# Does the bible mention cats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109 "2009-11-10T23:40:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/21 "2009-11-11T16:26:08Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I think y’all are all missing the fact that the O.T. God was obviously a cat: fickle, judgmental, alternately cold and indifferent and raging with fury, and prone to putting people in sandy places and shitting all over them. Wow, that does explain a lot. I mean, what was the whole deal with telling Abraham to sacrifice his son, only to pull that back at the last minute? Or telling Moses to go tell Pharaoh to release the Hebrews, but oh “he will not listen” (because He plans to harden his heart), and now for some smiting? Cat. Yes. I see. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/22 "2009-11-11T18:03:12Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I think y’all are all missing the fact that the O.T. God was obviously a cat: fickle, judgmental, alternately cold and indifferent and raging with fury, and prone to putting people in sandy places and shitting all over them. No, that’s not it. God is [bipolar.](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28484) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/23 "2009-11-11T18:09:12Z")
Teh kitteh was long a devil incarnate in European Christianity (indeed it’s been suggested the great plagues were sped along by a lack of predators against rats). Could the King James Bible have suppressed mention of _Felis catus_ for just these reasons? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/24 "2009-11-11T21:16:39Z")
Interesting. Many people have told me that the sole source of knowledge is The Bible. Since no cats are mentioned, they clearly do not exist. So that furry thing sitting 4 feet from me now must be a Satan-induced hallucination. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/25 "2009-11-11T21:32:09Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Teh kitteh was long a devil incarnate in European Christianity (indeed it’s been suggested the great plagues were sped along by a lack of predators against rats). Could the King James Bible have suppressed mention of _Felis catus_ for just these reasons? Suppression in one late vernacular European language wouldn’t mean much nowadays, even if it had happened. The Bible was written long before the English were Christian, after all, and Hebrew and Greek texts are regularly read and re-translated into the vernacular. Cats were (and are) strongly associated with witches but “a devil incarnate” seems a bit strong. If that were true, wouldn’t the habit of keeping domestic cats have been discouraged? It would also be nice to have a cite for the suggestion that a decline in the cat population hastened the spread of Bubonic Plague; my impression was that a population with no immunity living in close proximity to each other and infrequent laundering of outerwear were more salient factors. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/26 "2009-11-11T21:41:01Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > You misspelt\* cat-holic\*. And we study the cat-echism to learn dog-ma. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/27 "2009-11-11T21:41:30Z")
There is also the effect of translation to consider:- > [@](#): > > \*Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. > > And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. \*Leviticus 11: 4-6 The ‘coney’ [European rabbit] was the word the translators of the Authorised Version used, though the original animal was probably the Egyptian hyrax. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/28 "2009-11-11T22:00:09Z")
Wait, I thought that it was only those things that _do_ chew the cud that were kosher, not those that _don’t_. After all, cows chew their cud, and there’s kosher beef. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/29 "2009-11-11T22:03:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wait, I thought that it was only those things that _do_ chew the cud that were kosher, not those that _don’t_. After all, cows chew their cud, and there’s kosher beef. If they chew their cud and have split hooves, they’re kosher. If they don’t do both, then they’re not. And one of the reasons cats aren’t mentioned in the bible was because domestic cats were associated with Egypt, and the ancient Israelites weren’t all that fond of Egypt. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/30 "2009-11-11T22:04:44Z")
They have to both chew their cud and have cloven hooves. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/31 "2009-11-11T22:15:16Z")
All right, so we’ve established that cats aren’t kosher… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/32 "2009-11-11T22:25:19Z")
Does that mean that Orthodox Jewish men don’t…ummmm…you know…? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/33 "2009-11-11T22:49:24Z")
Eat ham or rabbit? That’s correct. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/34 "2009-11-11T23:26:16Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Cats were (and are) strongly associated with witches but “a devil incarnate” seems a bit strong. If that were true, wouldn’t the habit of keeping domestic cats have been discouraged? It would also be nice to have a cite for the suggestion that a decline in the cat population hastened the spread of Bubonic Plague; my impression was that a population with no immunity living in close proximity to each other and infrequent laundering of outerwear were more salient factors. [One cite for said suggestion](http://cats.suite101.com/article.cfm/cats_and_the_black_plague). Googling [cats bubonic plague] will reveal others. ---
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/35 "2009-11-11T23:33:10Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Interesting. Many people have told me that the sole source of knowledge is The Bible. Since no cats are mentioned, they clearly do not exist. So that furry thing sitting 4 feet from me now must be a Satan-induced hallucination. The King James Bible mistranslated the word for cat as “serpent”. Cats, as everyone know, are six feet tall, have green scaly skin, and eat little babies. The only reason we think they’re soft and cute is that they have very good PR. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/36 "2009-11-12T02:41:05Z")
Cats are mentioned a few times in the Hindu Laws of Manu. From chapter 4: > [@](#): > > 1. (A man) who, ever covetous, displays the flag of virtue, (who is) a hypocrite, a deceiver of the people, intent on doing injury, (and) a detractor (from the merits) of all men, one must know to be one who acts like a cat. > > 2. That Brahmana, who with downcast look, of a cruel disposition, is solely intent on attaining his own ends, dishonest and falsely gentle, is one who acts like a heron. > > 3. Those Brahmanas who act like herons, and those who display the characteristics of cats, fall in consequence of that wicked mode of acting into (the hell called) Andhatamisra. (tr. George Bühler) [Internet History Sourcebooks Project](http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/india/manu-full.html) Verse 195 shows up in the appendix of C.S. Lewis’ _The Abolition of Man_ this way: “He who is cruel and calumnious has the character of a cat.” ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/37 "2009-11-12T15:15:14Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Does that mean that Orthodox Jewish men don’t…ummmm…you know…? Don’t what? Edit: Ohhh, I think I see what you did there… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/38 "2009-11-12T15:32:02Z")
Is beaver kosher? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109/39 "2009-11-12T16:56:41Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Does that mean that Orthodox Jewish men don’t…ummmm…you know…? Choke the chicken? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-bible-mention-cats/517109.md?page=1)