BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H8580
tan.she.met — chameleon
1) an unclean animal of some kind 1a) an unclean bird 1a1) perhaps the ibis, water-hen, species of owl, barn owl 1b) an unclean lizard 1b1) perhaps the chameleon 1c) perhaps an extinct lizard or bird, exact meaning unknown
3 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →GREEK · G9697
chamaileōn — chameleon
the chameleon , a kind of lizard known for changing its colour, (Aristotle Philosopher) (ML)
0 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →A species of lizard which has the faculty of changing the colour of its skin. It is ranked among the unclean animals in Lev. 11:30, where the Hebrew word so translated is coah (R.V., “land crocodile”). In the same verse the Hebrew tanshemeth, rendered in Authorized Version “mole,” is in Revised Version “chameleon,” which is the correct rendering. This animal is very common in Egypt and in the Holy Land, especially in the Jordan valley.
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.
