Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 11:19

And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

19. the stork ] In the two lists, and Psa 104:17 (‘the fir trees are her house’); Jer 8:7 (‘knoweth her appointed times,’ i.e. of migration), Zec 5:9 . The Heb. word means ‘pious’ or ‘merciful’ (referring to her tenderness towards her young). In the difficult passage, Job 39:13, either the stork is mentioned, or there is a play upon words with reference to her name, and a contrast between her and the ostrich seems indicated. See R.V. mg. and A.V. mg.

the heron ] Many kinds of heron are found both in Egypt and Palestine. The ibis R.V. mg. was a sacred bird to the Egyptians, and one variety of heron found in great numbers round Lake Huleh is called the white ibis.

the hoopoe ] ( lapwing A.V.) The traditional interpretation of this strange Heb. word dkphath from LXX. and Vulg. onwards is fixed. Some consider it to be derived from the cry of the bird, like that of the cuckoo. Cheyne thinks it is derived by transposition of letters from ippd, the ‘porcupine’ or bittern, Isa 14:23; Isa 34:11; Zep 2:14.

the bat ] In both lists and Isa 2:20 (there in plur.) . The derivation of the Heb. word is uncertain, but its meaning is not questioned.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 19. The stork] chasidah, from chasad, which signifies to be abundant in kindness, or exuberant in acts of beneficence; hence applied to the stork, because of its affection to its young, and its kindness in tending and feeding its parents when old; facts attested by the best informed and most judicious of the Greek and Latin natural historians. See Bochart, Scheuchzer, and Parkhurst, under the word chasad. It is remarkable for destroying and eating serpents, and on this account might be reckoned by Moses among unclean birds.

The heron] anaphah. This word has been variously understood: some have rendered it the kite, others the woodcock, others the curlew, some the peacock, others the parrot, and others the crane. The root anaph, signifies to breathe short through the nostrils, to snuff, as in anger; hence to be angry: and it is supposed that the word is sufficiently descriptive of the heron, from its very irritable disposition. It will attack even a man in defence of its nest; and I have known a case where a man was in danger of losing his life by the stroke of a heron’s bill, near the eye, who had climbed up into a high tree to take its nest. Bochart supposes a species of the eagle to be meant, vol. iii., col. 335.

The lapwing] duchiphath, the upupa, hoopoe, or hoop, a crested bird, with beautiful plumage, but very unclean. See Bochart, and Scheuchzer. Concerning the genuine meaning of the original, there is little agreement among interpreters.

The bat] atalleph, so called, according to Parkhurst, from at, to fly, and alaph, darkness or obscurity, because it flies about in the dusk of the evening, and in the night: so the Septuagint , from , the night; and the Vulgate vespertilio, from vesper, the evening. This being a sort of monster partaking of the nature of both a bird and beast, it might well be classed among unclean animals, or animals the use of which in food should be avoided.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

19. the storka bird ofbenevolent temper and held in the highest estimation in all Easterncountries; it was declared unclean, probably, from its feeding onserpents and other venomous reptiles, as well as rearing its young onthe same food.

the heronThe word sotranslated only occurs in the prohibited list of food and has beenvariously renderedthe crane, the plover, the woodcock, the parrot.In this great diversity of opinion nothing certain can be affirmedregarding it. Judging from the group with which it is classified, itmust be an aquatic bird that is meant. It may as well be the heron asany other bird, the more especially as herons abound in Egypt and inthe Hauran of Palestine.

the lapwingor hoopoe;found in warm regions, a very pretty but filthy species of bird. Itwas considered unclean, probably from its feeding on insects, worms,and snails.

the batthe great orTernat bat, known in the East, noted for its voracity and filthiness.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And the stork,….. A bird of passage, Jer 8:7 it has its name from kindness, which it exercises both to its dam, and to its young. Various writers b speak of the kindness of these birds to their dams, which when they are old they take care of and feed them, to which the apostle is thought to allude, 1Ti 5:4 and its tenderness to its young is no less manifest: when the city of Delf in Holland was on fire, the storks were seen very busy to save their young from the flames, and which when they could not do, threw themselves into the midst of them, and perished with them, as Drusius from the Dutch historians relates. It is said to feed upon serpents; and hence by Virgil c to be “invisa colubris”; and Juvenal d says, it nourishes its young with them; and which may be a reason of its being forbid to be eaten, and is the reason given by the Mahometans e for the prohibition of it; though on this account it was in great honour in Thessaly, that country being freed from serpents by it, and therefore they made it a capital crime to kill them, as Pliny f relates; formerly people would not eat the stork, but at present it is much esteemed for the deliciousness of its flesh g

the heron after her kind; this bird has its name in Hebrew from its being soon angry, as Aben Ezra observes; and Jarchi calls it the angry vulture or kite, as it is in the Talmud h; and adds, and it appears to me to be what they call the “heron”, one sort of which named “asterias”, as there is one sort so called by Pliny i; it becomes tame in Egypt, and so well understands the voice of a man, as Aelianus k reports, that if anyone by way of reproach calls it a servant or slothful, it is immediately exceeding angry. There are three kinds of herons, as both Aristotle l and Pliny m; and by a learned man of ours n, their names are thus given, the criel or dwarf heron, the blue heron, and the bittour; some reckon nineteen:

and the lapwing; the upupa or hoopoe; it has its name in Hebrew, according to Jarchi, from its having a double crest; and so Pliny o ascribes to it a double or folded crest, and speaks of it as a filthy bird; and, according to Aristotle p and Aelian q, its nest is chiefly made of human dung, that by the ill smell of it men may be kept from taking its young; and therefore may well be reckoned among impure fowl. Calmet r says, there is no such thing as a lapwing to be seen in any part of England; but there are such as we call so, whether the same bird with this I cannot say:

and the bat; a little bird which flies in the night, Aben Ezra says; Kimchi s describes it a mouse with wings, which flies in the night, and we sometimes call it the “flitter mouse”; it is a creature between a fowl and a beast; and, as Aristotle says t, it partakes of both, and is of neither; and it is the only fowl, as Pliny u observes, that has teeth and teats, that brings forth animals, and nourishes them with milk. It is a creature so very disagreeable, that one would think almost there was no need of a law to forbid the eating of it; and yet it is said by some to be eatable, and to be eaten, as Strabo w affirms, yea, to be delicious food. It is asserted x, that there is a sort of them in the east, larger than ordinary, and is salted and eaten–that there are bats in China as large as pullets, and are as delicate eating. Of these several fowls before mentioned, some are of the ravenous kind, and are an emblem of persecutors and covetous persons, and such as live by rapine and violence; others are of a lustful nature, and are an emblem of those who serve various lusts and pleasures, and give up themselves to uncleanness; others are night birds, and are a proper emblem of them whose works are works of darkness, and love darkness rather than the light; and others never rise higher than the earth, and so may denote earthly minded persons; and others live on impure things, and so fitly represent such who live an impure life; with all such the people of God are to have no fellowship.

b Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 13. Aelian. de Animal. l. 3. c. 23. & l. 10. c. 16. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 23. c Georgic. l. 2. d Satyr. 14. e Apud Bochart. ut supra, (Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2.) c. 29. col. 329. f Ut supra. (Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 23.) g Calmet in the word “Stork”. h T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 63. 1. i Ut supra, (f) c. 60. so Aristot. l. 9. c. 1. k De Animal. l. 5. c. 36. l Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 1. m Ut supra. (Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 23.) n Ainsworth’s Dictionary, in voce “Ardea”. o Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 29. p Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 15. q De Animal. l. 3. c. 26. r Dictionary, in the word “Lapwing”. s Sepher Shorash. in voc. . t De Part. Animal. l. 4. c. 13. u Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 61. l. 11. c. 37. w Geograph. l. 16. x Calmet’s Dictionary in the word “Bat”.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(19) And the stork.Besides the parallel passage, Deu. 14:18, the word (chasidah) here rendered stork also occurs in Job. 39:13; Psa. 104:17; Jer. 8:7; Zec. 5:9, and is so translated, except Job. 39:13, where the Authorised Version has wing in the text and stork in the margin. Its name literally denotes in Hebrew the pious, the kind, and is so called because the ancients regarded it as a type of maternal and filial affection and tenderness. The mother has been known to prefer perishing with its offspring in the flames rather than desert them when its attempts to rescue them from a fire had failed. The white stork is one of the largest land birds. Its black and powerful wings strikingly contrast with the pure white of its plumage. Hence the remark they had wings like the wings of the stork (Zec. 5:9). The storks build on the loftiest towers and most conspicuous ruins, and also on the tops of high trees, where they may be seen to this day by the Sea of Galilee. It is to this that the Psalmist alludes: as for the stork, the fir-trees are her home (Psa. 104:17). To these nests they regularly return at the proper season, which marks them as the most punctual of migratory birds; and it is to this feature in their nature that the prophet refers: the stork in heaven knoweth her appointed times (Jer. 8:7). The stork feeds on fish, reptiles, and all kinds of offal and garbage, for which reason it is here placed in the list of unclean birds.

The heron.Whilst the two preceding birds are named after their good qualities, viz., the merciful and the pious, this bird, which only occurs again in the parallel passage in Deu. 14:18, is termed (anaphah) the angry, the cruel, which aptly describes the heron. It is allied to the stork, and is of such a savage nature that it will defend itself with its beak against the dogs after it has had its legs shot and broken. It resides on the banks of rivers and in marshy places, and feeds on fish, frogs, lizards, snails, field-mice, and all sorts of insects, for which reason it is here included in the proscribed list of unclean birds. It exists in a variety of species. Hence the adjunct, after her kind.

And the lapwing.Better, the hoopoe. This dirty bird, which only occurs again in the parallel list in Deu. 14:18, and which according to the ancients builds its nest of human dung, feeds upon offal and garbage. Its loathsome smell during brooding-time, and for weeks after, is perfectly insufferable. Though its flesh, which in the autumn tastes like quails, is eaten in some places, yet the Mohammedans regard it as proscribed. According to another ancient tradition the bird here meant is the mountain cock.

And the bat.The list which opens with the eagle, the king of the birds, fitly concludes with the hybrid bat, the vilest creature, which is between a bird and a mouse, and is appropriately associated in the Bible with the mole as the type of darkness (comp. Isa. 2:20). From the fact that the air is its home; that like the swallow, which it resembles in mode of flight, it wheels through the air in every direction in search of the crepuscular and nocturnal insects on which it preys; and that it performs the most abrupt and skilful evolutions in its aerial course, the bat was classed among the birds. Bats abound in Syria in a great variety of species. They penetrate into the houses and make the rooms most offensive to live in. Those who have realised the sickening odour of these creatures in the East will readily understand why the loathsome bats are included in the list of unclean birds. Some of the ancient nations ate bats and regarded them as delicious food. Besides being the lowest, the bat is here placed last, because it forms the connecting link between the volatile bipeds and quadrupeds.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

19. The stork Its Hebrew name, chasidah, signifies kindness, of which it has been in all ages the type. The white stork is one of the largest and most conspicuous of land birds, with jet black wings and bright red beak and legs. It devours all kinds of offal. Both white and black storks abound in Palestine, arriving in the latter part of March, and, year after year and generation after generation, occupying the old nest.

The heron Hebrew anaphah. It occurs only in the two catalogues, and hence it is quite uncertain what bird or genus is intended, since the words after her kind are subjoined. The Hebrew radical signifies “to snort in anger.” Hence Furst says it is the parrot. The Arabic version renders it a kind of eagle; the Seventy call it the sandpiper. The swallow has been suggested. The point on which Hebraists agree is, that it is not the heron. Tristram insists that it is the heron.

The lapwing Hebrew, dukiphath, mountain-cock. It is found only in the catalogues. The Sadducees believed it to be the common fowl, which they refused to eat. Commentators generally agree with the Seventy and Vulgate that the hoopoe is intended, called by AEschylus “the bird of the rocks,” which answers well to the Hebrew name. Its appearance is so remarkable that it cannot fail to attract notice wherever seen. The Arabs have a superstitious regard for it, and use it in their charms.

The bat The Hebrew atalleph indicates a night-bird. Although in modern natural history the bat is not a bird, but a true quadruped or mammal, in Hebrew oph, “fowls,” literally a wing, might be applied to any winged creature. Many travellers have noticed the immense number of bats that are found in the East, especially in caverns and dilapidated idol temples.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Lev 11:19. The lapwing The word rendered lapwing, says Parkhurst, dukipat, is the upupa or houp, a most unclean and filthy bird. So the LXX , and the Vulgate upupa. See Bochart, vol. 3: p. 343-9.

Note: God’s people must not be rapacious, nor allow themselves in any deeds of impurity or darkness: such are still forbidden things.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Lev 11:19 And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

Ver. 19. And the stork. ] Which builds high, Psa 104:17 but feeds low on fishes, frogs, and snakes; and so might be the rather rejected as unfit for food.

And the lapwing. ] Which is worthily made a hieroglyphic of infelicity; because it hath as a coronet upon the head, and yet feeds upon the worst of excrements. It is pity that the saints, that are brought up in scarlet, should embrace the dunghill; Lam 4:5 that any one that is washed in Christ’s blood, should bedabble his robe in the stinking puddle of the world.

And the bat. ] Cast away either thy wings or thy teeth, saith one a to a neuter, and loathing this batlike nature, be what thou art, either a bird or a beast.

a Dr Hall, Epist. to W. L.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)