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).
The question is, what is the best way to characterize what the Israelites saw when they looked at Land Animals through such a cognitive lens?
VIII. The Characterization of Land Animal Movement
Land Animals that move through space within a vertically oriented corridor of space (Land Animals II) primarily use their legs for propulsion. At lower speeds, the legs of such an animal act as stiff struts over which the body of the animal vaults; at higher speeds, the legs act as compliant springs over which the body of the animal bounds36.
Land Animals which move through space within a horizontally oriented corridor of space (Land Animals I) use their legs and trunks for propulsion. In legged members of the Land Animals I taxon, the limbs move in sweeping arcs beside the body giving the impression of oars, rowing the body of the animal along the surface of the ground. In legless members of the Land Animals II taxon, the body either glides along the surface of the ground with little mechanical work evident (e.g., in snails and slugs), or, it laterally undulates, creating loops in the body which serve as levers to propel the body of the animal along the ground (e.g., in snakes).
In summary, the contrast between the two classes of Land Animals which exist in Israelite thought can, perhaps, best be characterized as a contrast between Land Animals which the Israelites perceived to be moving along the ground (Land Animals I) and Land Animals that they perceived to be moving over the ground (Land Animals II).
MOVEMENT ALONG THE GROUND | MOVEMENT OVER THE GROUND | ||||||
Land Animals I | Land Animals II | ||||||
Spotted Lizard | Mouse | Snake | Centipede | Antelope | Leopard | Camel | Sheep |
Dabb Lizard | Rat | Snail | Millipede | Roebuck | Jackal | Horse | Goat |
Chameleon | Slug | Scorpion | Gazelle | Lion | Cow | Pig | |
Gecko | Spider | Addax | Bear | Ass | |||
Skink | Hyrax | Hare | Ox |
Thus, to the Israelites, attuned as they apparently were to the shape and ground orientation of the corridor of space through which