To Bob:
 
I think I may have an explaintion for these inconsistancies (sp) to these
ferret listing in the Bible.  I studied the Bible for 4 semesters back in
college, and we found that these differences exist throughout the different
versions of the Bible.
 
>King James (29-30): "....and the tortoise after his kind.  And the
>ferret,...."
 
>Modern Language (29-30): "....every species of turtle, the ferret,...."
 
The King James Version ( and all others that have spawned from it such as
The Moden Language, The Good News, Etc.) are great Bibles in and among
themselves, but the "correctness" is questionable.  The KJV was published in
1611 in England.  (This may be a point on the ferrets side.  All these
animals were found in England at the time [don't know about the turtle
though], so this may lead to the point that ferret definetly existed in
England in 1611.)
 
The KJV was a sort-of "soap-box" for the monarchy in England at the time so
it is not completely true to the original manuscripts.  (Don't ever tell
this to a Southern Baptist though). Most Bibles use the KJV as a starting
point, translating and rewriting it as needed.  So this leads them to even
greater diversity.
 
Bibles such The Revised Standard, New Revised Standard, and the ones you
listed use older "more accurate" sources, including the Dead Sea Scrolls.
(Speaking of them, there is a program out that has the majority of the Dead
Sea Scrolls translated, and Leviticus is one of the book found in the
scrolls, check it out or one of the Websites for the scrolls.  It may have
the most up to date translations of the passage)
 
Depending on what the Scrolls say, ferrets have been close to us since at
least 1611. Also if you can find a DIRECT translation of the Latin Vulgate,
you can safely date them back much further.  If the scrolls say FERRET and
not GECKO push it back to Israel at the turn of the millenium!
 
Hope this helps somewhat...................................................
 
Merry Dook-mas to all, and to all a Dook night!
 
Jamie, Puddin', and Zoe
[Posted in FML issue 1414]