True of False?
While lions, and virtually all other domestic animals are mentioned in the Christian Holy Book, it was not to be the fate of domestic cats. No one seems to have a concrete answer as to why cats are not mentioned in the Bible, but some speculate that it is because the Israelites were a nomadic tribe, unlike the Egyptian urban dwellers, and so would have little use for cats.
There was also likely a social-phobic ancient idol stigma associated with cats. Their images and symbology have long been associated with the worship of ‘other’ gods, that the Israelites were ‘shaddim’ or forbidden from (‘shadd-eem’ the plural form of ‘shaddai’), and so were scrupulously avoided, or even mentioned.
Or, maybe it was because domestic cats were often companions of the elderly and lonely. In a superstitious environment, a person who lived and ‘conversed’ with a cat would have been viewed as having a ‘familiar’, or a ‘shadd’ (demon spirit) that they communicated with. That would put them in great danger of fatally being called a ‘kashaph’ (witch or sorcerer). Because cats live comfortably with people, it is thought that they would be the perfect body for a demon spirit to take possession of, and inhabit.
The short answer is that no one knows why cats are not mentioned in the Bible. The Bible doesn’t contain everything about everything, as it is not an encyclopedia, it is a religious anthology. This provides a very strong argument to state that things should not be discounted or ignored, simply because they are ‘not in the Bible’.
True Or False? Domestic cats are not mentioned in the Bible.
TRUE
