Tachash
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Tachash is an animal referred to in the Bible (Exodus 25, 26, 35, 36 and 39; Numbers 4, and Ezekiel 16:10), the skin of which was used in the Tabernacle, as the outer covering of the tent of the Tabernacle and to wrap sacred objects used within the Tabernacle for transport.
What animal the word 'tachash' refers to is a matter of some debate. According to the Babylonian Talmud and Rashi's commentary, the tanchash was a kosher, multi-colored, one horned desert animal which came into existence to be used to build the Tabernacle and ceased to exist afterward. The King James Version of the Bible translates the word tachash as badger. Another hypothesis is that the Hebrew term "orot t'chashim" refers to very fine dyed sheep or goat leather, hence the Jerusalem Bible translates the term as "fine leather". A currently popular hypothesis is that the term "tachash" means dugong. This translation is based upon the similarity between tachash and the Arabic word tukhas, which means dugong. In accordance with this hypothesis several translations, such as the Jewish Publication Society translation, render tachash as dolphin or sea cow. Others believe the tachash was related to the keresh, a creature most often identified with the giraffe, with a similar description mentioned in the Gemara. [1] It is not explicitly stated if the tachash was a mammal or not.
In Literature
The poet Robert Graves says in The White Goddess the covering skin of the Ark was "dolphin hide", but in I, Claudius, has the narrator describe it as badger skin.
Unclean animals excluded
In light of Leviticus (11:4-8; 11:10-12; 20:25-26 -- most translations) the badger is excluded because it does not "chew the cud and divide the hoof"; the dugong, dolphin and porpoise are excluded because they do not have "fins and scales"; and the giraffe is excluded because it does not "divide the hoof". This supports the hypothesis that "orot t'chashim" refers to very fine dyed sheep or goat leather as a parallel with "rams' skins dyed red." The New American Bible footnote to Exodus 25:5 (in part) says of Tahash: "The Greek and Latin versions took it for the color hyacinth." In this case, we have "a covering of rams' skins dyed red, and above that a covering of hyacinth skins": a covering of skins dyed red and an outer covering of skins dyed blue.
Other Biblical Translations
The New_American_Standard_Bible (NASB) which is widely regarded as one of the most literal translations translates tachash as porpoise.