Owl in Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Ostrich, the true rendering of bath hayanah. (See OSTRICH.) Yanshowph; Leviticus 11:17, "the great owl." From a root, "twilight" (Bochart), or to puff the breath (Knobel). Deuteronomy 14:16; Isaiah 34:11. The horned owl, Bubo maximus, not as Septuagint the ibis, the sacred bird of Egypt. Maurer thinks the heron or crane, from nashaf "to blow," as it utters a sound like blowing a horn (Revelation 18:2). Chaldee and Syriac support "owl." Kos; Leviticus 11:17, "the little owl." Athene meridionalis on coins of Athens: emblem of Minerva, common in Syria; grave, but not heavy. Psalm 102:6, "I am like an owl in a ruin" (Syriac and Arabic versions), expressing his loneliness, surrounded by foes, with none to befriend. The Arabs call the owl "mother of ruins," um elcharab. The Hebrew means a "cup", perhaps alluding to its concave face, the eye at the bottom, the feathers radiating on each side of the beak outward; this appears especially in the Otus vulgaris, the "long-cared owl". Kippoz. Isaiah 34:15, "the great owl." But Gesenius "the arrow snake," or "the darting tree serpent"; related to the Arabic kipphaz. The context favors "owl"; for "gather under her shadow" applies best to a mother bird fostering her young under her wings. The Septuagint, Chaldee, Arabic, Syriac, Vulgate read kippod, "hedgehog." The great eagle owl is one of the largest birds of prey; with dark plumage, and enormous head, from which glare out two great eyes. Lilith. Isaiah 34:14, "screech owl"; from layil "the night." Irby and Mangles state as to Petra of Edom "the screaming of hawks, eagles, and owls, soaring above our heads, annoyed at anyone approaching their lonely habitation, added much to the singularity of the scene." The Strix flammea, "the barn owl"; shrieking in the quietude of the night, it appalls the startled hearer with its unearthly sounds.