Richard Whitekettle, «Rats are Like Snakes, and Hares are Like Goats: A Study in Israelite Land Animal Taxonomy», Vol. 82 (2001) 345-362

Israelite taxonomic thought drew a contrast between a land animal taxon referred to by the words Cr#$ or #&mr that contained animals such as rats and snakes (Land Animals I), and a land animal taxon referred to by the words hmhb or hyx that contained animals such as hares and goats (Land Animals II). This essay shows that the Land Animals I taxon was characterized by locomotory movement in the horizontal plane and the Land Animals II taxon was characterized by locomotory movement in the vertical plane. Thus, the contrast was between land animals that were perceived to move along the ground (Land Animals I) and land animals that were perceived to move over the ground (Land Animals II).

taxon, can reach a length of 100 cm. or more, and a height of 10 cm.⁸. Thus, the hyrax can be three times the height of the Dabb Lizard, and the Dabb Lizard can be three times the length of the hyrax. Given that these two animals, which are assigned to different Land Animal taxa, are of different shapes, and are each bigger than the other in a certain dimension, it is reasonable to assume that size was not the attribute used to distinguish Land Animals I from Land Animals II.

        It might be thought that the distinction between Land Animals I and Land Animals II was made on the basis of an animal’s manner of locomotion. In support of this, note several things. First, the roots Cr#$ and #&mr, which are used in the labels for the Land Animals I taxon, refer to some aspect of an animal’s movement⁹. Second, the use of verbal forms and prepositional phrases in many of the labels for the Land Animals I taxon indicates that movement was the/an identifying characteristic of this class of Land Animals. Third, one of the texts in which Land Animals I and Land Animals II are both mentioned (Lev 11,46) is found within Lev 11; manner of locomotion is used throughout Lev 11 to distinguish various classes of Land Animals from one another; in fact, the locomotory anatomy of Land Animals II is a specific point of discussion in Lev 11,2-8 and 26-27. Given these factors, it is reasonable to suppose that manner of locomotion was the/a characteristic used to distinguish Land Animals I from Land Animals II. If so, they would have been distinguished in the following way:

        Assuming this, it is apparent that, in order to determine how the Israelites distinguished these two classes of Land Animals from one another, it is necessary to determine the character of Cr#$/#&mr Movement and Non-Cr#$/#&mr Movement. In order to determine this, two things must initially be considered: first, the textual evidence for the meaning of Cr#$ and #&mr; second, prior efforts to characterize the movement of the animals assigned to the Land Animals I taxon and the Land Animals II taxon.