Lizards Are in the Bible Twice — Unclean, and Exceedingly Wise

Lizards are in the Bible twice, and the two passages could hardly disagree more. One puts them on a list of unclean creatures. The other holds one up as wise.

The unclean list

Of the animals that move along the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. (Leviticus 11:29-30)

Five of the eight are lizards, which is unusually specific.

Translators disagree about several of the identifications, because the Hebrew terms are rare and some appear only here. Most modern versions carry a footnote admitting it. The King James has “tortoise,” “ferret” and “snail” at points where newer versions read lizards — the same uncertainty, resolved differently.

What the list is doing matters more than the species. These are creatures that move along the ground and get into houses, and the rules concern contact and cleanliness rather than moral judgement about the animal.

The lizard in the palace

And the passage that makes the subject worth an article.

Proverbs closes with a set of lists — things that are never satisfied, things too amazing to understand, things that make the earth tremble. One of them is four small creatures that are exceedingly wise.

Ants, who store food in summer despite having little strength. Hyraxes, who live in the crags. Locusts, who have no king yet advance in ranks. And:

A lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces. (Proverbs 30:28)

It has no defence. Anyone can pick it up. And it is in the palace anyway.

The wisdom being praised is not strength or cunning. It is presence — being somewhere far above an apparent station, and staying there, because nobody thought it worth removing.

Why that list is arranged as it is

All four creatures share one thing: they are small, and none of them should be able to do what they do.

The ant has no commander. The hyrax has no power, so it lives where power cannot reach. The locusts have no king and still move like an army. The lizard has no defence and lives in a palace.

Proverbs is not sentimental about weakness. It is making an observation about how small things actually get on, and it is the same observation Paul makes about the church: God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27).

What lizards do not mean

Nothing symbolic. Scripture assigns them no meaning beyond the two passages above, and there is no basis for reading a lizard — seen, dreamt of, or found in a house — as a sign.

Leviticus 19:26 is short on the subject: do not practise divination or seek omens.

For anyone reading this after a dream: Scripture contains no dream dictionary and never implies one exists. Joseph and Daniel both say interpretation belongs to God rather than to their skill (Genesis 40:8; Daniel 2:27-28).

Frequently asked

Are lizards mentioned in the Bible?

Yes, twice. Leviticus 11:29-30 lists several kinds among unclean creatures, and Proverbs 30:28 names the lizard as one of four small wise things.

Are lizards unclean?

Under Leviticus 11, yes. The rules concern contact with creatures that move along the ground and get into houses, not moral judgement about the animal.

What does Proverbs 30:28 mean?

That a creature anyone could catch by hand is nonetheless found in kings’ palaces. The wisdom praised is presence rather than strength.

Does seeing a lizard mean anything?

Scripture assigns it no meaning, and Leviticus 19:26 warns against seeking omens.