Difference between revisions of "Badger"

<p> &nbsp;תחש . This word in a plural form occurs, &nbsp;Exodus 25:5; &nbsp;Exodus 26:14; &nbsp;Exodus 35:7; &nbsp;Exodus 35:23; &nbsp;Exodus 36:19; &nbsp;Exodus 39:34; &nbsp;Numbers 4:6; &nbsp;Numbers 4:8; &nbsp;Numbers 4:10-12; &nbsp;Numbers 4:14; &nbsp;Numbers 4:25; &nbsp;Ezekiel 16:10; and is joined with &nbsp;ערת , skins used for the covering of the tabernacle in the wilderness. The [[Jewish]] interpreters are agreed as to its being some animal. Jarchi says it was a beast of many colours, which no more exists. Kimchi holds the same opinion. Aben Ezra thinks it some animal of the bovine kind, of whose skins shoes are made; alluding to &nbsp;Ezekiel 16:10 . Most modern interpreters have taken it to be the badger, and among these our English translators; but, in the first place, the badger is not an inhabitant of Arabia; and there is nothing in its skin peculiarly proper either for covering a tabernacle or making shoes. Hasaeus, Michaelis, and others, have laboured to prove that it is the mermaid, or <em> homo marinus, </em> the <em> trichekus </em> of Linnaeus. Faber, Dathe, and Rosenmuller, think that it is the seal, or sea calf, <em> vitulus marinus, </em> the skin of which is both strong and pliable, and was accounted by the ancients as a most proper outer covering for tents, and was also made into shoes, as [[Rau]] has clearly shown. Niebuhr says, "A merchant of Abushahr called <em> dahash </em> that fish which the captains in English vessels call porpoise, and the Germans, sea hog. In my voyage from Maskat to Abushahr, I saw a prodigious quantity together near Ras Mussendom, that were all going the same way, and seemed to swim with great vehemence." Bochart thinks that not an <em> animal, </em> but a <em> colour, </em> was intended, &nbsp; Exodus 25:5; so that the covering of the tabernacle was to be azure, or sky blue. </p>

<p> (&nbsp;Exodus 26:14). [[Badger]] skins were the outer covering of the tabernacle, in the wilderness; and of the ark, the table, the candlestick, the golden altar, and altar of burnt offering (&nbsp;Numbers 4:6-14). In &nbsp;Ezekiel 16:10 [[Jehovah]] alludes to this, under the image of the shoes made of badger skins for delicate and beautiful women; "I shod thee with badger skin." This was the material of the shoes worn by [[Hebrew]] on festival days. [[Weighty]] authorities render Hebrew &nbsp;tachash a "seal," not a "badger"; seals were numerous on the shores of the Sinaitic peninsula. </p> <p> Others say it is the &nbsp;halicore, a Red Sea fish, which still is used by the Arabs to make soles for shoes and like purposes; called &nbsp;dahash , like &nbsp;tachash . Others think it is the &nbsp;stag goat, of the antelope kind, called &nbsp;thacasse , related perhaps to &nbsp;tachash , to be seen on [[Egyptian]] monuments. A great objection to the badger is, it is not found in [[Bible]] lands, Syria, Arabia, or Egypt, and certainly not in sufficient quantities for the Israelites' purpose. The objection to the halicore is &nbsp;Leviticus 11:10; "all that have not fins and scales in the seas." But that prohibition refers only to using them as food; moreover, the &nbsp;tachash probably includes marine animals in general, their skins made into "leather" were well fitted to protect against the weather. [[Josephus]] makes the color sky blue (Ant. 3:6, section 4). </p>

<p> &nbsp;(1): (n.) A carnivorous quadruped of the genus Meles or of an allied genus. It is a burrowing animal, with short, thick legs, and long claws on the fore feet. One species (M. vulgaris), called also brock, inhabits the north of Europe and Asia; another species (Taxidea Americana / Labradorica) inhabits the northern parts of North America. See Teledu. </p> <p> &nbsp;(2): (n.) A brush made of badgers' hair, used by artists. </p> <p> &nbsp;(3): (v. t.) To beat down; to cheapen; to barter; to bargain. </p> <p> &nbsp;(4): (n.) An itinerant licensed dealer in commodities used for food; a hawker; a huckster; - formerly applied especially to one who bought grain in one place and sold it in another. </p> <p> &nbsp;(5): (v. t.) To tease or annoy, as a badger when baited; to worry or irritate persistently. </p>

<p> '''''baj´ẽr''''' &nbsp; תּחשׁ , <i> '''''taḥash''''' </i> or &nbsp; תּחשׁ ion <i> '''''‛ōr taḥash''''' </i> mean "soft-dressed skin." This suits the context in every passage and is very promising explanation. </p>