ferret Summary and Overview

Lev. 11:30 (R.V., "gecko"), one of the unclean creeping things. It was perhaps the Lacerta gecko which was intended by the Hebrew word (anakah, a cry, "mourning," the creature which groans) here used, i.e., the "fan-footed" lizard, the gecko which makes a mournful wail. The LXX. translate it by a word meaning "shrew-mouse," of which there are three species in Israel. The Rabbinical writers regard it as the hedgehog. The translation of the Revised Version is to be preferred.

one of the unclean creeping things mentioned in #Le 11:30| The animal referred to was probably a reptile of the lizard tribe (the gecko). The rabbinical writers seen to have identified this animal with the hedgehog.

FER'RET , an animal of the weasel family tamed in Europe and used for catching rats. It has long been agreed that "the creature which sighs or groans" (Heb. anokah, "to groan") is not the ferret. Lev 11:30. Older writers considered it the shrew-mouse or the hedgehog, both of which abound in Palestine. The belief is now almost universal that it is some animal of the lizard The Gecko, or Ferret. tribe. Several of these reptiles make a mournful cry or wail, especially the gecko, which is very common in Palestine and Egypt among ruins, and is remarkable not only for the clucking note which its name imitates, but for its fan-like toes, whereby it is able to run up the smoothest wall, and even on ceilings. Of these small lizards there are several species.

White European polecat mentioned by KJV in Leviticus 11:30. Other translations read, "gecko." See Animals.