Bat
“Flying in the dark; night-flier”
Summary
A winged nocturnal mammal classified among unclean creatures in the Mosaic law, associated in Scripture with dark and desolate places where idols will be cast in the day of judgment.
☩Identification and Habits
The Hebrew 'atalleph' means 'flying in the dark,' aptly describing the bat's nocturnal habits. Nearly twenty species of bats have been recorded in Palestine, including both fruit-eating and insect-eating varieties. They inhabit caves, tombs, ruined buildings, and other dark retreats. Layard described visiting a cavern on the Khabour swarming with bats, their wings creating a noise like a great wind and producing an abominable stench.
☩Classification in Scripture
The bat is listed at the end of the unclean birds in the Mosaic law, though modern science classifies it as a mammal. This positioning may be significant—it appears last, perhaps as a transitional creature between birds and 'creeping things that fly.' The prohibition against eating bats probably addressed practices still found in some regions where fruit bats are consumed.
☩Prophetic Symbolism
Isaiah's prophecy of the day when the Lord shall arise to 'shake terribly the earth' declares that men will cast their silver and gold idols 'to the moles and to the bats.' The image is vivid: panicked idolaters flee into dark caves and desolate ruins, surrendering their precious images to the filthy animals that inhabit such places. What they once worshipped, they now throw away to creatures of darkness.
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Bat," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. I (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Bat," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Bat," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).