Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 11:13
And these [are they which] ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they [are] an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey,
13. the eagle ] Heb. nsher, great vulture R.V. mg. The nsher is described (Mic 1:16) as bald, as spying for prey on the peaks of the rocks, and as swooping down upon the slain (Hab 1:8; Job 39:27-30). The griffon, of the vulture family, is denoted by this Heb. word. The eagle cannot be described as bald, having feathers on the head and neck, but the griffon has only down.
the gier eagle ] Heb. pre, the ‘breaker’ or ‘cleaver’: the bearded vulture, Gypaetus barbatus, which breaks the bones of animals in order to obtain the marrow. Hence the name ‘ossifrage’ (bone breaker) in A.V. Geire (cp. the German Geier) was an old English word for vulture.
the ospray ] The fishing hawk or another species of eagle. There are seven different kinds of eagle in Palestine.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As far as they can be identified, the birds here mentioned are such as live upon animal food. They were those which the Israelites might have been tempted to eat, either from their being easy to obtain, or from the example of other nations, and which served as types of the entire range of prohibited kinds.
Lev 11:13
The eagle – Rather, the great vulture, which the Egyptians are known to have ranked as the first among birds. Compare 2Sa 1:23; Psa 103:5; Pro 23:5, etc.
The Ossifrage, or bone-breaker, was the lammer-geyer, and the ospray (a corruption of ossifrage) the sea-eagle.
Lev 11:14
The vulture – Rather, the (black) kite Isa 34:15 : the kite, rather the red kite, remarkable for its piercing sight Job 28:7.
Lev 11:15
Every raven after his kind – i. e. the whole family of corvidae.
Lev 11:16
And the owl … – Rather, and the ostrich, and the owl, and the gull, and the hawk, etc.
Lev 11:18
The swan – More probably the ibis, the sacred bird of the Egyptians. The gier eagle is most likely the Egyptian vulture, a bird of unprepossessing appearance and disgusting habits, but fostered by the Egyptians as a useful scavenger.
Lev 11:19
The heron … the lapwing – Rather, the great plover the hoopoe, so called from its peculiar cry.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. And these – among the fowls – the eagle] nesher, from nashar, to lacerate, cut, or tear to pieces; hence the eagle, a most rapacious bird of prey, from its tearing the flesh of the animals it feeds on; and for this purpose birds of prey have, in general, strong, crooked talons and a hooked beak. The eagle is a cruel bird, exceedingly ravenous, and almost insatiable.
The ossifrage] Or bone-breaker, from os, a bone, and frango, I break, because it not only strips off the flesh, but breaks the bone in order to extract the marrow. In Hebrew it is called peres, from paras, to break or divide in two, and probably signifies that species of the eagle anciently known by the name of ossifraga, and which we render ossifrage.
Ospray] ozniyah, from azan, to be strong, vigorous; generally supposed to mean the black eagle, such as that described by Homer, Iliad. lib. xxi., ver. 252.
‘ , ,
‘ .
“Having the rapidity of the black eagle, that bird of prey, at once the swiftest and the strongest of the feathered race.”
Among the Greeks and Romans the eagle was held sacred, and is represented as carrying the thunderbolts of Jupiter. This occurs so frequently, and is so well known, that references are almost needless. See Scheuchzer.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The true signification of these and the following Hebrew words is now lost, as the Jews at this day confess, which not falling out without Gods singular providence may intimate the cessation or abolition of this law, the exact observation whereof since Christ came is become impossible. In general, this may be observed, that the fowls forbidden in diet are all either ravenous and cruel, or such as delight in the night and darkness, or such as feed upon impure things; and so the signification and reason of these prohibitions is manifest, to teach men to abominate all cruelty or oppression, and all works of darkness and filthiness.
The ossifrage and the
ospray are two peculiar kinds of eagles, distinct from that which, being the chief of its kind, is called by the name of the whole kind, as it usually happens.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13-19. these are they which ye shallhave in abomination among the fowlsAll birds of prey areparticularly ranked in the class unclean; all those which feed onflesh and carrion. No less than twenty species of birds, all probablythen known, are mentioned under this category, and the inferencefollows that all which are not mentioned were allowed; that is, fowlswhich subsist on vegetable substances. From our imperfect knowledgeof the natural history of Palestine, Arabia, and the contiguouscountries at that time, it is not easy to determine exactly what someof the prohibited birds were; although they must have been all wellknown among the people to whom these laws were given.
the ossifrageHebrew,“bone-breaker,” rendered in the Septuagint“griffon,” supposed to be the Gypoeligtos barbatus,the Lammer Geyer of the Swissa bird of the eagle or vulturespecies, inhabiting the highest mountain ranges in Western Asia aswell as Europe. It pursues as its prey the chamois, ibex, or marmot,among rugged cliffs, till it drives them over a precipicethusobtaining the name of “bone-breaker.”
the ospraythe blackeagle, among the smallest, but swiftest and strongest of its kind.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And these [are they which] ye shall have in abomination among the fowls,…. No description or sign is given of fowls, as of beasts and fishes, only the names of those not to be eaten; which, according to Maimonides, are twenty four; so that all the rest but these are clean fowls, and might be eaten; wherefore the same writer observes x, that,
“whoever was expert in these kinds, and in their names, might eat of every fowl which was not of them, and there was no need of an inquiry:”
but what creatures are intended by these is not now easy to know; very different are the sentiments both of the Jews and Christians concerning them; and indeed it does not much concern us Christians to know what are meant by them, but as curiosity may lead us to such an inquiry, not thinking ourselves bound by these laws; but it is of moment with the Jews to know them, who think they are; wherefore, to supply this deficiency, they venture to give some signs by which clean and unclean fowls may be known, and they are three; such are clean who have a superfluous claw, and also a craw, and a crop that is uncovered by the hand y; and on the contrary they are unclean, and not to be eaten, as says the Targum of Jonathan, which have no superfluous talon, or no craw, or a crop not uncovered:
they shall not be eaten, they [are] an abomination; and they are those that follow:
the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray; about the first of these there is no difficulty, all agree the eagle is intended; which has its name either from the nature of its sight, or from the casting of its feathers, or from its tearing with its bill: it is a bird of prey, a very rapacious creature, and sometimes called the bird of Jupiter, and sacred to the gods; and these may be the reasons why forbid to be eaten, as well as because its flesh is hard, and not fit for food, and unwholesome; “the ossifrage” or “bone breaker” has its name from its tearing its prey and breaking its bones for the marrow, as the word “peres” here used signifies, Mic 3:3 it is said to dig up bodies in burying places to eat what it finds in the bones z: this is thought to be of the eagle kind, as it is reckoned by Pliny a, though Aristotle b speaks of it as very different from the eagle, as larger than that, and of an ash colour; and is so kind to the eagle’s young, that when they are cast out by that, it takes them and brings them up: the “ospray” is the “halioeetus”, or sea eagle, as the Septuagint version and several others render it; which Aristotle c describes as having a large and thick neck, crooked wings, and a broad tail, and resides about the sea and shores: Pliny d speaks of it as having a very clear sight, and, poising itself on high, having sight of a fish in the sea, will rush down at once and fetch it out of the water; and he also reports that she will take her young before they are fledged, and oblige them to look directly against the rays of the sun, and if any of them wink, or their eyes water, she casts them out of her nest as a spurious brood. Aristotle e, who relates the same, says she kills them. The name of this creature, in the Hebrew text, seems to be taken from its strength; wherefore Bochart f is of opinion, that the “melanoeetos”, or black eagle, which, though the least of eagles as to its size, exceeds all others in strength, as both Aristotle g and Pliny h say; and therefore, as the latter observes, is called by the Romans “valeria”, from its strength. Maimonides i says of these two last fowls, which we render the ossifrage and the ospray, that they are not to be found on the continent, but in the desert places of the isles of the sea very far off, even those which are at the end of the habitable world.
x Maacolot Asurot, c. 1. sect. 14, 15. y T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 75. 1. Maimon. ib. sect. 15. z Calmet’s Dictionary in the word “Ossifraga”. a Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 3. b Hist. Animal. l. 6. c. 6. l. 8. c. 3. & l. 9. c. 34. c Ib. l. 9. c. 32. d Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 3.) e Ib. c. 34. f Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2. c. 6. col. 188. g Ut supra, (Hist. Animal. l. 9.) c. 32. h Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 3.) i Maacolot Asurot, c. 1. sect. 17.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(cf. Deu 14:11-18). Of birds, twenty varieties are prohibited, including the bat, but without any common mark being given; though they consist almost exclusively of birds which live upon flesh or carrion, and are most of them natives of Western Asia.
(Note: The list is “hardly intended to be exhaustive, but simply mentions those which were eaten by others, and in relation to which, therefore, it was necessary that the Israelites should receive a special prohibition against eating them” ( Knobel). Hence in Deuteronomy Moses added the and enumerated twenty-one varieties; and on doubt, under other circumstances, he could have made the list still longer. In Deu 14:11 is used, as synonymous with in Deu 14:20.)
The list commences with the eagle, as the king of the birds. Nesher embraces all the species of eagles proper. The idea that the eagle will not touch carrion is erroneous. According to the testimony of Arabian writers ( Damiri in Bochart, ii. p. 577), and several naturalists who have travelled (e.g., Forskal. l.c. p. 12, and Seetzen, 1, p. 379), they will eat carrion if it is still fresh and not decomposed; so that the eating of carrion could very properly be attributed to them in such passages as Job 39:30; Pro 30:17, and Mat 24:28. But the bald-headedness mentioned in Mic 1:16 applies, not to the true eagle, but to the carrion-kite, which is reckoned, however, among the different species of eagles, as well as the bearded or golden vulture. The next in the list is peres , from paras = parash to break, ossifragus , i.e., wither the bearded or golden vulture, gypaetos barbatus, or more probably, as Schultz supposes, the sea-eagle, which may have been the species intended in the = of the lxx and gryphus of the Vulgate, and to which the ancients seem sometimes to have applied the name ossifraga ( Lucret. v. 1079). By the next, , we are very probably to understand the bearded or golden vulture. For this word is no doubt connected with the Arabic word for beard, and therefore points to the golden vulture, which has a tuft of hair or feathers on the lower beak, and which might very well be associated with the eagles so far as the size is concerned, having wings that measure 10 feet from tip to tip. As it really belongs to the family of cultures, it forms a very fitting link of transition to the other species of vulture and falcon (Lev 11:14). ( Deut. , according to a change which is by no means rare when the aleph stands between two vowels: cf. in 1Sa 21:8; 1Sa 22:9, and in 1Sa 22:18, 1Sa 22:22), from to fly, is either the kite, or the glede, which is very common in Palestine ( v. Schubert, Reise iii. p. 120), and lives on carrion. It is a gregarious bird (cf. Isa 34:15), which other birds of prey are not, and is used by many different tribes as food ( Oedmann, iii. p. 120). The conjecture that the black glede-kite is meant, – a bird which is particularly common in the East, – and that the name is derived from to be dark, is overthrown by the use of the word in Deuteronomy, which shows that is intended to denote the whole genus. , which is referred to in Job 28:7 as sharp-sighted, is either the falcon, several species of which are natives of Syria and Arabia, and which is noted for its keen sight and the rapidity of its flight, or according to the Vulgate, Schultz, etc., vultur , the true vulture (the lxx have , the kite, here, and , the griffin, in Deut. and Job), of which there are three species in Palestine ( Lynch, p. 229). In Deu 14:13 is also mentioned, from to see. Judging from the name, it was a keen-sighted bird, either a falcon or another species of vulture ( Vulg. ixion ).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 13-19:
Fowls designated as unclean were those which feed upon carrion or offal, rendering them susceptible to carrying of loathsome diseases and thus repulsive to the appetite.
Included in the list of unclean fowls are:
Eagle, esher, a large, hawk-like bird with a wingspread often as much as four feet.
Ossifrage, peres, “bone-breaker,” the “bearded vulture.”
Ospray, ozniyyah, fish-eating hawk.
Vulture, daah, a hawk-like carrion bird.
Kite, ayyah, the falcon.
Little owl, kos, a nocturnal bird of prey, feeding on rodents; quite common in Palestine.
Cormorant, shalak, a swimmer and diver commonly feeding on fish.
Great owl, yanshuph, the ibis, a large nocturnal bird of prey, similar to the American great-horned owl.
Swan, tinshemeth, also translated “water hen,” and “little owl.” Its inclusion in this list implies it was the meat-eating owl.
Pelican, qaath, a fish-eating bird.
Gier-eagle, racham, a parti-colored vulture.
Stork, chasidah, white goshawk, or heron which feeds in marshes.
Heron, anaphah, a long-legged, march-inhabiting wading bird.
Lapwing, dukiphath, woodcock, a long-billed bird which lives on worms and other insects.
The bat, atalleph, is in reality a mammal, but because it flies, it is here classified with the fowl.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
13. And these are they which ye shall have in abomination. The species of birds and reptiles which are forbidden, are such as common feeling almost naturally repudiates. And assuredly God dealt with great indulgence towards His people, so as not to weigh them down with too heavy burdens. But because man’s greediness sometimes delights in monstrous food, He desired even in minor matters to put the rein upon them, lest they should rush with heathen nations into intemperance, whereby they would be polluted. For there was danger lest, by devouring filthy animals, they should harden themselves to join in various other corruptions. Another law is added, that they should not only abstain from eating these unclean animals, but, if any such should be killed, that they should not defile themselves by touching its carcase; nay, that if any vessels should have come in contact with them, those made of earth should be broken, and others should be washed. It seems to be a trifling matter to enjoin, that if a mouse should have been drowned in a vessel of water, the vessel itself should be unclean; and the strictness appears excessive, that the Jews should be commanded, (45) if any such animal had fallen into a vessel of wine, and had died there, not only to pour away the wine, but also to destroy the vessel; and if it had been smothered in an oven, or had lain in the hearth, to break down both of them; as if spiritual infection reached even to things without life. But we must always consider the intention of God: from whence we shall learn that He was not so severe and exacting in unimportant things as to tie His people to the observation of (superfluous) (46) matters; but that these were acts of discipline whereby He might accustom them to study purity, which is so generally neglected and omitted among men. Now-a-days, also, we are commanded by the mouth of Paul,
“whether we eat, or drink, or whatsoever we do, to do all to the glory of God,” (1Co 10:31😉
but in this respect we differ from the ancient people, that, being delivered from childish rudiments, we are directed only to what is spiritual, viz., that meat and drink are supplied to us by God, that we may serve in purity the Author of our life. But it was necessary to stimulate the Jews in various ways that they might be more attentive to this object; whilst God commanded them to keep their houses free from all uncleanness, and to be diligent in watching over the purity of their water, and all their vessels; that He might constantly set before their eyes how diligently He would have them to labor after true cleanliness; as follows in the end of the chapter.
(45) “ De contraindre les poures gens; ” to constrain the poor people. — Fr.
(46) This word is added from the Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) BIRDS 11:1319
TEXT 11:1319
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,
14
and the kite, and the falcon after its kind,
15
every raven after its kind,
16
and the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the hawk after its kind,
17
and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl,
18
and the horned owl, and the pelican, and the vulture,
19
and the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 11:1319
208.
Name ten unclean birds. Why list so many of them?
209.
Is there some uniform characteristic of these birds?
PARAPHRASE 11:1319
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 11:1319
Lev. 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.
Lev. 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, Isa. 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 11:1319
262.
Name the two categories of birds and give three examples for each.
263.
Discuss the meaning of Bonars description.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(13) Ye shall have in abomination among the fowls.The third of the four great divisions of the animal kingdomviz., the birds of the air, in accordance with their proper sequenceis discussed in Lev. 11:13-19. It will be seen that, whilst in the case of the two preceding divisions of the animal kingdom certain signs are given by which to distinguish the clean from the unclean animals, in the division before us a list is simply given of the birds which are unclean and prohibited. This absence of all criteria is all the more remarkable, since after some of the birds mentioned it is added after his kind, or after her kind (see Lev. 11:14-16; Lev. 11:19), thus showing that kindred species were included in the prohibition, and that it was left to those who had to administer this law, to lay down some general signs by which the proscribed species are to be known. Hence the following rules obtained during the second Temple. Those birds are unclean (1) which snatch their food in the air, and devour it without first dropping it on the ground; (2) which strike with their talons and press down with their foot the prey to the ground, and then tear off pieces with their beak for consumption; (3) which divide their feet when standing on an extended rope or branch, placing two toes on the one side and two on the other, and not three in front and one behind; and (4) whose eggs are equally narrow or equally round at both ends, and have the white in the middle and the yolk around it.
The eagle.As the king of the birds, the eagle stands first in the list. It denotes here all the species of the eagle proper. Arabian writers, scientific travellers, and the most distinguished naturalists, concur in their testimony that the eagle eats carrion when it is still fresh, thus harmonizing with the description in Job. 39:10; Pro. 30:17; Mat. 24:28, &c. The assertion, therefore, that the bird here meant is the Egyptian vulture, because the eagle disdains dead bodies and feeds only on what it kills itself, is erroneous. Besides the kindred dialects, all the ancient versions and the best Hebrew scholars place it beyond a doubt that Nesher here denotes eagle. Afterwards, however, the carrion-kite and the golden vulture were also reckoned among the different species of eagles. Hence the allusion in Mic. 1:16.
The ossifrage.That is, the bone-breaker, or simply the breaker, is the literal translation of the expression here used in the original, which only occurs again in the parallel passage in Deu. 14:12. It is most probably the bearded griffin or lammergeier, which unites in itself the eagle and the vulture, and is therefore aptly called gypatus or vulture-eagle, and appropriately stands in the list here between the eagle and the vulture. The fitness of its name may be seen from its habits. It takes the bones of animals, which other birds of prey have denuded of the flesh, up into the air and then lets them fall upon a well-selected projecting rock. and thus literally breaks them in order to get at their marrow, or to render the fragments of the bones more digestible.
And the ospray, or sea-eagle. It is about the size of the golden-eagle, and preys principally upon fish, but also occasionally on birds and other animals, and when its extreme voracity is not satisfied, will devour the most putrid carrion. Hence its place in the catalogue of unclean birds. The word only occurs again in the parallel passage, Deu. 14:12.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
CONCERNING FOWLS, Lev 11:13-19.
In the case of fowls no general principle of classification is laid down, but twenty unclean species are specified. From an inspection of the list we discover that it is composed almost exclusively of birds of prey, never eaten by civilized man. Thus Mosaism did but sanction by legislative enactment that which the instinct of cultivated man has, in all ages, approved. The passerine birds, game and poultry groups, the duck tribe, and most of the waders, except only the herons and storks, were clean. It will be found that in the Authorized Version many of them have been translated erroneously. This results from the fact that they are found only in the catalogue given in Leviticus and repeated in Deuteronomy. Thus practically many of them are cases of only once mentioned terms. In these cases the translator must resort to the meaning of the radical form from which the term was derived, to its cognate in the kindred languages, to the most ancient versions, and to the opinions of the wisest Jewish rabbins. After all his care he may fall into a mistake which advancing scholarship and research may expose. Since birds, insects, and the smaller animals are quite permanent in their habitat, the studies of modern ornithologists and entomologists throw much light upon this subject. Unclean birds and insects which are now abundant in Palestine and the Sinaitic Peninsula would naturally find a place in the catalogue, while those not now found in those regions would be omitted. Of the twenty names in this catalogue of unclean birds nine are found only in the catalogues and seven are improperly rendered in the Authorized Version. We can harmonize the twenty-one species named in Deu 14:12-18, “by assuming a slight error of transcription. The Hebrew daah and raah, vulture and glede, differ only in their initial letters and . On this hypothesis, if we drop the superfluous daah (omitted in the Samaritan, the Septuagint, and several MSS.) rendered vulture, the discrepancy vanishes.” Haley.
13. The eagle The Hebrew nesher here denotes a particular species of the falconidae, namely, the griffon or great vulture, as distinguished from other raptorial birds of the same genus. Four kinds of eagles have been observed in Palestine the golden, the spotted, the imperial, and the ospray. The eagle is large, strong, swift, fierce, and rapacious. His cry is the terror of every wing. His eye is large, dark, and piercing; his sight keen and directly at the sun; his beak powerful and hooked; his wings are broad and powerful; and his claws long and sharp.
The ossifrage The English term signifies the bone-breaker, the Hebrew peres, the breaker. This bird is spoken of only here and in the parallel passage Deu 14:12.
His habits are indicated by his name, for not only does he push kids and lambs, and even men, off the rocks, but he takes the bones of animals denuded of their flesh by other birds of prey high up into the air, and lets them fall upon a stone to crack, and render more digestible for even his enormous powers of deglutition. “I have repeatedly watched a pair of Lammergeirs, which had an eyrie close to our camp, pass and repass in front of our tents for hours at a time, invariably dropping something upon a smooth ledge of rocks hard by. For several days we imagined that these were sticks they were carrying to their nest; for prompt as we were in endeavouring to reach the spot first, the birds swooped down like lightning and seized their quarry again. At length we caught a serpent writhing and dislocated, which we had taken for a stick, and found that our imagined stones were tortoises, which had to be dropped a dozen times before the shell was sufficiently shattered.” Tristram.
The ospray The Hebrew ozniyyah. It is difficult to identify this bird. Some think that the fish-eating haliaeetus is intended, others, the melanaeetus, or black eagle of Aristotle; while other writers identify the ospray with the hatiaeetus albicilla, or white tailed sea-eagle. Tristram suggests that it is the very abundant circaetos gallicus, which feeds upon reptiles.
Of Animals of the Air
v. 13. And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey, v. 14. and the vulture, v. 15. every raven after his kind, v. 16. and the owl, v. 17. and the little owl, v. 18. and the swan, v. 19. and the stork, the heron after her kind, v. 20. All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you. v. 21. Yet these may ye eat of every flying, creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth, v. 22. even these of them ye may eat: the locust after his kind, v. 23. But all other flying, creeping things which have four feet, v. 24. And For these ye shall be unclean; whosoever toucheth the carcass of them shall be unclean until the even; v. 25. And whosoever Beareth aught of the carcass of them, v. 26. The carcasses of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not cloven-footed nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you; every one that toucheth them shall be unclean.
v. 27. And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, v. 28. And he that beareth the carcass of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the even, Lev 11:13. These are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls All rapacious birds, and such as live upon prey, are forbidden: and we read of no nations that have ever used them as food; for which, doubtless, the God of nature never designed them: accordingly Dr. James observes, that all these fowls are highly alkalescent, and therefore strongly inclined to putrefaction, both as they are birds of prey, and as their habitual exercise is great. It should be observed, that the animals in the eastern countries differing greatly from those of our climate, it is not to be expected that our knowledge of them should be perfect; especially when it depends chiefly upon the etymology of their names in Hebrew. It may be presumed, says Dr. Shaw, that every translator, for want of being acquainted with the animals peculiar to these eastern countries, would accommodate the Hebrew names, as well as he could, to those of his own; see Travels, p. 419. The Jews themselves acknowledge the signification of many of these names to be now lost, which should convince them of the absurdity of pretending still to adhere to the law of Moses; because, in many cases, they know not so much as what is forbidden, or what is not; and, agreeably to this, they had a tradition, that “in the days of the Messiah it should not be unlawful to eat swine’s flesh:” the difference of meats then ceasing, one principal cause of that difference would then also cease. The ossifrage is a kind of eagle; so called from breaking the bones of its prey, which it does by carrying them up on high, and then letting them fall down upon a rock: the ospray is another kind of eagle, whose name in the Hebrew signifies strength, and is therefore thought by Bochart to express the black eagle; which Homer mentions as the strongest and swiftest of birds.
Lev 11:13 And these [are they which] ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they [are] an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,
Ver. 13. The eagle. ] Which yet is counted and called the king of birds, and delights in high flying. That which is highly “esteemed amongst men is abomination before God.” Luk 16:15
fowls = flying things; very difficult to identify the English names.
eagle: or vulture.
ossifrage. A rendering of the Hebrew “bone-breaker”, from taking their prey up in the air and dropping it on a rock to break it.
ospray: or sea eagle.
the eagle: In Hebrew, nesher, Chaldee, neshar, Syriac, neshro, and Arabic, nishr, the eagle, one of the largest, strongest, swiftest, fiercest, and most rapacious of the feathered race. His eye is large, dark, and piercing; his beak powerful and hooked; his legs strong and feathered; his feet yellow and armed with four very long and terrific claws; his wings very large and powerful; his body compact and robust; his bones hard; his flesh firm; his feathers coarse; his attitude fierce and erect; his motions lively; his flight extremely rapid and towering; and his cry the terror of every wing. Deu 14:12-20, Job 28:7, Job 38:41, Job 39:27-30, Jer 4:13, Jer 4:22, Jer 48:40, Lam 4:19, Hos 8:1, Hab 1:8, Mat 24:28, Rom 1:28-32, Rom 3:13-17, Tit 3:3
the ossifrage: Peres, from paras to break, probably the species of eagle anciently called ossifraga or bone-breaker (from os, a bone, and frango, to break), because it not only strips off the flesh, but breaks the bone, in order to extract the marrow.
the ospray: Hebrew ozniyah, Arabic azan, and Chaldee azyah, (from azaz, to be strong), a species of eagle, probably the black eagle, so remarkable for its strength.
Reciprocal: Rev 18:2 – become
Lev 11:13. All such fowls and birds as are rapacious, and live upon prey, as the eagle, and its several kinds, hawks, kites, vultures, ravens, &c., are forbidden, and probably on a moral as well as a natural account, their flesh not only being not so good in itself as that of others, but not so fit to be used by a people that was consecrated to God, and professed greater innocency, justice, and purity, than the rest of the world. For, being all either ravenous and cruel, or such as delight in the night and darkness, or such as feed upon impure things, it seems evident that the prohibition of them was intended to teach men to abominate all cruelty and oppression, and all works of darkness and filthiness. The eagle Whose flesh is hard, and whose nature is very rapacious. The ossifrage From the Latin, ossifragus, a kind of eagle, so called from breaking the bones of its prey, which it does by carrying them up on high, and then letting them fall upon a rock. The ospray Another kind of eagle, probably the palitus, or sea eagle, as it is here rendered by the Seventy. Bochart, however, thinks it rather means the melantus, or black eagle, which Homer mentions (Iliad, 21:252,) as the strongest and swiftest of birds.
Moses distinguished various kinds of birds in these verses. God prohibited 20 varieties. Again their feeding habits seem to be the key to their uncleanness. The unclean birds ate flesh with the blood in it, something that God also forbade among His people (ch. 17).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)