Heifer (see Cattle).
Source: [Anon-Animals]
Heifer (see Cattle).
Source: [Anon-Animals]
Hen (see Fowl).
Source: [Anon-Animals]
Hen
Heron. The Bible mentions herons only in the lists of unclean birds (Lev. 11:19; Deut. 14:18). Several species of herons and egrets made their home in Palestine. Egyptian carvings picture herons and their nests among the reeds of marshes and lakes.
A tall, graceful bird, the heron flies with its neck curled and its long legs stretched out behind. The heron eats fish, frogs, and small reptiles, which it spears swiftly with a long, sharp beak.
Source: [Anon-Animals]
Hart and Hind Hind (see Deer).
Several animals of the deer kind are mentioned in the Bible under the names of Fallow-deer, Hart, Hind, and Roe-buck. They were all numbered among the clean animals, or those which the Israelites were allowed to eat; as we see in Deut. 14:4-5, “These are the beasts which ye shall eat; the ox, the sheep, the goat, the hart, the roe-buck and the fallow-deer.” In 1 Kings 4:23, we read of the daily provision which was made for king Solomon’s table, and among the rest were “ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and roe-bucks, and fallow-deer.”
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Worms are kind of icky things. They live in the ground, and they are slimy. But a maggot is a worse kind of animal in that it usually lives within dead flesh, and lives off of the dying animal or person. There they are “worse” in some way.
These animals are identified as benefitting from death, and in the scheme of things in the Bible, it would seem they are also the servants (or very similar to Satan) who has pleasure in dying and death. This is a great problem as far as holiness is concerned. Something that touches or handles a corpse (animal or human) becomes unclean, so a maggot would basically be an animal that craves and has great pleasure in wallowing in death and uncleanness.
Our concept of hell being filled with maggots would come from their association with death and dying.
Isa 14:11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
I believe that has a reference to those people covering themselves with worms, as if there were some kind of cold or they sought protection from some kind of discomfort like a person in the cold, and they would cover themselves with worms. Although it does not talk of cold in hell, but a covering as if somehow that would alleviate some of their grief (which it doesn’t).
–DCox
A maggot is a type of worm, and it is connected with the eating of dead bodies, so it is unclean, and related to death in the Bible.
Source: [Anon-Animals]
Hippopotamus (see Behemoth).
Source: [Anon-Animals]
Hippopotamus
Mare (see Horse).
A mare is a female horse is a beast of burden, carrying both men and goods on their backs. A Horse gives a man a great advantage is what is carried as well as distance traveled.
Source: [Anon-Animals]
The hoopoe is a beautiful bird with a disgusting habit: it probes foul places for insects with its sharp, slender beak. Its wing feathers bear a zebra stripe, and its head sports a lovely crown of feathers. When frightened, the hoopoe may flutter his crest or drop to the ground and play dead. The offensive odor picked up from its feeding grounds is enough to drive away most of its enemies.
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Mole. Palestine has no true moles. The few Bible references to moles probably mean a burrowing rat that resembles a mole. “Mole rats” live underground and feed on roots and bulbs, to the distress of farmers. Their tiny ears and eyes are nearly hidden in their thick coats of fur. Because these mole rats live in darkness, the prophet Isaiah referred to them as symbols of the spiritually blind. The NEB translates “dung-beetles” (Is. 2:20). Also see Weasel.
Source: [Anon-Animals]
The Mole. I remember but two places in the Bible where this animal is mentioned. One is in Leviticus, where it is named among the unclean animals which the Israelites were forbidden to eat; and the other is this verse in the second chapter of Isaiah: “In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats.” Have you read about the first missionaries who went to the Sandwich Islands? And do you remember that although the people had always been worshippers of idols, they had cast them all away just before the missionaries came? That was a very wonderful thing to happen; and it seems as though God was making these poor people ready to hear about the Savior, when the missionaries should come. Well, this verse in Isaiah declares that the same thing will happen by and by over the whole earth. You know that there are now millions and millions of poor heathen who worship nothing but images of gold, or brass, or stone; but the day is coming when not an idol shall be seen, and no being shall be worshipped but the true God. The mole lives under ground, and the bat in gloomy, dark caves where nobody thinks of going; so when it is said that the idols shall be “Cast to the moles and to the bats,” it means that they shall be thrown away in dark and neglected places, just as we throw away old shoes, or any thing that we care nothing about. Will you try to remember this verse about the idols? Perhaps you may live to see the near approach of that day.
The mole is a very curious animal in its appearance and in its manner of living. It is almost always under ground, and we should think that the little creature could not be very happy; but its skin is as smooth and handsome as that of any animal, and it seems very well contented with its dark home. God made it to live there, and he has given it just such a body at it needs. It is covered with fine, short, silky hair, almost like soft velvet, so that the earth does not stick to it; and its legs are very short, so as not to be in the way. If its legs were long it could not get through the ground very well, you know. Its eyes are very small, because it does not need to see much, and they are almost buried too under its soft fur, which keeps out all the dust and dirt. The opening of the ear is covered in the same way, so that nothing can hurt it.
Its fore-paws are made broad like a shovel, and are very strong; each one, too, has five short fingers with which the earth can be removed. The nose is sharp and bony, and this helps the mole to work its way through the earth. They throw up the earth when they make their houses under ground, and in this way mole-hills are made. They like to work at morning and evening, and also after a shower, when the earth is damp and soft, and easily moved.
The mole is larger than a mouse, but not as large as a rat. It eats insects and worms, and sometimes the roots of plants.
[Cook, Scripture Alphabet of Animals]
Horned Owl (see Owl).
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