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Bat

The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia

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• עֲטַלֵּף

This well-known winged mammal (in Hebrew , Leviticus 11:19 Deuteronomy 14:18 Isaiah 2:20 ) was considered by the Hebrews as belonging to the class of birds. The ancients in general considered it as a creature belonging both to the birds and to the mammalia, and partaking of the nature of both classes (Bochart, "Hierozoicon," s.v. ). Like all night-birds, the Bat was considered unclean by the Hebrews. The numerous caves and ruins of Palestine afford shelter to innumerable swarms of bats and Tristram ("Natural History of the Bible," pp. 45,46) enumerates no less than seventeen species indigenous to that country. Several of these are also found in Europe and America.