JERBOA
The Hebrew word ʽakh·barʹ, variously rendered “mouse,” “rat,” “jerboa” and “jumping rodent,” is understood by many scholars as possibly embracing all varieties of rats, mice and related animals such as the jerboa. However, a recent Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon by Koehler and Baumgartner gives the meaning of the Hebrew term as “jerboa.” Lending weight to the correctness of this definition is the fact that in Arabic, a language related to Hebrew, ʽakbar denotes “male jerboa.” The proper name “Achbor” is considered to be but a variant of the Hebrew word rendered jerboa.—Gen. 36:38; 2 Ki. 22:12.
The jerboa is a jumping rodent that somewhat resembles a miniature kangaroo and is still encountered in the arid parts of the Middle East. Jerboas, of which there are several varieties, vary in combined head and body length from two to eight inches (c. 5 to 20 centimeters). Their ears and eyes are large. The front limbs are short, but the two hind limbs measure about two-thirds of the total head and body length. The tail is the longest part of the animal and terminates in a small brush. It enables the jerboa to retain balance when jumping and also gives it support when standing. The general coloration of jerboas is a yellowish brown, with white underparts and often a black-tipped tail. This nocturnal animal prefers desert lands, spending the hot day in its underground burrow but venturing forth during the cooler night to procure food.
Although the Arabs inhabiting the Syrian desert use the jerboa for food, it was legally unclean to the Israelites. (Lev. 11:29) But it seems that apostate Israelites ignored this prohibition of the Law.—Isa. 66:17; compare NW, 1958 ed., ftn.
Jerboas are destructive to grain and other crops. During the time the sacred Ark was in the territory of the Philistines, the divinely sent plague of jerboas brought the land to ruin.—1 Sam. 6:4, 5, 11, 18.
[Picture on page 900]
The desert jerboa resembles a miniature kangaroo