Tag Archives: Reptiles

Snake

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Snake. A snake is the Bible’s first– and final– animal villain (Genesis 3; Rev. 20:2). Throughout the Old and New Testaments, several different words for snake or serpent appear some 20 times. Scholars can only make educated guesses as to which of Palestine’s many species of snakes are meant in most verses.
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Crocodile

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Crocodile. The land crocodile appears as an unclean beast in the RSV rendering of (Leviticus 11:30). Many scholars assume that the crocodile is the mysterious “Leviathan” (whale, NEB) praised by Job (Job 41:1-34) and mentioned in (Psalm 74:14; 104:26); and (Isaiah 27:1).
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Lizard

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Lizard. Lizards receive little attention in the Bible, although they are common in Palestine. They appeared on the list of unclean animals (Lev. 11:30) and were thus forbidden as food to the Israelites.

The lizard comes in many species. Some of the small lizards often pass for snakes, while larger versions of this animal resemble the crocodile. All lizards are cold-blooded reptiles. Since their body temperature depends on their surroundings, they thrive in the tropics and in deserts. But when the sun gets too hot even for them, they lie in the shade or burrow into the sand. One species is even called a sand lizard (Lev. 11:30); (skink, NIV).
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