רֶמֶשׂ noun common masculine singular absolute   
2177.0 רָמַשׂ (r¹ma´) creep, walk on all fours.

(2177a) רֶמֶשׂ (reme´) creeping organism.

The Hebrew verb which describes the locomotion of small animals, especially reptiles, It appears primarily in the account of creation (Gen 1:21, 26, 28, 30; Gen 7:8, 14, 21; Gen 8:12, 19; Gen 9:2) and in the prohibitions against unclean foods (Lev 11:44, 46; Lev 20:25) and other such catalogues of beasts (Deut 4:18). It appears in two poetic passages (Psa 69:35; Psa 104:20) and one prophetic passage (Ezek 38:20), "All the creeping things that creep on the ground."

reme´. Creeping organisms. This masculine noun is one of the Hebrew classifiers of living creatures. It is apparently related to the Arabic ramaša, and to the Akkadian noun namashtu "creeping things." reme´ is used sixteen times in the OT, of which nine occurrences are in the creation account (Gen 1:24, 25, 26; Gen 6:7, 20; Gen 7:14, 23; Gen 8:19; Gen 9:3), and the account of the flood, The root encompasses all smaller animals but seems to exclude the large grazing animals, whales, birds, and insects. The root is used of sea creatures (Psa 104:25), "There, the sea, great and wide, in which are living creatures (reme´) innumerable." The most interesting limitation of the term is that given in one of the few prose passages in which reme´ appears (1Kings 5:13). The wisdom of Solomon is described, "And he spake of trees, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, and of birds, and of creeping organisms (reme´) and also of fishes." Another slightly variant differentiation appears in Ezek 38:20, "The fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the animals of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the ground." On the basis of these latter two usages it appears that reme´ means not only small mammals such as rodents but the small reptiles common in the gravel and rocks of Palestine. They are included in the collective statements as a small part of God's creation [This root overlaps the root sh¹raƒ "swarm" with its noun sheres (q.v.) which KJV also translates "creeping things." But whereas reme´ is used extensively in the Genesis accounts and not in the catalogue of unclean things in Lev 11 (except for the verb r¹ma´ twice), shereƒ is used sparingly in Gen and twelve times out of the total fifteen times in Lev. Apparently the verb ramas emphasizes the scurrying of smaller four-footed mammals, whereas sh¹raƒ emphasizes the teeming multiplication of some aquatic creatures and insects. The usage of shereƒ in Lev II clearly includes insects ("going on all fours." KJV refers perhaps to the front four legs of insects not counting the springing hind legs) vv. 20-23; small crawling creatures (mouse, lizard, snail, etc.,) vv. 29-31; things that glide or have many legs (snakes, spiders, caterpillars, etc.) vv. 41-44. All these small creatures multiply rapidly and as a class are scavengers, parasites, or are otherwise inedible. For a rationale of these laws of diet, cf. R. L. Harris, Man-God's Eternal Creation. R.L.H.] W.W.