Leviticus 11:13-19

(3) BIRDS 11:13-19
TEXT 11:13-19

13

And these ye shall have in abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the gier-eagle, and the ospray,

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and the kite, and the falcon after its kind,

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every raven after its kind,

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and the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the hawk after its kind,

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and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl,

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and the horned owl, and the pelican, and the vulture,

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and the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 11:13-19

208.

Name ten unclean birds. Why list so many of them?

209.

Is there some uniform characteristic of these birds?

PARAPHRASE 11:13-19

Among the birds, these are the ones you may not eat: the eagle, the metire, the osprey, the falcon (all kinds), the kite, the raven (all kinds), the ostrich, the nighthawk, the seagull, the hawk (all kinds), the owl, the cormorant, the ibis, the marsh hen, the pelican, the vulture, the stork, the heron (all kinds), the hoopoe, the bat.

COMMENT 11:13-19

Leviticus 11:13-16 We could conveniently divide these unclean birds into two categories: (1) Birds of the air: the eagle, the vulture, the ospray (the fish-hawk), the kite, the falcon, the ravensix birds of the air. (2) Birds of the earth, i.e. that live and eat nearer the earth than the above: the ostrich, the night-hawk (or a certain species of owl known to Syria), the sea gull, the hawk (small hawk of the field), the owl (we would consider this as the common barn owl)five birds of the earth. Much description could be givenand has been given concerning the nature and habitat of such birds. We refer the reader to other works on this subject.

Leviticus 11:17-19 Among several works we have found this description too good to miss:

The cormorant might be seen all over the surface of the Mediterranean, near its shores, sailing gracefully on the calm waves, or fluttering boldly amid the foaming billows in the storm, seeking its victims. The great owl, or bittern, might be heard booming from the sedges of the waters of Merom or of Jordan, busy all the time in industrious search for what would fill its appetite; and along with it the swan, or purple-bird (porphyrio hyacinthinus), seeking its supply of fishes by the side of lakes and rivers. By the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the pelican fished for its prey, and stored what it found in the bag wherewith it is provided. The gier-eagle is very tender of its young, according to its Hebrew name, yet in their behalf unsparingly seizes fish or winged fowl. It manifests evil in combination with good, and being pronounced unclean, led Israel to entertain abhorrence of any mixture of good and evil. The same lesson might be learnt from the stork. It was a bird familiarly known, nesting in the roofs of their houses, possessed of strong social and parental affections, yet feeding on lizards, frogs, serpents, and other living things. Last of all, the heron, angry and irritable, would often startle the man of God in some solitary spot, where it stood watching for its prey; the hoopoe, also, or lapwing, beautiful in feathers, yet filthy in habits, and noisy in its cry; and the bat (into whose retreats the shining idols of the heathen shall yet be cast, no more to catch the eye by their gaudy show, Isaiah 2:20), coming forth at evening-tide, when the air was still, hunting in the dusk for its food, and often flapping its wings most unexpectedly on the passer-by, and unpleasantly disturbing his quiet thoughts. All these, not only kept up to remembrance that there was a difference between clean and uncleansin and holinessgood and evilbut, by their individual qualities, impressed dislike for the unclean, and taught Israel to associate most unpleasant ideas with whatever was forbidden. (Andrew Bonar)

FACT QUESTIONS 11:13-19

262.

Name the two categories of birds and give three examples for each.

263.

Discuss the meaning of Bonar's description.