2546. chomet
Lexical Summary
chomet: Vinegar

Original Word: חֹמֶט
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: chomet
Pronunciation: kho'-mets
Phonetic Spelling: (kho'met)
KJV: snail
NASB: sand reptile
Word Origin: [from an unused root probably meaning, to lie low]

1. a lizard (as creeping)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
snail

From an unused root probably meaning, to lie low; a lizard (as creeping) -- snail.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
(a kind of) lizard
NASB Translation
sand reptile (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
חֹ֫מֶט noun [masculine] a kind of lizard, only in list of unclean creeping animals Leviticus 11:30 וְהָאֲנָקָה וְהַכֹּחַ וְהַלְּטָאָ֑ה וְהַחֹמֶט וְהַתִּנְשָֽׁמֶת ׃ (Aramaic is chameleon).

Topical Lexicon
Biblical Setting

The only appearance of חֹמֶט occurs in Leviticus 11:30, where it is listed among the “creeping things” whose carcasses render the Israelites ceremonially unclean. The Berean Standard Bible reads: “the gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon.” In the larger context of Leviticus 11, these animals are grouped with eight small land-creatures (Leviticus 11:29–30) that stand apart from the more familiar clean–unclean distinctions of livestock, fish, birds, and insects. Their inclusion underscores the comprehensive reach of the holiness code—nothing that crawls upon the earth is exempt from God’s scrutiny (Leviticus 11:44–45).

Classification among the “Swarming Things” (šereṣ)

Ancient Israel distinguished between “beasts” (behemâ), “flying things” (‛ôph), “fish” (dag), and the broad category “swarming things” (šereṣ). The חֹמֶט belongs to this last group. Contact with its dead body required both personal cleansing (Leviticus 11:31–32) and the washing of any article upon which it fell, demonstrating how defilement could pass from creature to human and from human to daily objects. The legislation therefore functioned pedagogically, training the people to sense defilement in every sphere of life.

Historical Identification

Exact modern identification is debated:
• Many contemporary scholars favor some variety of desert monitor lizard (Varanus griseus) common to the Sinai and Negev.
• Older English versions rendered the term “snail,” largely on the basis of phonetic similarity to Arabic ḥimat. Zoologically, however, a land snail does not fit well with the reptilian companions in the list.
• Others propose a skink (Scincus officinalis) or sand lizard (Lacerta agilis), both plentiful in arid Near-Eastern environments.

Whatever the precise species, the ancient audience recognized it as a common, low-lying creature of the dust—hardly majestic, yet capable of stealthily invading tents, jars, or food stores once dead, thereby explaining the strict purity measures.

Ceremonial and Theological Significance

1. Separation unto holiness: By declaring the carcass of the חֹמֶט unclean, YHWH impressed upon Israel that holiness extends to the mundane. The people were reminded daily that covenant fellowship depends on continual discernment (Leviticus 10:10).
2. Reverence for life and death: Even a small corpse could defile, teaching Israel to treat death as an intrusion into God’s good creation (Genesis 2:17; Romans 5:12).
3. Anticipation of redemption: The elaborate cleansings foreshadowed the definitive purification accomplished by Christ, who “through His own blood… obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).

Ministry Applications

• Personal Purity: Just as touching the lifeless חֹמֶט made one unclean until evening, careless contact with sin deadens present fellowship with God. Confession and the cleansing work of Christ remain essential (1 John 1:7–9).
• Discipleship: The obscure creatures of Leviticus demonstrate that no detail of life lies outside God’s concern. Believers are called to present even the most ordinary habits—diet, recreation, associations—as holy offerings (Romans 12:1).
• Teaching Children: Because the חֹמֶט is relatively unknown today, it provides an engaging doorway to explain the whole sacrificial system, the seriousness of sin, and the sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice.

Christological Perspective

Where the Law exposed defilement through contact with the unclean, the Gospel reveals Jesus who willingly touched lepers, corpses, and sinners yet remained undefiled, imparting cleanness instead (Mark 1:41; Luke 7:14; Hebrews 7:26). The lowly חֹמֶט thus plays its quiet part in the grand narrative that culminates in the One who “abolished in His flesh the law of commandments expressed in ordinances” (Ephesians 2:15) to create a purified people zealous for good works (Titus 2:14).

Summary

Though mentioned only once, חֹמֶט contributes to the Scripture’s consistent testimony: the Holy One of Israel calls His people to be holy in every sphere of life, provides a pattern of cleansing, and ultimately fulfills that pattern in the atoning work of Jesus Christ.

Forms and Transliterations
וְהַחֹ֖מֶט והחמט vehaChomet wə·ha·ḥō·meṭ wəhaḥōmeṭ
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Englishman's Concordance
Leviticus 11:30
HEB: וְהַכֹּ֖חַ וְהַלְּטָאָ֑ה וְהַחֹ֖מֶט וְהַתִּנְשָֽׁמֶת׃
NAS: and the lizard, and the sand reptile, and the chameleon.
KJV: and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole.
INT: and the crocodile and the lizard and the sand and the chameleon

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 2546
1 Occurrence


wə·ha·ḥō·meṭ — 1 Occ.

2545
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