King James Bible Dictionary

Heb. tinshameth (Leviticus 11:30), probably signifies some species of lizard (rendered in R.V., "chameleon"). In Leviticus 11:18, Deuteronomy 14:16, it is rendered, in Authorized Version, "swan" (R.V., "horned owl").

The Heb. holed (Leviticus 11:29), rendered "weasel," was probably the mole-rat. The true mole (Talpa Europoea) is not found in Palestine. The mole-rat (Spalax typhlus) "is twice the size of our mole, with no external eyes, and with only faint traces within of the rudimentary organ; no apparent ears, but, like the mole, with great internal organs of hearing; a strong, bare snout, and with large gnawing teeth; its colour a pale slate; its feet short, and provided with strong nails; its tail only rudimentary."

In Isaiah 2:20, this word is the rendering of two words _haphar peroth_, which are rendered by Gesenius "into the digging of rats", i.e., rats' holes. But these two Hebrew words ought probably to be combined into one (lahporperoth) and translated "to the moles", i.e., the rat-moles. This animal "lives in underground communities, making large subterranean chambers for its young and for storehouses, with many runs connected with them, and is decidedly partial to the loose debris among ruins and stone-heaps, where it can form its chambers with least trouble."

Leviticus 11:30
Isaiah 2:20

1. Tinshemeth. (Leviticus 11:30) It is probable that the animals mentioned with the tinshemeth in the above passage denote different kinds of lizards; perhaps, therefore, the chameleon is the animal intended.
2. Chephor peroth is rendered "moles" in (Isaiah 2:20) (The word means burrowers, hole-diggers, and may designate any of the small animals, as rats and weasels, which burrow among ruins. Many scholars, according to McClintock and Strong's "Cyclopedia," consider that the Greek aspalax is the animal intended by both the words translated mole. It is not the European mole, but is a kind of blind mole-rat, from 8 to 12 inches long, feeding on vegetables, and burrowing like a mole, but on a larger scale. It is very common in Russia, and Hasselquiest says it is abundant on the plains of Sharon in Palestine.

   ED.)

MOLE, noun

1. A spot, mark or small permanent protuberance on the human body, from which usually issue one or more hairs.

2. [Latin mola.] A mass of fleshy matter of a spherical figure, generated in the uterus.

MOLE, noun [Latin moles.]

1. A mound or massive work formed of large stones laid in the sea by means of coffer dams, extended either in a right line or an arch of a circle before a port, which it serves to defend from the violent impulse of the waves; thus protecting ships in a harbor. The word is sometimes used for the harbor itself.

2. Among the Romans, a kind of mausoleum, built like a round tower on a square base, insulated, encompassed with columns and covered with a dome.

MOLE, noun A small animal of the genus Talpa, which in search of worms or other insects, forms a road just under the surface of the ground, raising the soil into a little ridge; from which circumstance it is called a mold-warp, or mold-turner. The mole has very small eyes.

Learn of the mole to plow, the worm to weave.

MOLE, verb transitive To clear of mole-hills. [Local.]

MO'LE-BAT, noun A fish.

MO'LE-C'AST, noun A little elevation of earth made by a mole.

MO'LE-CATCHER, noun One whose employment is to catch moles.

Moloch, king

Called also Moloch and Milcom.

An idol of the Ammonites
Acts 7:43

Worshiped by the wives of Solomon, and by Solomon
1 Kings 11:1-8

Children sacrificed to
2 Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 32:35; 2 Kings 16:3; 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chronicles 28:3; Isaiah 57:5; Jeremiah 7:31; Ezekiel 16:20-21; Ezekiel 20:26; Ezekiel 20:31; Ezekiel 23:37; Ezekiel 23:39; Leviticus 18:21; Leviticus 20:2-5

(king). The fire-god Molech was the tutelary deity of the children of Ammon, and essentially identical with the Moabitish Chemosh. Fire-gods appear to have been common to all the Canaanite, Syrian and Arab tribes, who worshipped the destructive element under an outward symbol, with the most inhuman rites. According to Jewish tradition, the image of Molech was of brass, hollow within, and was situated without Jerusalem. "His face was (that) of a calf, and his hands stretched forth like a man who opens his hands to receive (something) of his neighbor. And they kindled it with fire, and the priests took the babe and put it into the hands of Molech, and the babe gave up the ghost." Many instances of human sacrifices are found in ancient writers, which may be compared with the description of the Old Testament of the manner in which Molech was worshipped. Molech was the lord and master of the Ammonites; their country was his possession, (Jeremiah 49:1) as Moab was the heritage of Chemosh; the princes of the land were the princes of Malcham. (Jeremiah 49:3; Amos 1:15) His priests were men of rank, (Jeremiah 49:3) taking precedence of the princes. The priests of Molech, like those of other idols, were called Chemarim. (2 Kings 23:5; Hosea 10:5; Zephaniah 1:4)

MO'LE-CRICKET, noun An insect of the genus Gryllus.

MO'LECULE, noun A very minute particle of matter. Molecules are elementary, constituent, or integrant. The latter result from the union of the elementary.

MO'LE-EYED, adjective Having very small eyes; blind.

MO'LE-HILL, noun A little hillock or elevation of earth thrown up by moles working under ground; hence proverbially, a very small hill, or other small thing, compared with a larger.

--Having leaped over such mountains, lie down before a mole-hill

MOLEST', verb transitive [Latin molestus, troublesome, molo. See Mill.]

To trouble; to disturb; to render uneasy.

They have molested the church with needless opposition.

MOLESTA'TION, noun Disturbance; annoyance; uneasiness given. [It usually expresses less than vexation.]

MOLEST'ED, participle passive Disturbed; troubled; annoyed.

MOLEST'ER, noun One that disturbs.

MOLEST'FUL, adjective Troublesome.

MOLEST'ING, participle present tense Disturbing; troubling.

MO'LE-TRACK, noun The course of a mole under ground.

MO'LE-WARP, noun A mole. [See Mole and mold-warp.]