryllius by some. Other ancient Lexicographers interpret it as the hedgehog or the porcupine. Hesychius: Χοιρογρύλλιον· ὁ ἐχῖνος [Choirogryllion; ho echinos]. The Glosses of Philoxenus: Χοιρογρύλλιος, ἤγουν ἐχῖνος χερσαῖος [Choirogryllios, ēgoun echinos chersaios], Erinacius [hedgehog]. Suidas: Χοιρογρύλλιος· ὕστριξ, ἀκανθόχοιρος, τουτέστιν ἐχῖνος χερσαῖος [Choirogryllios; hystrix, akanthochoiros, toutestin echinos chersaios]. Moreover, the Vulgate translator at Psal. CIII, (Hebraeis CIV,) 18. has The rock is a refuge for the hedgehogs, that is, τοῖς χοιρογρυλλίοις [tois choirogrylliois]; and so too Jerome in his version of the Psalms, which is extant among his Works and in many places differs entirely from the Vulgate. And Eucherius, in the book On the Hebrew Names, chapter 12: Hedgehogs are called chirogrylli, etc. And Vincent, in the Doctrinale, book 16, chapter 86: The hedgehog, which is also called cirogryllus, is an animal having the form of a piglet, but spiny, etc. And the Greek Scholiast on Proverbs, most absurdly: οἱ χοιρογρύλλιοι· εἶδος ἰχθύος, ἤτοι οἱ λαγωοὶ, ἢ οἱ καλούμενοι οἶστροι [hoi choirogryllioi; eidos ichthyos, ētoi hoi lagōoi, ē hoi kaloumenoi oistroi]. Choerogryllii: a species of fish, or hares, or what are called gadflies.

These, then, are roughly the interpretations of the word שפן saphan given by the ancients. Which of them one should choose is not yet clear, for there is none of them that does not have its own difficulties. الوبر [al-wabr] alvvebro, that is, the mountain mouse, differs from the שפן saphan in that it does not ruminate, does not live among rocks, and is not native to Judaea or to the neighbouring regions R5. That Pliny is objected against this to no purpose will be shown below. There is more reason on the side of those who hold that the saphan is الغنك [al-ghnk] alphenec, a species of squirrel, which the ancients called the Pontic mouse. For Pontic mice do ruminate. Aristotle, near the end of book 9 of the History col. 1009 II, 419 of Animals: Μηρυκάζουσι δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀμφοδόντων ἔνια, οἷον οἱ μῦες οἱ Ποντικοί [Mērykazousi de kai tōn amphodontōn enia, hoion hoi myes hoi Pontikoi]. There are also some among the animals with teeth in both jaws that ruminate, such as the Pontic mice. Pliny, book 10, chapter 73: Pontic mice also chew the cud in a similar way. And although they are mostly born in cold places, they are not lacking in hot ones either. Writers, indeed, mention a Gaetulian squirrel, and John Caius the Englishman has a good deal about it in his Letter to Gesner. I pass over the Arabian Geographer a), who, in his list of the animals nourished by the forests of the Negroes in the interior of Africa, also includes افناك [afnāk], Finnic or Pontic mice. They do not, however, live among rocks; rather, they build their nests and rear their young at the tops of trees. Therefore الفنك [al-fanak] alphenec, or the Finnic mouse, cannot be the שפן saphan. The same judgement applies to the hyaena, which does not ruminate and does not live among rocks, but rather in tombs. Hence the den of a hyaena is called in Arabic رجمة [rujma] rugma, that is, a tomb. Moreover, Solomon says that the שפנים sephanim are a feeble folk, Prov 30:26, which no one would say of hyaenas. Nor is the hedgehog among the ruminants, nor does it live among rocks, but in hollow trees, or in thickets or hedges. Hence the English call the hedgehog Hedge-hog, as if one were to say pig of the hedges. Nor should what I am about to say be lightly passed over. The marmot and the hyaena are solitary animals; so too is the hedgehog, which in Greek is called χὴρ [chēr] ἀπὸ τῆς χηρώσεως, ἤτοι ἐρημώσεως [apo tēs chērōseōs, ētoi erēmōseōs], from solitude. But the שפן saphan is a gregarious animal. To this belongs the fact that Solomon, in the place cited above, calls the שפנים sephanim a people: שפנים עם לא עצום, The Sephanim are a feeble people; just as a little earlier he says of the ants, הנמלים עם לא עז, The ants are a people not strong. And Joel. I, 6. of the locusts: גוי עלה על ארצי עצום, A strong nation has come up against my land. Of the same kind is what Lucian said in the Icaromenippus, μυρμήκων ἀγορὰν [myrmēkōn agoran], an assembly of ants. And Philip in the Anthology, book 1, chapter 23: Βωλοτόμοι μύρμηκες, ὁ γῆς στρατός [Bōlotomoi myrmēkes, ho gēs stratos]; Clod-hollowing ants, the army of the earth. And Philostratus says πιθήκων δῆμος [pithēkōn dēmos], as Solinus says the commons of the apes; and Smyrnaeus says μελισσάων κλυτὰ φῦλα [melissaōn klyta phyla], the noble nations of bees; and long before them the supreme Poet, Iliad 2:

Ἠΰτε ἔθνεα εἶσι μελισσάων ἀδινάων, [Ēyte ethnea eisi melissaōn adinaōn,]

as the nations of thronging bees go forth, that is, swarms. Of this phrase more elsewhere. Therefore, whatever the שפן saphan may be, it is not a solitary animal. And either the saphan is not the χοιρογρύλλιος [choirogryllios], as the most ancient translators rendered it, or the χοιρογρύλλιος [choirogryllios] is not the ἐχῖνος [echinos], the hedgehog, as they hold. And indeed the same Jerome who, in Psalm 104, carried away by the torrent of the other translators, renders it hedgehog, expressly teaches in his Letter to Sunia that the χοιρογρύλλιον [choirogryllion] is an animal different from the hedgehog, namely the ἀρκτομῦν [arktomyn]. His words are: It should be known that it is an animal not II, 420 larger than a hedgehog, resembling a mouse and a bear. Hence in Palestine it is called ἀρκτομῦς [arktomys] [bear-mouse]. And there is a great abundance of this kind in those regions, and they are always accustomed to live in the caverns of rocks and in holes in the ground. And in the Coptic Lexicon ΠΙΧΙΡΟΓΡΙΛΛΙΟΝ, that is, ὁ χοιρογρύλλιος [ho choirogryllios], is rendered in Arabic اليربوع [al-yarbūʿ] aljarbuo. The crux of the question therefore turns on this: that we should know what the Greek ἀρκτομῦς [arktomys] and the Arabic اليربوع [al-yarbūʿ] are. Nor should the reader find it tedious if I examine this more carefully, since we cannot otherwise come to know something hitherto unknown, namely what animal the Elders called χοιρογρύλλιον [choirogryllion] and the Hebrews שפן saphan.

To begin the matter from its origin: the most ancient writers mention mice in Egypt and in Africa which have hind feet longer than their fore feet, and therefore walk on them as bipeds R6. Herodotus, where he deals with Libya, book 4, chapter 192 col. 1010: Μυῶν δὲ γενεὰ τριξὰ αὐτόθι ἐστί. οἱ μὲν δίποδες καλέονται [Myōn de genea trixa autothi esti. hoi men dipodes kaleontai], etc. And there are three kinds of mice there. Some are called bipeds, etc. Aristotle, History, book 6, at the end: Οἱ δ' ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μῦες σκληρὰν ἔχουσι τὴν τρίχα, σχεδὸν ὥσπερ οἱ χερσαῖοι ἐχῖνοι. Εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ ἕτεροι, οἱ βαδίζουσιν ἐπὶ τοῖς δυσὶ ποσί. τὰ γὰρ πρόσθια μικρὰ ἔχουσι, τὰ δ' ὀπίσθια μεγάλα R7. γίνονται δὲ πλήθει πολλοί. [Hoi d' en Aigyptō myes sklēran echousi tēn tricha, schedon hōsper hoi chersaioi echinoi. Eisi de kai heteroi, hoi badizousin epi tois dysi posi. ta gar prosthia mikra echousi, ta d' opisthia megala. ginontai de plēthei polloi.] The mice that are in Egypt have hard hair, almost like land hedgehogs. There are also others which walk on two feet. For they have short fore legs and long hind legs. And they are many in number. Theophrastus in Aelian, History, book 15, chapter 26: Ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δὲ ἀκούω δίποδας εἶναι μῦς, καὶ μεγίστους μεγέθει φύεσθαι· τοῖς γε μὴν ἐμπροσθίοις ποσὶν, ὡς χερσὶ, χρῆσθαι. εἶναι γὰρ αὐτοὺς τοὺς ὄπισθε βραχυτέρους. εἶδον τούτους. Λιβυκοί εἰσι. βαδίζουσι δὲ ὀρθοὶ ἐπὶ τοῖν ποδοῖν, ὅταν δὲ διώκωνται, πηδῶσι. [En Aigyptō de akouō dipodas einai mys, kai megistous megethei phyesthai; tois ge mēn emprosthiois posin, hōs chersi, chrēsthai. einai gar autous tous opisthe brachyterous. eidon toutous. Libykoi eisi. badizousi de orthoi epi toin podoin, hotan de diōkōntai, pēdōsi.] I hear that in Egypt there are biped mice, very large in size, and that they use their fore feet as hands. For these are shorter than the hind ones. I have seen them. They are Libyan. They walk upright, supporting themselves on their two feet. But if anyone pursues them, they leap. And from the same source Photius: Ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ II, 421 δίποδάς φασι μῦας γίνεσθαι, καὶ μεγάλους. ἔχουσι δὲ οὗτοι καὶ τοὺς ἐμπροσθίους πόδας, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ βαδίζουσιν ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς. χρῶνται δὲ αὐτοῖς, οἷα χερσίν. ὅταν δὲ φεύγωσιν, πηδῶσι. [En Aigyptō dipodas phasi myas ginesthai, kai megalous. echousi de houtoi kai tous emprosthious podas, all' ou badizousin ep' autois. chrōntai de autois, hoia chersin. hotan de pheugōsin, pēdōsi.] They report that in Egypt biped mice are born, and large ones. They also have fore feet, but they do not walk on them; rather they use them as hands. And they flee by leaping. Pliny, book 8, chapter 37, after treating of the Alpine mice: there are also animals equal to these in Egypt (namely in what follows, since in other respects they are very unlike) and they likewise sit back on their haunches, walk on two feet, and use their fore feet as hands. And book 10, chapter 65: Egyptian mice have hard hair, like hedgehogs; they also walk on two feet, like the Alpine ones.

This kind of mouse, which is also common in Eretz Yisrael, the Hellenists therefore called ἀρκτομῦν [arktomyn], that is, bear-mouse, because it walked on two feet and used its fore feet as hands. For this is characteristic of bears. Oppian, book 3 of the Cynegetica, in his description of the bear:

Χεῖρες χερσὶ βροτῶν ἴκελαι, πόδες ἠδὲ πόδεσσι, [Cheires chersi brotōn ikelai, podes ēde podessi,]

Hands like the hands of men, and feet like their feet. Solinus, in the chapter On Numidia, and there on the bears: Their greatest strength is in the arms and loins; hence they sometimes stand on their hind feet.

In Arabic this same animal is called اليربوع [al-yarbūʿ] aljarbuo, and the lexicographers who render it as talpa [mole] are mistaken. The matter will become clear from the description. Damir, in the chapter On اليربوع [al-yarbūʿ] aljarbuo, says: هو حيوان طويل الرجلين وقصير اليدين جدا [huwa ḥayawān ṭawīl al-rijlayn wa-qaṣīr al-yadayn jiddan] It is an animal whose hind feet are long and whose fore feet are very short. And a little later: فهي قصيرة اليدين لانها اذا خافت شي لاذت بالصعود فلا يلحقها شي [fa-hiya qaṣīrat al-yadayn li-annahā idhā khāfat shay lādhat bi-l-ṣuʿūd fa-lā yalḥaquhā shay] And it has short fore feet so that, when it fears something, it may flee upward, and no animal can overtake it. And further on: قال الجاحظ والقزويني وهو من نوع الفار [qāla al-Jāḥiẓ wa-l-Qazwīnī wa-huwa min nawʿ al-fār] Algiahid and Alkazuinius have said that it is among the species of mouse. col. 1011 It is therefore truly an ἀρκτομῦς [arktomys], that is, a mouse that has this in common with the bear, that it walks on its hind feet, which are the longer. Gesner, in the chapter On the Alpine mouse, cites an anonymous Greek writer, not yet published, who in a little book On animals has the following about the arctomys: One arctomys keeps watch while the others feed, and each of them brings it a share of the fodder. But if it has been too careless in its watch, and some man has come upon them whose approach it did not betray with its voice, it is killed by the others. See how very similar to this is what Damir says of the aljarbuo, so that you may know that it is the same animal! هو من الحيوان الذي له رييس مطاع يناقده [huwa min al-ḥayawān alladhī lahu raʾīs muṭāʿ yunāqiduhu] II, 422 اليه واذا كان فيها يكون بيتها في مكان مشرف او علي صخرة ينظر الي الطريق من كل ناحية فان راي ما يخافه صر باسنانه وصوت فاذا سمعته انصرفت الي حجرتها فان قصر الرييس حتي ادركهم احد وصاد منهم شيا اجتمعوا علي الرييس وقتلوا وولوا غيره [ilayhi wa-idhā kāna fīhā yakūn baytuhā fī makān mushrif aw ʿalā ṣakhra yanẓuru ilā al-ṭarīq min kull nāḥiya fa-in raʾā mā yakhāfuhu ṣarra bi-asnānihi wa-ṣawwata fa-idhā samiʿathu inṣarafat ilā ḥujratihā fa-in qaṣṣara al-raʾīs ḥattā adrakahum aḥad wa-ṣāda minhum shayʾan ijtamaʿū ʿalā al-raʾīs wa-qatalū wa-wallaw ghayrahu] That mouse is one of the animals that have a leader whom they honour and obey. When it is among those whose dwelling is in a high place or on a rock, it looks out from there over the path in every direction. And if it sees anything to be feared, it gnashes its teeth and cries out; on hearing this, they withdraw to their hiding-places. But if it holds back until someone overtakes them, or catches one of their number, they conspire against the leader, kill it, and put another in its place. If you want more about the same animal, hear the rest of Damir: ويسمى الدرص وذو الرمح ورمحه ذنبه وله ذنب كذنب الجرد يرفعه صعدا في طرفه شبه النوارة ولونه كلون الغزال [wa-yusammā al-dirṣ wa-dhū al-rumḥ wa-rumḥuhu dhanabuhu wa-lahu dhanab ka-dhanab al-jurd yarfaʿuhu ṣuʿudan fī ṭarafihi shibh al-nawwāra wa-lawnuhu ka-lawn al-ghazāl] It is also called dirs and dur-romchi (that is, the spear-bearer); for in place of a spear it has a tail, like the tail of a mouse, which it raises upward; and at its tip there is something like a flower R8. Its colour is like the colour of the gazelle, or roe-deer R9. There follows: وهذا الحيوان يسكن بطن الارض ليقوم رطوبتها له مقام الما [wa-hādhā al-ḥayawān yaskun baṭn al-arḍ li-yaqūm ruṭūbatuhā lahu maqām al-mā] This animal lives in the belly of the earth, so that its moisture may serve it in place of water. And a little further on: واليربوع يتخذ حجره في نشر من الارض ثم يحفر بيته في مهب والرياح الاربع ويتخذ [wa-l-yarbūʿ yattakhidhu juḥrahu fī nashr min al-arḍ thumma yaḥfiru baytahu fī mahabb wa-l-riyāḥ al-arbaʿ wa-yattakhidhu] col. 1012 فيه كوي وتسمي النافقا والقاصعا والراهطا فاذا طلب من احدي هذه الكوي نافق اي خرج من النافقا وان طلب من النافقا خرج من القاصعا وان طلب من القاصعا خرج من الراهطا [fīhi kuwā wa-tusammā al-nāfiqā wa-l-qāṣiʿā wa-l-rāhiṭā fa-idhā ṭuliba min iḥdā hādhihi al-kuwā nāfaqa ay kharaja min al-nāfiqā wa-in ṭuliba min al-nāfiqā kharaja min al-qāṣiʿā wa-in ṭuliba min al-qāṣiʿā kharaja min al-rāhiṭā] The aljarbuo prepares its hiding-place by scattering the earth, and digs itself a dwelling open to the blowing of the four winds, and furnishes it with windows II, 423 one of which is called naphika, another kasia, and rahita. If it is attacked from these, it goes out through the naphika. And if it is attacked from the naphika, it goes out through the kasia; or through the rahita, if from the kasia. Just as Plautus says of our mouse in the Truculentus, act 4:

Consider what a wise beast the tiny mouse is, which never entrusts its life to a single lair: for if one entrance is besieged, it has another refuge b).

The aljarbuo is also said to devise another stratagem. Its windows, or rather its holes, it sometimes covers over with earth at the very surface, so that they may not be visible from outside R10. In Arabic this is called دم [damma] damma. Alcamus [=al-Qāmūs al-muḥīṭ, the Arabic dictionary of al-Fīrūzābādī, which Bochart cites like an author]: دم اليربوع حجره غطاه وسواه [damma al-yarbūʿ juḥrahu ghaṭṭāhu wa-sawwāhu] Damma aljarbuo its hiding place, that is, it covered it and levelled it. Hence the hiding place also has the name دممة [dumama] dumama. The same Alcamus: الدممة حجرة اليربوع وتراب يجمعه اليربوع ويخرجه من الحجر فيسوي به بابه [al-dumama juḥrat al-yarbūʿ wa-turāb yajmaʿuhu al-yarbūʿ wa-yukhrijuhu min al-juḥr fa-yusawwī bihi bābahu] Dumama is the hiding place of the aljarbuo, and the earth which it gathers and digs out of its hiding place in order to level its entrance with it. Accordingly, since the hole of its hiding place, covered with earth, is called نافقا [nāfiqā] naphika, by a metaphor taken from this نافق [nāfaqa] naphaka, a verb of the third conjugation, means to dissemble in religion, and to profess one thing with the mouth while keeping another hidden in the mind. And منافق [munāfiq] munaphik is a hypocrite. Damir: ظاهر بيته تراب وباطنه حفر وكذلك المنافق ظاهره ايمان وباطنه كفر [ẓāhir baytihi turāb wa-bāṭinuhu ḥafr wa-ka-dhālika al-munāfiq ẓāhiruhu īmān wa-bāṭinuhu kufr] The outer part of its house is earth, but the inner part is hollow. Likewise the hypocrite has faith on the outside, but unbelief on the inside. Algiahid and others: واسم المنافق لم يكن في الجاهلية لكن لمن اسر الكفر واظهر الايمان [wa-ism al-munāfiq lam yakun fī al-jāhiliyya lākin li-man asarra al-kufr wa-aẓhara al-īmān] The name munaphik will not be found in heathendom, but (it is said) of him who conceals unbelief and displays faith. Albazi: تعالي اشتق له هذا الاسم من هذا الاصل وهو من نافقا اليربوع لانه لما ابطن الكفر [taʿālā ishtaqqa lahu hādhā al-ism min hādhā al-aṣl wa-huwa min nāfiqā al-yarbūʿ li-annahu lammā abṭana al-kufr] col. 1013 واظهر الايمان [wa-aẓhara al-īmān] God Most High derived the name of the hypocrite from this root, namely from naphika, or the hole of the mouse called aljarbuo; because within there is unbelief, and without, faith. These and many other things the Arabs say on Azoara 73 of the Qur'an, which is entitled المنافقون [al-munāfiqūn] The Hypocrites. In Alcamus the nest of this animal is called لغز [lughz] II, 424 logoz, as if you were to say labyrinth, because in nests of this kind the passages are winding and very intricate. And accordingly in Arabic الغاز [alghāz] algaz is the term for طرق تلطوي وتشكل علي مسالكها [ṭuruq talṭawī wa-tushkilu ʿalā masālikihā] paths that are twisted and entangled in their course. To this kind of mouse must be referred what Synesius says of a certain commander John near the end of Epistle 104: Δίκην ἀρουραίου μυὸς ἐνεδεδύκει τῇ πέτρᾳ [dikēn arouraiou myos enededykei tē petra], Like a field mouse he had hidden himself in the rock, that is, in Bombaea, a very strongly fortified stronghold in the hollow of a cliff. For no other field mice nest in rock except the aljarbuo alone R11. This is proved by these words of Ibnolgiauzi: اليربوع لا يتخذ بيته الا في موضع صلب مرتفع ليسلم من سيل او حافر ثم لا يجعلة الا عند اكمة او شجرة او صخرة ليلا يضل اذا عاد اليه [al-yarbūʿ lā yattakhidhu baytahu illā fī mawḍiʿ ṣulb murtafiʿ li-yaslama min sayl aw ḥāfir thumma lā yajʿaluhu illā ʿinda akama aw shajara aw ṣakhra li-allā yaḍilla idhā ʿāda ilayhi] The aljarbuo makes its home only in a hard (that is, rocky) and elevated place, so that it may be safe from the inflow of water and from the hoof (of horses). Nor does it set it anywhere but by mounds, or trees, or rocks, lest it go astray when it returns to it. This happens above all to the young of this little animal. Hence the proverb in Damir: اضل من ولد اليربوع [aḍallu min walad al-yarbūʿ] More astray than the young of the aljarbuo, said of one who wanders about and never sets his foot firmly anywhere. In the same place: وفي طباعه انه اذا مشي في ارض سهلة او لينة مشي علي موخر كفه حتي لا يعرف اثر وطيه كما يفعل الارنب [wa-fī ṭibāʿihi annahu idhā mashā fī arḍ sahla aw layyina mashā ʿalā muʾakhkhar kaffihi ḥattā lā yuʿrafa athar waṭʾihi kamā yafʿalu al-arnab] It is also in its nature that, when it walks on soft and yielding ground, it stands on the tips of its feet, so that its tracks may not be recognized in the places it has trodden: which is also the habit of the hare. Likewise: وهو [wa-huwa] II, 425 يجتر ويبعر وله كرش واسنان واضراس من الفك الاعلي والاسفلي [yajtarru wa-yabʿaru wa-lahu karish wa-asnān wa-aḍrās min al-fakk al-aʿlā wa-al-asfalī] It also ruminates, and voids dung, and has a crop (in the manner of ruminants); although it has teeth and molars both in the upper and in the lower jaw. Peculiar to this same mouse is that it leaps. The Arabs express this by the verb بحظل [baḥẓala] bachdala, which is entirely proper to it. Alcamus: بحظل قفز قفزان اليربوع [baḥẓala qafaza qafazān al-yarbūʿ] Bachdala: he leapt with the leap of the aljarbuo. So also Giauhari. This very thing Theophrastus observed above of those mice that walk on two feet: Ὅταν δὲ διώκωνται, πηδῶσι [hotan de diōkōntai, pēdōsi]· If anyone pursues them, they leap. In its burrows a kind of snake nests, which the Arabs call جنادع [janādiʿ] gianadio, or جنادب [janādib] gianadibo. Alcamus: الجنادع الاجناش اوجنادب تكون في حجرة اليرابيع [al-janādiʿ al-ajnāsh aw janādib takūnu fī juḥrat al-yarābīʿ] Algianadio, (a kind of) serpents, or gianadibo: these are in the nest of the aljarabii col. 1014, which is the plural of the word اليربوع [al-yarbūʿ] aljarbuo. If the aljarbuo mates with the common mouse, the hybrid mouse born of it is called فرنب [farnab] pharnab, or phirnib. Alcamus: الفرنب الفارة او ولدها من اليربوع [al-farnab al-fāra aw waladuhā min al-yarbūʿ] Alpharnab (or alphirnib) is the mouse, or its offspring by the aljarbuo. This too is peculiar to it, that the aljarbuo is eaten by the Arabs, whereas otherwise the eating of mice is forbidden to them. Damir, in the chapter الفار [al-fār] alphar, that is, On the mouse: يحرم اكل جميع انواع الفار الا اليربوع [yaḥrumu akl jamīʿ anwāʿ al-fār illā al-yarbūʿ] The eating of all species of mouse is forbidden, except the aljarbuo. There is, however, some disagreement among the Arabs on this matter. For according to the opinion of Abuchanipha: لا يوكل لانه من الحشرات [lā yuʾkalu li-annahu min al-ḥasharāt] It (the aljarbuo) is not eaten, because it is one of the subterranean animals. And Algazali, in the book entitled الوسيط [al-Wasīṭ] The Mediator, denies that anything should be eaten من الحشرات الا الضب [min al-ḥasharāt illā al-ḍabb] of the subterranean animals except the land crocodile. Yet others further except اليربوع وابن عرس وام حبين والقنفد والدلدل [al-yarbūʿ wa-ibn ʿirs wa-umm ḥubayn wa-al-qunfud wa-al-duldul] the aljarbuo, and the weasel, and the chameleon, and the hedgehog, and the porcupine. Hence Damir on the aljarbuo: يحل اكله لان العرب تستطيبه وتحله [yaḥillu akluhu li-anna al-ʿArab tastaṭībuhu wa-tuḥilluhu] Its eating is permitted, because the Arabs allow it and delight in it. So indeed the great canonists of the Arabs decide: Ata, and Achmed Ben-Hantal, and Ibnolmandsar, and Abutsaur, etc. Accordingly not only the aljarbuo but also its burrow is bought, that is, the right of searching and probing it so that this animal may be caught in it. Since this, however, usually meets with little success, it has passed into a proverb among the Arabs: as when they say كالمشتري القاصعا باليربوع [ka-al-mushtarī al-qāṣiʿā bi-al-yarbūʿ] Like one who buys, in place of II, 426 the aljarbuo, its hole. This proverb يضرب الذي يدع العين ويتبع الاثر [yuḍrabu alladhī yadaʿu al-ʿayn wa-yatbaʿu al-athar] is aimed at him who leaves the spring and follows only the track. In Greek you would say Σκιὰν ἀντὶ τοῦ σώματος [skian anti tou sōmatos], The shadow instead of the body. Here too the Arabs are fastidious, and prefer the Supharian to the other mice of this kind, which Alcamus describes thus: يربوع شفاري ضخم الاذنين وطويلهما العاري البراثين ولا يلحق سريعا والطويل والغوايم الرخو اللحم الدسم [yarbūʿ shafārī ḍakhm al-udhunayn wa-ṭawīluhumā al-ʿārī al-barāthīn wa-lā yulḥaqu sarīʿan wa-al-ṭawīl wa-al-ghawāyim al-rikhw al-laḥm al-dasim] The Supharian jarbuo has thick and long ears, is bare of claws, so that it does not easily grip, has long feet, and tender and fat flesh. In Abenbitar: يربوع الاسراييلي لحم اليربوع يقد وغذا كثير ويلين البطن [yarbūʿ al-isrāyīlī laḥm al-yarbūʿ yuqaddu wa-ghadhā kathīr wa-yulayyinu al-baṭn] The Israelite jarbuo is the name for the flesh of the aljarbuo that is dried. It is very nourishing and loosens the bowels. To dry in Arabic is قد [qadda] kadda, which properly col. 1015 means to expose to the wind meat cut lengthwise, as we do with smoke, so that the moisture may be drawn off. Hence قداد [qaddād] kedad is the name both of the hedgehog and of the aljarbuo, because both animals are dried in this way. Alkamus: القداد القنفد واليربوع [al-qaddād al-qunfud wa-al-yarbūʿ] Alkedado: the hedgehog and the aljarbuo. In the Arabic versions of the Sacred Text the word aljarbuo occurs only once in all, namely at Es. LXVI, 17, where the Arabic translator has: الذين ياكلون لحم الخنازير والرذالات واليربوع [alladhīna yaʾkulūna laḥm al-khanāzīr wa-al-radhālāt wa-al-yarbūʿ] Who eat the flesh of swine, and abominations, and the aljarbua, that is, the species for the genus. For the Hebrew has והעכבר, and the mouse. But the Arab did not lack a reason for rendering it اليربوع [al-yarbūʿ] aljarbua. For we have already shown that among the Arabs, in the whole genus of mice, this one alone is edible. Moreover, although עכבר achbar means mouse in general for the Hebrews, yet in Arabic this very word عكبر [ʿakbar] achbar, in the plural عكابر [ʿakābir] achabiro, means the male of اليربوع [al-yarbūʿ] the aljarbuo. Alcamus: العكابر ذكور من اليرابيع [al-ʿakābir dhukūr min al-yarābīʿ] Alachabiro: the males of the aljarabii, which, as we have already said, is the plural of the word اليربوع [al-yarbūʿ] aljarbuo. Thus, since اليربوع [al-yarbūʿ] is the name of the species, العكبر [al-ʿakbar] alachbar denotes the male, as العطيوطة [al-ʿaṭyūṭa] alatiuta denotes the female. Alcamus: العطيوطة اليربوع الانثي [al-ʿaṭyūṭa al-yarbūʿ al-unthā] Alatiuta: the female aljarbuo. The Portuguese Teixeira [=Pedro Teixeira, Relaciones (1610)] calls them ratones del mato, that is, mice of the thicket, and describes them in these words in chapter 4 of his Indian Itinerary: Son estos ratones del grandor de los grandes nuestros communes, tienen el pelo pardo tirante à blanco. Tienen de raton las orejas, manos, y la cola: cuya punta, y los ojos, y cabeça, son de conejo; y las piernas como de gazela. Corren mucho saltando, hazen cueua como conejo. Y ay dellos grande quantidad II, 427 por aquel de sierto. Los Arabes los comen, y dizen, que son muy buenos. That is: These mice are equal in size to the largest of the common ones, and of a whitish-grey colour. They have the ears, forefeet and tail of a mouse; the tip of the tail, the eyes and the head are those of a rabbit; and the haunches (that is, the hind legs) those of a roe deer. They mostly run by leaping, and dig burrows as rabbits do. In that desert (in the part of Arabia bordering on Babylonia) there is a very great abundance of them. The Arabs use them as food, and assert that they are of excellent flavour. In these words the aljarbuo is described in every respect, as no one will deny. Of the same animal Olearius [=Adam Olearius, travels in Persia] writes thus in book 6 of his Persian Itinerary, page 64: Near Terkin (in Circassia) we saw a kind of field mouse, called in Arabic IERBUA. It has the size of a squirrel, and a form not unlike it; but its fur is darker; and it has the head of a mouse; long ears; the front legs short, the hind legs longer. Hence they run only when going uphill; on level ground they mostly creep, or are carried by a leap above the ground for five or six feet. The tail is long, lying along the back, bare on the stem, hairy and whitish at the tip. It was a pleasant sight to see many of them springing upward at the same moment. They say that Babylonia and Arabia teem with them, and that they serve the inhabitants as food. There are some that come from the fields into houses and steal money.

With these matters thus explained, there are three things that will become clear and evident to an attentive reader. I. The mouse called aljarbuo in Arabic is the same as the mouse of Herodotus, Aristotle, Theophrastus, Pliny, Aelian and Photius, which is remarkable for the length of its hind feet and for its leaping. For the Arabs observe col. 1016 both features in their aljarbuo. They do not, indeed, add that it walks on two feet, because this is a less frequent occurrence. Photius is mistaken when he denies that these mice ever rest on their forefeet. Theophrastus, as reported in Aelian, does not say this, nor does any other of the ancients. II. It is evident that this very mouse is the same as Jerome's arctomys. For it shares a nature with the mouse and the bear; it lives in caves in the rocks and in holes in the earth; and on each rock and hill it has a sentinel on watch, whose negligence is punished with death. III. Finally, اليربوع [al-yarbūʿ] aljarbuo is the same animal as the Hebrews' שפן saphan. For all the marks agree, without exception. This is easy to prove. First, neither has a cloven hoof. 2. Both chew the cud. 3. Both are edible, though unclean. 4. Both are gregarious. 5. Both are feeble. 6. Both have their home in the rock. 7. Aristotle, Theophrastus, Pliny and others write that it is an Egyptian animal; and Jerome, that there is a great abundance of this kind in Eretz Yisrael. That Arabia too teems with it, the writings of the Arabs amply show, and Teixeira, an eyewitness, αὐτόπτης [autoptēs], attests it R12.

II, 428 It remains for us to try to explain the various names of this animal. In Hebrew it seems to be called שפן saphan, with Sin, for ספן saphan, with Samech, as if from covering, because it covers the openings of its hiding place with earth, as we have amply shown. Or for צפן tsaphan, with Tsade, as if from lying hidden, because it lies hidden there under the earth and withdraws itself from the sight of men R13. In Arabic the same animal is called اليربوع [al-yarbūʿ] aljarbuo, as if "the fourfold one", because it digs its home في مهب الرياح الاربع [fī mahabb al-riyāḥ al-arbaʿ] toward the blowing of the four winds, as we have learned from the Arabs. And in Chaldee it is called טפזא taphza, from leaping. For that the mouse is ἁλτικὸν [haltikon], a leaper, we are taught among the ancients by Theophrastus, Aelian and Photius, and among the more recent writers by Alcamus, Teixeira and Olearius. The Syriac ܚܓܣ [חגס] chagas, I suspect, was formed from the Greek χοιρογρύλλιος [choirogryllios], written in abbreviated form thus: χγς [chgs]. Or ܚܓܣ [חגס] chagas means a lame animal. For among the Syrians a lame person is called both ܚܓܝܣܐ [חגיסא] chagisa and ܚܓܝܪܐ [חגירא] chagira. And this little animal seems to limp because of the inequality of its feet. That same mouse was called χοιρογρύλλιος [choirogryllios] from the fatness of a pig, or from its appearance. For the last part of the compound word also means pig. Hesychius: Γρύλλιος· χοῖρος [Gryllios; choiros]. Likewise: Γρυλλίων· ὁ χοῖρος [Grylliōn; ho choiros]. Similarly ὕραξ [hyrax], which is sus [pig] among the Aeolians, is used by Nicander for mouse, because mice παρεοίκασι χοίροις τῶ ῥάμφει [pareoikasi choirois tō rhamphei], resemble pigs in their snout, as the scholiast says there. And from the Greek ὕραξ [hyrax] comes sorex [shrew]. Why the χοιρογρύλλιος [choirogryllios] of the Elders was called ἀρκτομῦς [arktomys] in Jerome's time has already been amply explained. Nor was it without reason taken for the hedgehog, if Pliny writes truly that this kind of mouse has the bristles of a hedgehog: The Egyptian mice, he says, have hard hair like hedgehogs; they also walk on two feet, like the Alpine ones. But he seems to have taken two species of mice indiscriminately. For others distinguish between mice that are δίποδας [dipodas], two-footed, and those that are ἐχῖνας [echinas] or ἐχινώδεις [echinōdeis]. Herodotus: Οἱ μὲν δίποδες καλέονται, οἱ δὲ ζεγέριες, οἱ δὲ ἐχῖνες [Hoi men dipodes kaleontai, hoi de zegeries, hoi de echines]· Some are called two-footed, others zegeries, and others echines, namely from the roughness of their hair, like that of a hedgehog. Aristotle: Οἱ δὲ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μῦες σκληρὰν ἔχουσι τὴν τρίχα, ὥσπερ οἱ χερσαῖοι ἐχῖνοι. εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ ἕτεροι, οἳ βαδίζουσιν ἐπὶ τοῖς δυσὶ ποσί. [Hoi de en Aigyptō myes sklēran echousi tēn tricha, hōsper hoi chersaioi echinoi. eisi de kai heteroi, hoi badizousin epi tois dysi posi.] The Egyptian mice have hard hair, like land hedgehogs. But there are also others there that walk on two feet. I would suppose, however, that the interpreters of Scripture fell into the same error as Pliny and confused II, 429 these two kinds of mice, and called the mice that are ἐχῖνας [echinas] or ἐχινώδεις [echinōdeis] hedgehogs.

It should also be noted that the שפנים sephanim of the Jews, that is, χοιρογρυλλίους [choirogryllious], or ἀρκτομῦας [arktomyas] if you prefer, have certain features in common with the rabbits of Spain: namely the eyes, the head and the tip of the tail, as Teixeira observes. Moreover, col. 1017 their hind feet are longer than their fore feet, they move by leaping, and they likewise ruminate, although they have teeth in both jaws, and they dig themselves underground hiding places in which they lie hidden by day. Therefore, as the Jews do today, so the Carthaginians seem once to have given the Hebrew name שפן saphan to rabbits; and hence it is that Spain was called שפניה, Σπάνια [Spania], that is, cuniculosa [full of rabbits], as Celtiberia is in Catullus, which we have already pointed out above c). Let others, however, be the judges of this.