An old English name for the rabbit; used in Scripture to translate the Hebrew Leviticus 11:5 Deuteronomy 14:7 Psalm 104:18 Proverbs 30:26 . This animal is externally of the size and form of the rabbit, and of a brownish color. It is, however, much clumsier in its structure, without tail, and having long bristly hairs scattered through the fur. The feet are naked below, and the nails flat and rounded, except those in the inner toe of the hind feet, which are long and awl-shaped. They cannot dig, but reside in the clefts of rocks. They are called by Solomon, "wise," and "a feeble folk;" they are timid and gregarious in their habits, and so gentle and quiet, that they shrink from the shadow of a passing bird. The name of Spain is said to have been given to it by Phoenician voyagers, who seeing its western coast overrun with animals resembling the shaphan, called it Hispania, or Coley-land. Some eminent interpreters think the SHAPHAN means the Jerboa.