The bat was regarded as unclean. Two reasons may be given for
this--corresponding to the two classes of bats which are known to have
existed in Bible lands. We have first the _insectivorous_ bats, which,
both in habits and appearance, are so repugnant that no one would ever
dream of regarding them as food, or as fit objects for sacrifice. They
were rejected on the principle that nothing repulsive or hideous is to
be eaten or offered; for this would offend the _horror naturalis_ which
is so great a safeguard in human life. And indeed, if these were the
only bats known to the Jews, the prohibition as thus applied would seem
to be needless. But these were not the only bats. We have also the
large _frugivorous_ bats which have been used as food in various parts
of the world; and they may have been so used by the Jews themselves when
sojourning in the land of Egypt. The Egyptian monuments show that these
large fox-headed bats were not at all uncommon in the valley of the
Nile; and Canon Tristram secured two fine specimens even in Central
Palestine, which measured twenty and a half inches from wing to wing.
Now if surrounding nations ate these bats as a common article of diet,
would not this be a sufficient reason why the Jews should not be allowed
to touch them? I think it would. Israel as a nation was set apart to
Jehovah. They were His peculiar people. They were His chosen and
purchased possession; and therefore even in their food there must be a
separation in which this reference to Jehovah was expressed. They must
be made to feel that even in the prohibition of the bat and other
animals, the divine command had been addressed to them, "Come out from
among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord."
And yet one cannot but think that all this was rather hard on the bat.
"It is said that the African negroes depict and describe _their_ evil
spirits as white; and that in consequence, the negro children fly in
consternation if perchance a white man comes into their territory. Yet
a white man is not so very horrid an object after all, if one only dare
look at him, and the same remark holds good with the bats." (J. G.
Wood.) A very pretty and useful creature is the bat, and it is quite
qualified to teach us many valuable lessons.