Bird

* Bird. — No other classification of birds than into clean and unclean is given. The Jews, before the Babylonian captivity, had no domestic fowls except pigeons . Although many birds are mentioned, there occur few allusions to their habits. Their instinct of migration, the snaring or netting them, and the caging of song birds are referred to.

* Bird, Dyed. — So does the English version, Jer. 12:9, wrongly interpret the Hebrew ‘áyit. which means beast of prey, sometimes also bird of prey.

* Bird, Singing. — This singing bird of Soph., ii, 14, according to the D.V., owes its origin to a mistranslation of the original, which most probably should be read: “And their voice shall sing at the window”; unless by a mistake of some scribe, the word qôl, voice, has been substituted for the name of some particular bird.

* Birds, Speckled, Hebrew çãbhûá’ (Jeremiah 12:9). A much discussed translation. The interpretation of the English versions, however meaningless it may seem to some, is supported by the Targum, the Syriac, and St. Jerome. In spite of these authorities many modern scholars prefer to use the word hyena, given by the Septuagint and confirmed by Ecclesiasticus, xiii, 22 as well as by the Arabic (dábúh) and rabbinical Hebrew (çebhôá’), names of the hyena.

Source: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_animals_in_the_Bible]

Bat

A bat is a four footed beast of the ravenous sort. Each foot has five toes, and the forefeet are connected with a membrane, and expand into a sort of wing. Its mouth is like that of quadruped, not like a bird, and it is covered with hair. It gives birth to live young, not eggs, and resembles greatly a mouse. The female gives milk to its young, and these young cling to her chest. During winter bats cover themselves with their wings and hang in dry, dark places. In summer they do likewise in the day, and they hunt for food at night catching moths and insects. They cannot be tamed.

The largest bats are in Brazil, Madagascar, and Maldives, and will suck the blood of people who sleep with their skin revealed, and leave them bleeding to death.

Imagery of Bats. Bats are unclean under the law, and they represent people who are fearful, unbelieving, ignorant, and hypocritically wicked. They delight in old ruinous houses Isa 2:20.

Some take the Hebrew Hatalaph (swallow) in Lev 11:19; Deu 14:19 for a bat.

Source: [DCox] Continue reading

Blast

Blast certainly, designates, Deut. 28:42, a voracious insect; the Hebrew çelãçál, “chirping”, suggests that the cricket was possibly meant and might be substituted for blast. In Ps. 127:46 (Hebr., Psa 128:46), blast stands for hãsîl, “the destroyer”, perhaps the locust in its caterpillar state, in which it is most destructive.

Source: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_animals_in_the_Bible]

Beetle

Beetle.

Beetles fly, but they do not leap (Lev. 11:21).
Crickets, which are related to locusts, both fly and leap. Some scholars contend that katydid, or locusts, are more likely the correct translations of this one biblical reference to beetles or crickets.

Source: [Anon-Animals]

Beetle

given by A.V. (Leviticus 11:22) as an equivalent for Hebrew, árbéh, does not meet the requirements of the context: “Hath the legs behind longer wherewith it hoppeth upon the earth”, any more than the bruchus of D.V., some species of locust, the locusta migratoria being very likely intended.

Source: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_animals_in_the_Bible]