the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Encyclopedias
Mole
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or Traditional rendering of the Hebrew "ḥaparparah" (Isaiah 2:20). Some give "mole" as the translation also of "ḥoled" (Leviticus 11:29), which is, however, generally assumed to mean Weasel. "Tinshemet," which the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and the Targum take for some kind of mole, is commonly admitted to mean either a lizard (Leviticus 11:3) or some kind of bird (ib. verse 18).
The mole proper (Talpa) does not occur in Palestine. The animal which would answer the description of Isaiah 2:20 is the mole-rat (Spalax typhlus), which is common about ruins, loose débris, and stone-heaps, and which in external appearance resembles the mole.
The Talmud has for the mole the terms "tinshemet" (Ḥul. 63a) and "ishut" (Kelim 21:3; comp. Targ. to Leviticus 11:30). The mole is described as having no eyes (comp. Aristotle, "History of Animals," 4:8,2, and Pliny, "Historia Naturalis," 11:37,52)and as being destructive to grain and plants (M. Ḳ. 6b). In Ber. 57b (comp. Tos. to M. Ḳ. 6b) 
, which Rashi explains by "talpa," is mentioned alongside of the bat and weasel, whose appearance in dreams is a bad omen.
- Tristram, Nat. Hist. p. 120;
- Lewysohn, Z. T, p. 101.
These files are public domain.
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Mole'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/m/mole.html. 1901.
