The saying that a "leopard cannot change its spots" is found in Jeremiah 13:23.

Related sayings include the following.

• A zebra (or tiger) cannot change its stripes.
• One cannot teach on old dog new tricks.

There are two primary sources used to describe causation such as diseases, behavior, etc.

• nature
• nurture

There are combinations and interactions of these that may impact diseases, behavior, etc., but the root cause can often be traced to one of these two factors.

Nature has to do with the physical reality of the universe and the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) information in living plants, organisms, animals, humans, etc. Once can include the RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) in certain viruses, etc., as impacting what happens.

More: 2 Peter 2:1-22 Déjà vu all over again

Nurture has to do with how one is trained, taught, etc.

Nurture is so strong that people who do not like to change will sometimes insist that it is nature and not nurture.

A popular book on the difficulty of organizational change was written by Thomas Kuhn (in the early 1960's).

The Hebrew word for "accustomed" is interesting.

The Hebrew word "למדי" (lim-mu-de) ≈ "who are accustomed".

Herodotus reports that the name "Ethiopia" means "dark skinned" or "black skinned" as when viewed with the eye (though that view is disputed and there are other explanations). At the time, the Ethiopians were considered more civilized than say, the Scythians who would have had pale or white skin.

• The ancient Greek word "Αἰθιοπία" ≈ "Ethiopia".

One should not impart a contemporary racial view on this statement. The underlying nature, such as skin color, gender, spots, etc., are built into the DNA and cannot be changed (as far as we know) by nurture.

The field of "epigenetics" is concerned with changing DNA.

Details are left as a future topic.

A paradoxical situation exists in a contemporary "gender change". One hears that we should not look at nor judge (i.e., separate into groups) based on outward appearances but, instead, look inside the person as to who that person really is.

On the other hand, a "gender change" involves superficial changes to the outward appearance. Inside, the DNA of over one trillion cells in a human body is not changed from the original with which that person was born.

For a play on the meaning of information and the phrase "gender change".

Jesus refers to this in Matthew 19:4 and Mark 10:6 which, of course, go back to the creation in the beginning - in Genesis.

In terms of DNA (and physical reality), is there something other than male and female?

If not, then the mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive choices are male or female.

The Germanic roots of "wife" is that of meaning "woman". In that sense, saying "my wife" and "my woman" have the same meaning (in an original sense).

• The Middle English word "wyf" ≈ "woman".
• The Old English word "wif" ≈ "woman".
• The German word "Weib" ≈ "woman" (which is today a somewhat derogatory reference in German).

The word used for "spots" in the LXX is the word used for the "painted" in "painted porch", the "porch" with "paintings" or "frescoes" for which the "Stoics" are named.

This same word is the word that was translated in the KJV as "many-colored" in the coat of Joseph.

More: A coat of paint for porch pictures

In contrast to a leopard not being able to change its spots, a snake can shed it's skin and, to some extent, take on a new look.

From Genesis, Satan is associated with a serpent or snake and will adapt to changing situations.

Details are left as a future topic.