Coney

The coney sits on a list of animals Israel was told not to eat. Leviticus 11 says it “cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you,” and Deuteronomy 14 repeats the rule, naming the camel and the hare beside it. Proverbs 30 gives the same animal a kinder mention: “The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.” Weak creatures still find a safe place to live. Christians differ about how Israel’s food laws apply today, but the verses are plain about the animal.

3 verses

Leviticus

Leviticus 11:5

And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 14:7

Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you.

Proverbs

Proverbs 30:26

The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

(Heb. shaphan; i.e., “the hider”), an animal which inhabits the mountain gorges and the rocky districts of Arabia Petraea and the Holy Land. “The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks” (Prov. 30:26; Ps. 104:18). They are gregarious, and “exceeding wise” (Prov. 30:24), and are described as chewing the cud (Lev. 11:5; Deut. 14:7).

The animal intended by this name is known among naturalists as the Hyrax Syriacus. It is neither a ruminant nor a rodent, but is regarded as akin to the rhinoceros. When it is said to “chew the cud,” the Hebrew word so used does not necessarily imply the possession of a ruminant stomach. “The lawgiver speaks according to appearances; and no one can watch the constant motion of the little creature’s jaws, as it sits continually working its teeth, without recognizing the naturalness of the expression” (Tristram, Natural History of the Bible). It is about the size and color of a rabbit, though clumsier in structure, and without a tail. Its feet are not formed for digging, and therefore it has its home not in burrows but in the clefts of the rocks. “Coney” is an obsolete English word for “rabbit.”

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From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(shaphan), a gregarious animal of the class Pachydermata, which is found in Palestine, living in the caves and clefts of the rocks, and has been erroneously identified with the rabbit or coney. Its scientific name as Hyrax syriacus . The hyrax satisfies exactly the expressions in (Psalms 104:18; Proverbs 30:26) Its color is gray or brown on the back, white on the belly; it is like the alpine marmot, scarcely of the size of the domestic cat, having long hair, a very short tail and round ears. It is found on Lebanon and in the Jordan and Dead Sea valleys.