Bat

Bat - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

The Hebrew word (atalleph') so rendered (Lev. 11:19; Deut. 14:18) implies "flying in the dark." The bat is reckoned among the birds in the list of unclean animals. To cast idols to the "moles and to the bats" means to carry them into dark caverns or desolate places to which these animals resort (Isa. 2:20), i.e., to consign them to desolation or ruin.

Bat - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

BAT, n.

1. A heavy stick or club; a piece of wood with one end thicker or broader than the other.

2. Bat or bate, a small copper coin of Germany, with a small mixture of silver, worth four crutzers. Also a coin of Switzerland, worth five livres.

3. A term given by miners to shale or bituminous shale.

BAT, v.i. To manage a bat, or play with one.

BAT, n. [I have not found this word in any European language, except in English.]

A race of quadrupeds, technically called Vespertilio, of the order primates, in Linne's system. The fore feet have the toes connected by a membrane, expanded into a kind of wings, by means of which the animals fly. The species are numerous. Of these, the vampire or Ternate bat inhabits Africa and the Oriental Isles. These animals fly in flocks from isle to isle, obscuring the sun by their numbers. Their wings when extended measure five or six feet. They live on fruits; but are said sometimes to draw blood from persons when asleep. The bats of the northern latitudes are small; they are viviparous and suckle their young. Their skin resembles that of a mouse. They enter houses in pleasant summer evenings, feed upon moths, flies, flesh, and oily substances, and are torpid during the winter.

(`aTaleph; Le 11:19; De 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 Le 11:19 and De 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 `aTaleph is doubtful. Various derivations have been proposed but none can be regarded as satisfactory. The Arabic name, waTwaT, throws no light on the question.

Alfred Ely Day