Animals
editAmong the animals proposed as translations of tahash are: badger, dugong, sea cow, seal, narwhal, porpoise, dolphin, addax, antelope, giraffe, okapi, the extinct Elasmotherium and others. "The identity of the tahash remains obscure." (Encyclopedia Judaica: "TAHASH")
Kosher
editThe question is debated as to whether the tahash was a kosher (ritually clean) animal.And according to the prescriptions of the Torah the addax is a "clean / kosher" animal: it chews the cud and divides the hoof. Leviticus 11:1-45. Although these animals are not kosher (not clean) it has been suggested that the Tabernacle may have been purposefully constructed using skin from a non-kosher (unclean) animal. These suggestions date from the time of the formation of the Talmud beginning around the 4th century CE to the present. —see Importance of textual and cultural and religious context.
Land mammals
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Saadia Gaon identifies the tahash as 'zemer'. Both Radak and Saadia Gaon translate zemer as giraffe. Rabbis Natan Slifkin and Amitai ben-David point to the giraffe as a possibility.[1] [2]The giraffe may be excluded as the meaning of tahash because its range was primarily Sub-Saharan Africa, from Chad in Central Africa to South Africa. The distance that would have to be traversed in migration away from its natural range and habitat can be seen in this image of the Sahara Desert, the Red Sea, and the desert of the Sinai peninsula.[original research?]
Strong's Hebrew lexicon translates the word as antelope or badger.[3] In ancient times, addax spread from North Africa through Arabia and the Levant. Pictures from Egyptian tombs show them being kept as domesticated animals in around 2500 BC. They are amply suited to live in the deep desert under extreme conditions. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)
References
edit- ^ Slifkin, Natan. "Identification". ZooTorah. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ Slifkin, Natan. "The Unicorn Convention". ZooTorah. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ "Strong's Hebrew lexicon".