2467. choled

Lexical Summary

choled: World, lifetime, duration

Original Word: חֹלֶד
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: choled
Pronunciation: kho-led
Phonetic Spelling: (kho'-led)
KJV: weasel
NASB: mole
Word Origin: [from the same as H2465 (חֶלֶד - world)]

1. a weasel (from its gliding motion)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

weasel

From the same as cheled; a weasel (from its gliding motion) -- weasel.

see HEBREW cheled

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
weasel
NASB Translation
mole (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

חֹ֫לֶד noun [masculine] weasel (Late Hebrew חוּלְדָּא; Arabic mole or blind-rat, or a species of rat; on formative see Lag^{BN 144}) — weasel Leviticus 11:29 (Vrss Ki Thes and others see especially Di; > Saad Bo MV SS Lag^l.c. mole).

Topical Lexicon

Scriptural Context

Leviticus 11:29 sets חֹלֶד among “the swarming creatures that move along the ground” which Israel was to regard as unclean: “These creatures are unclean to you among the swarming creatures that move about on the ground: the mole rat, the mouse, and any kind of great lizard” (Berean Standard Bible). The verse is embedded in the larger holiness code (Leviticus 11–20), establishing practical boundaries that visually reinforced the call to be distinct from surrounding nations.

Zoological Identification

The precise species behind חֹלֶד has long been debated. Choices include:
• The Middle Eastern weasel (Mustela nivalis), a small carnivorous mammal known for raiding henhouses.
• The blind mole rat (Spalax leucodon), a burrowing rodent native to Israel’s hill country and coastal plains.

Both candidates thrive underground or in crevices, occupy the nocturnal margins of human habitation, and were familiar pests in ancient agrarian society. Either fits the broader Levitical category of “sharats” (creeping things).

Place in the Levitical Purity Code

1. Classification: חֹלֶד belongs to the “creepers” (Leviticus 11:29-30) not by diet but by locomotion close to or beneath the earth.
2. Ritual impact: Touching its carcass rendered an Israelite unclean until evening (Leviticus 11:31-32). The legislation emphasized continual vigilance; even a casual encounter with a dead mole rat compromised ritual access to the tabernacle.
3. Moral pedagogy: By tying minute daily experiences to holiness, God taught Israel that purity is comprehensive, not compartmentalized—a truth later echoed in James 2:10.

Historical and Cultural Background

Ancient Near Eastern peoples often linked small burrowing animals with ominous portents or disease. Egyptian snake-eaters such as the weasel were revered; Israel was commanded to reject such associations. Archaeological excavations in Judean farmsteads reveal storage jars gnawed by rodents, illustrating the nuisance these animals posed. The Torah’s prohibition thus carried hygienic benefits, reducing contact with vectors of contagion long before germ theory.

Symbolic and Theological Themes

• Hiddenness and darkness: The burrower that thrives in the unseen serves as a living metaphor for sin “lying at the door” (Genesis 4:7).
• Corruption and decay: Contact with death—even that of a tiny creature—defiles, foreshadowing Paul’s assertion that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9).
• Separation unto God: The exclusion of חֹלֶד dramatized Israel’s calling to walk in the light (Isaiah 2:5), distancing themselves from practices rooted in darkness.

Intertestamental and Rabbinic Perspectives

Second Temple literature elaborated on Leviticus 11:29, grouping חֹלֶד with other burrowers as “creatures without eyes,” symbolizing spiritual blindness. The Mishnah (Hullin 9:3-4) stipulates precise vessel-cleansing rites when such animals fall into jars, underscoring enduring concern for purity in daily commerce.

New Covenant Fulfillment

Jesus declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19), and Peter’s rooftop vision (Acts 10:9-16) dismantled the ceremonial barrier between Jew and Gentile. Yet the moral principle behind the clean-unclean distinction persists: believers are urged to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1). The mole rat that once barred worshippers from the sanctuary now invites reflection on the heart’s hidden recesses, calling Christians to continual cleansing by the blood of Christ (1 John 1:7).

Ministry Applications

1. Teaching Illustration: Use חֹלֶד to show how seemingly insignificant compromises can hinder fellowship with God.
2. Discipleship: Encourage accountability in “small” habits—what one watches, reads, or entertains in secret.
3. Missions: Leviticus 11:29 demonstrates God’s concern for public health and creation care, providing common ground for conversations on holistic discipleship in agrarian contexts.

Related Biblical References

Leviticus 11 (entire chapter) – taxonomy of clean and unclean.

Deuteronomy 14:3-20 – parallel dietary code.

Isaiah 2:20 – idols cast to “moles and bats,” evoking subterranean imagery.

Acts 10:9-16 – abolition of ceremonial food barriers.

1 Peter 1:15-16 – call to holiness grounded in Leviticus.

Key Takeaways

• חֹלֶד appears once, yet it contributes to a sweeping biblical theology of holiness.
• God uses the ordinary (a burrowing pest) to instruct His people in extraordinary truth.
• Under the New Covenant, the creature’s ritual defilement is surpassed, but its object lesson endures: holiness penetrates the unseen places of life.

Forms and Transliterations

הַחֹ֥לֶד החלד ha·ḥō·leḏ haCholed haḥōleḏ

Englishman's Concordance

Leviticus 11:29
HEB: עַל־ הָאָ֑רֶץ הַחֹ֥לֶד וְהָעַכְבָּ֖ר וְהַצָּ֥ב
NAS: on the earth: the mole, and the mouse,
KJV: upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse,
INT: on the earth the mole and the mouse and the great

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 2467
1 Occurrence

ha·ḥō·leḏ — 1 Occ.