Cat

So, for the cat lovers among you, we’ll dedicate today’s word to this lovely animal which for some unknown reason is absent from our scriptures.

The name ‘chatool’ is derived from the biblical verb ‘chatel.’ In the moment we disclose the meaning of this verb you’ll know why the cat was given its Hebrew name. But before this disclosure, we want to give you a hint in the form of the biblical word that is made by this verb: ‘chitool,’ a diaper (or a nappy, if you prefer the British term).

Was this clue of any help for you to figure out why a cat is called in Hebrew in a name that sounds almost the same as diaper?

Chitool, as a diaper, is mentioned in the New Testament. Perhaps you can use this verse as the second clue for the cat’s name:

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn”

Enough?

If not, here’s the example from the Old Testament: “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, behold, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a dressing to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword” (Ezekiel 30:21). Here, the word ‘chitool,’ of course, is not a baby’s diaper but something like a flexible band.

The common thing between these two examples is that, in both, the ‘chitool’ is something that is flexible enough to warp around a person’s arm or a baby’s waist.

Well, the verb ‘chatel’ means ‘to wrap around,’ and if you happen to have a cat in your home, you know how much this flexible animal loves to wraps around you.

Despite being loved by so many people, the name ‘chatool’ is never used for people.

This is all − the chatool is as flexible and wraps around just like its lingual source − the diaper.