akbar. The Hebrew word refers to some species of rodent, and the word may include the field mouse, the hamster, and the jerboa, all of which are found in Palestine, and are very destructive to the crops. They were forbidden for food as unclean. Leviticus 11:29; Isaiah 66:17 . When the Philistines returned the ark, they sent as a trespass offering images of their emerods, and images of the mice that 'marred the land.' 1 Samuel 6:4-18 .