Creeping Thing
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [1]
krēp´ing ( רמשׂ , remes , שׁרץ , sherec ; ἑρπετόν , herpetón ): Remes and sherec , with the root verbs rāmas and shārac , are used without any sharp distinction for insects and other small creatures. Rāmas means clearly "to creep," and is used even of the beasts of the forest ( Psalm 104:20 ), while shārac is rather "to swarm." But in at least one passage ( Leviticus 11:44 ), we have the noun, sherec , with the verb rāmas ; "with any manner of creeping thing that moveth upon the earth." The principal passages where these words occur are the accounts of the Creation and the Flood and the references to unclean animals in Lev and in the vision of Peter. In the last we have the word herpeton as the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew words ( Acts 10:12 ). Winged creeping things ( sherec hā - ‛ōph , Leviticus 11:20 ), as well as the wingless, are unclean, but an exception is made in favor of the locusts, "which have legs above their feet, where-with to leap upon the earth." See Insects; Locust .
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [2]
( שֶׁרֶוֹ , She'Rets , any swarming creature; or רֶמֶשׂ , Re'Mes , any low-gliding animal; Ἑρπετόν ) is used in Scripture to designate not only reptiles, properly so called, but also insects, aquatic creatures, and even the smaller mammalia. (See Reptile).
