Mole

• Tinshemeth. (Leviticus 11:30) It is probable that the animals mentioned with the tinshemeth in the above passage denote different kinds of lizards; perhaps, therefore, the chameleon is the animal intended.
• Chephor peroth is rendered “moles” in (Isaiah 2:20) (The word means burrowers, hole-diggers, and may designate any of the small animals, as rats and weasels, which burrow among ruins. Many scholars, according to McClintock and Strong’s “Cyclopedia,” consider that the Greek aspalax is the animal intended by both the words translated mole. It is not the European mole, but is a kind of blind mole-rat, from 8 to 12 inches long, feeding on vegetables, and burrowing like a mole, but on a larger scale. It is very common in Russia, and Hasselquiest says it is abundant on the plains of Sharon in Palestine.—ED.)