Tinshemet

Most commentators believe this to be a reptile : a species of lizard or chameleon . It is often emphasized that the exact meaning of the term is unknown ^[1] .

In the Russian synodal translation of the Bible (Leviticus, chapter 11), in verse 30 “tinshemet” is mentioned last in the list of 5 names. Verse 29 reads: “This is what is unclean to you from animals that creep on the earth: a mole, a mouse, a lizard with its breed” ; verse 30: “Anaka, chameleon, summer, homet and tinshemet” ; verse 31: "these are unclean to you from all reptiles: everyone who touches them dead will be unclean until evening . " At the same time, it is clear that the mouse and the mole are not reptiles according to modern concepts (in the synodal translation of the Bible, the word “reptiles” denoted any living creature of small size), but it is assumed that the rest of the above are most likely reptiles. In the English version of the King James Bible and in the German version of Martin Luther, the mole of 29 goes into verse 30 and comes in last place, and therefore the tinshemet is sometimes associated with the mole.

There is ambiguity with other items on the list. So, the first “anaka” in the list in two English translations corresponds to a gecko , but in some translations it becomes a hedgehog or ferret .

The situation is complicated by the fact that the word "tinshemet" in the original Hebrew text, according to a number of sources, is also present in verse 18, where three birds are listed. Russian translation of verse 18: “swan, pelican and vulture” . You can’t eat them; that these are birds, it is said in introductory verse 13: “Of these birds, abhor these ...” , although in the conclusion of the listing in verse 19 there is usually a bat ( bat ), but in the German translation it goes to the beginning of verse 18 (die Fledermaus).

In modern Hebrew, the sequence of letters "tav-nun-shin-mem-tav", תנשמת , means mainly owl-barn owl (Tyto alba).

Comparison table of verses 18 and 30 of Leviticus-11 for different translations ^{[2] [3] [4]}

The English-speaking Jewish Encyclopedia speaks about the tinshemet in the article “Chameleon” ^[6] and explains that it is this meaning that is usually attributed to the word among Jewish interpreters. According to this source, the word literally means “breather”, “inhaler” - from the root נשמ - “blow”, “breathe”, which indicates the property of chameleons to inflate to intimidate the enemy (here it should be noted that, for example, in Russian, French and Croatian translations of verse 30 “chameleon” goes in parallel with “tinshemet”).

In general, in the English-speaking Jewish Encyclopedia, the word tinshemet is mentioned in the articles “Swan”, “Mole”, “Owl”, “Lizard”, “Chameleon” and “Birds” ^[7] . The article “Birds” says that “tinshemet” is also found in Deuteronomy in chapter 14, verse 16 (Russian: “and an eagle owl, and an ibis, and a swan,” ) and says that “it is probably a species of owl.” ^[eight]

At the end of the Chameleon article, the Jewish Encyclopedia notes that the Tinshemet from Leviticus 11-30 should not be confused with a bird of the same name from Leviticus 11-18. However, an American Jewish physicist Gerald Schroeder in his 1997 book The Science of God: The Convergence of Scientific and Biblical Wisdom, ISBN 0-684-83736- 6 ) does just that and links the tinshemeta with the archeopteryx ^{[9] [10]} - the extinct winged vertebrate of the Jurassic period , combining the signs of a bird and a reptile.

• Historical Tracking of Two Notable Distortions of Scripture
• Urim and Thummim

• Anaka // Biblical Encyclopedia of Archimandrite Nicephorus . - M. , 1891-1892.