Bat

עחלפּ , Lev 11:19; Deu 14:18; Isa 2:20; Bar 6:22. The Jewish legislator having enumerated the animals legally unclean as well beasts as birds, closes his catalogue with a creature whose equivocal properties seem to exclude it from both those classes; it is too much a bird to be properly a mouse, and too much a mouse to be properly a bird. The bat is therefore well described in Deu 14:18-19, as the passage should be read, “Moreover the othelaph, and every creeping thing that flieth, is unclean to you; they shall not be eaten.” This character is very descriptive, and places this creature at the head of a class of which he is a clear and well-known instance. It has feet or claws growing out of its pinions, and contradicts the general order of nature, by creeping with the instruments of its flight. The Hebrew name of the bat is from עחל darkness, and עפ to fly, as if it described “the flier in darkness.” So the Greeks called the creature νυκτερις, from νυξ, night; and the Latins, vespertilio, from vesper, “evening.” It is prophesied, Isa 2:20, “In that day shall they cast away their idols to the moles and to the bats;” that is, they shall carry them into the dark caverns, old ruins, or desolate places, to which they shall fly for refuge, and so shall give them up, and relinquish them to the filthy animals that frequent such places, and have taken possession of them as their proper habitation.

Bat occurs in Lev 11:19; Deu 14:18; Isa 2:20; and Letter of Jer 6:21. In Hebrew the word implies flying in the dark; which, taken in connection with the sentence ’moreover the othelaph and every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you; they shall not be eaten,’ is so clear, that there cannot be a mistake respecting the order of animals meant. At first sight, animals so diminutive, lean, and repugnant to the senses, must appear scarcely to have required the legislator’s attention; but the fact evidently shows that there were at the time men or tribes who ate animals classed with bats, a practice still in vogue in the great Australasian islands, where the frugivorous Pteropi of the harpi or goblin family, by our seamen denominated flying-dogs, and erroneously vampires, are caught and eaten; but where the insectivorous true bats, such as the genera common in Europe, are rejected. Some of the species of harpies are of the bulk of a rat, with from three to four feet of expanse between the tips of the wings; they have a fierce doglike head, and are nearly all marked with a space of rufous hair from the forehead over the neck and along part of the back. They reside in the most dense foliage of large trees, whence they fly out at night and do considerable damage to the plantations of fruit-trees. It was to one or more species of this section of Cheiroptera that the Mosaic prohibition was perhaps directed; and it is likewise to them that may be referred the foundation of the ancient legends concerning harpies, which, however much they may be distorted, have a basis of truth. Indeed, when we consider their voice, the faculty they have of feeding with their thumbs, their formidable teeth, their habit of flying in the day during dark weather, and their willingness, though they are frugivorous, to devour not only insects, but also the blood and flesh of small animals, we may admit that originally they were more daring in the presence of man; that their true characters are but moderately amplified by poetical fancy; and that the Mosaic injunction was strikingly appropriate.

In the text of Scripture where allusion is made to caverns and dark places, true Vespertilionidae, or insect-eating bats, similar to the European, are clearly designated.

Bat. Lev 11:19; Lev 14:18. Many travellers have noticed the immense numbers of bats that are found in caverns in the East, and Mr. Layard said that, on the occasion of a visit to a cavern, these noisome beasts compelled him to retreat.

(hatalleph; "the darkness bird".) Delighting in dark holes and caverns. This is the point of Isa 2:20, "a man shall cast his idols to the bats," while the idolaters themselves shall vainly hide in the rock from the wrath of the Lamb (Rev 6:16). Unclean in the eye of the law (Deu 14:18-19; Lev 11:19-20). Ranked among "all fowls that creep, going upon all four;" it has claws on its pinions, by which it attaches itself to a surface, and creeps along it. It is connected with quadrupeds: the bones of the arm (answering to a bird’s wing) and fingers being elongated, and a membrane extended over them to the hind limbs.

(עֲטִלֵּ, atalleph’; Sept. νυκτερίς; Syriac Vers. peacock) occurs in Lev 11:19; Deu 14:18; Isa 2:20; and Bar 6:22. In Hebrew the word implies “flying in the dark,” which, taken in connection with the sentence, “Moreover, the bat and every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you; they shall not be eaten,” is so clear, that there cannot be a mistake respecting the order of animals meant, though to modern zoology neither the species, the genus, nor even the family is thereby manifested: the injunction merely prohibits eating bats, and may likewise include some tribes of insects. At first sight, animals so diminutive, lean, and. repugnant to the senses must appear scarcely to have required the legislator’s attention, but the fact evidently shows that there were at the time men or women who ate animals classed with bats, a practice still in vogue in the great Australasian islands, where the frugivorous Pteropi of the harpy or goblin family, by seamen denominated flying-dogs, and erroneously vampires, are caught and eaten; but where the insectivorous true bats, such as the genera common in Europe, are rejected. Some of the species of harpies are of the bulk of a rat, with from three to four feet of expanse between the tips of the wings; they have a fierce dog-like head, and are nearly all marked with a space of rufous hair from the forehead over the neck and along the back. For a description of the various kinds of bats, see the Penny Cyclopaedia, s.v. Cheiroptera.

In the foregoing enumeration of unclean animals, the bat is reckoned among the birds, and such appears to be the most obvious classification; but modern naturalists have shown that it has no real affinity with birds. It is now included in the class of mammiferous quadrupeds, characterized by having the tegumentary membrane extended over the bones of the extremities in such a manner as to constitute wings capable of sustaining and conveying them through the air. The name of Cheiroptera, or hand- winged, has therefore been bestowed on this order. It comprises a great number of genera, species, and varieties; they are all either purely insectivorous or insecti-frugivorous, having exceedingly sharp cutting and acutely tuberculated jaw teeth, and the whole race is nocturnal. They vary in size from that of the smallest common mouse up to that of the vampire, or gigantic ternate bat, whose body is as large as that of a squirrel. The smaller species are abundantly distributed over the globe; the larger seem to be confined to warm and hot regions, where they exist in great numbers, and are very destructive to the fruits. The purely insectivorous species render great service to mankind by the destruction of vast numbers of insects, which they pursue with great eagerness in the morning and evening twilight. During the daytime they remain suspended by their hinder hooked claws in the lofts of barns, in hollow or thickly-leaved trees, etc. As winter approaches, in cold climates, they seek shelter in caverns, vaults, ruinous and deserted buildings, and similar retreats, where they cling together in large clusters, and remain in a torpid condition until the returning spring recalls them to active exertions. In the texts of Scripture, where allusion is made to caverns and dark places, true Vespertilionidae, or insect-eating bats, similar to the European, are clearly designated.

The well-known habits of the bat afford a forcible illustration of a portion of the fearful picture drawn in Isa 2:20 of the day when the Lord shall arise “to shake terribly the earth:’ “A man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold to the moles and to the bats,” or, in other words, carry his idols into the dark caverns, old ruins, or desolate places, to which he himself shall flee for refuge; and so shall give them up, and relinquish them to the filthy animals that frequent such places, and have taken possession of them as their proper habitation. Bats are very common in the East (Kitto, Pict. Bible, note on Isa 2:20). Layard (Nineveh and Babylon, p. 307) describes his visit to a cavern on the banks of the Khabour swarming with bats. “Flying toward the light,” he adds, “these noisome beasts compelled us to retreat. They clung to our clothes, and our hands could scarcely prevent them settling on our faces. The rustling of their wings was like the noise of a great wind, and an abominable stench arose from the recesses of the cave.” They are also found delineated upon the Egyptian monuments (Wilkinson, 1:232, 234, abridgm.). Several species of these animals are found in Egypt, some of which occur doubtless in Palestine. Molossus Ruppelii, Vespertilio pipistrellus var. Aegyptius, Vauritus var. Aegypt., Taphozous perforatus, Nycteris Thebaica, Rhinopoma microphyllum, Rhinolophus tridens, occur in the tombs and pyramids of Egypt. SEE ZOOLOGY.

The atalleph, νυκτερίς, ’night bird,’ is the animal well known as the bat: it was in the law forbidden to be eaten. Lev 11:19; Deu 14:18. There are several species found in Palestine: they inhabit the tombs and caves, and are familiar with darkness. Where there are many the effluvium from them is very noisome. Their habitation becomes a fit emblem of darkness and offensiveness, a place to which men will cast their idols of gold and silver when Jehovah arises to deal with the earth. Isa 2:20.

By: Morris Jastrow, Jr., Immanuel Benzinger

This well-known winged mammal (in Hebrew , Lev. xi. 19; Deut. xiv. 18; Isa. ii. 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.

BAT (‘atallçph).—The bat is a familiar object in Palestine, where no fewer than seventeen varieties have been identified. The two commonest are the horse-shoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrum equinum) and the long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus). All varieties in Palestine are insectivorous except one, the Xantharpyia œgyptiaca, which eats fruit. Bats flit about on noiseless wings by the score on warm summer evenings, especially in the Jordan Valley, and they are to be found in great numbers in ruins, old tombs, and caves all over the land, giving rise to many tales of ghostly habitation (Isa 2:20). They are counted as unclean ‘fowl,’ though a little separate from the birds, in Lev 11:19, Deu 14:18.

E. W. G. Masterman.

(עטלף, ‛ăṭalēph; Lev 11:19; Deu 14:18; Isa 2:20): Bats are the most widely distributed of mammals, reaching even the oceanic islands, and modern science has revealed the existence of an astonishing number of species, nearly twenty being recorded from Palestine. These include both fruit-eating and insect-eating bats, the latter being the smaller. It has not always been realized that they are mammals, and so it is not surprising that they should be mentioned at the end of the list of unclean birds in Lev 11:19 and Deu 14:18. It may, however, be significant that they are at the end of the list and not in the middle of it. The fruit bats are a pest to horticulturists and often strip apricot and other trees before the fruit has ripened enough to be picked. On this account the fruit is often enclosed in bags, or the whole tree may be surrounded with a great sheet or net. They commonly pick the fruit and eat it on some distant perch beneath which the seeds and the ordure of these animals are scattered. The insect bats, as in other countries, flit about at dusk and through the night catching mosquitoes and larger insects, and so are distinctly beneficial.

The reference in Isa 2:20, “cast ... idols ... to the moles and to the bats” refers of course to these animals as inhabitants of dark and deserted places. As in the case of many animal names the etymology of ‛ăṭalēph is doubtful. Various derivations have been proposed but none can be regarded as satisfactory. The Arabic name, waṭwāṭ, throws no light on the question.

Bat. Bats are flying mammals. They are included on the list of unclean fowl (Lev 11:19). About 15 species of bats live in the Holy Land. Most feed on insects or fruit.

Bats hunt their food at night. An amazing built-in sonar system enables them to fly safely in total darkness. They sleep hanging upside down, often with their wings wrapped around them.

Some species gather in caves. (Isa 2:20) pictures discarded idols being cast "to the moles and bats," as if to say that is where such abominations belong.