owl Summary and Overview

(1.) Heb. bath-haya'anah, "daughter of greediness" or of "shouting." In the list of unclean birds (Lev. 11:16; Deut. 14:15); also mentioned in Job 30:29; Isa. 13:21; 34:13; 43:20; Jer. 50:39; Micah 1:8. In all these passages the Revised Version translates "ostrich" (q.v.), which is the correct rendering. (2.) Heb. yanshuph, rendered "great owl" in Lev. 11:17; Deut. 14:16, and "owl" in Isa. 34:11. This is supposed to be the Egyptian eagle-owl (Bubo ascalaphus), which takes the place of the eagle-owl (Bubo maximus) found in Southern Europe. It is found frequenting the ruins of Egypt and also of the Holy Land. "Its cry is a loud, prolonged, and very powerful hoot. I know nothing which more vividly brought to my mind the sense of desolation and loneliness than the re-echoing hoot of two or three of these great owls as I stood at midnight among the ruined temples of Baalbek" (Tristram). The LXX. and Vulgate render this word by "ibis", i.e., the Egyptian heron. (3.) Heb. kos, rendered "little owl" in Lev. 11:17; Deut. 14:16, and "owl" in Ps. 102:6. The Arabs call this bird "the mother of ruins." It is by far the most common of all the owls of Israel. It is the Athene persica, the bird of Minerva, the symbol of ancient Athens. (4.) Heb. kippoz, the "great owl" (Isa. 34:15); Revised Version, "arrow-snake;" LXX. and Vulgate, "hedgehog," reading in the text, kippod, instead of kippoz. There is no reason to doubt the correctness of the rendering of the Authorized Version. Tristram says: "The word [i.e., kippoz] is very possibly an imitation of the cry of the scops owl (Scops giu), which is very common among ruins, caves, and old walls of towns...It is a migrant, returning to Israel in spring." (5.) Heb. lilith, "screech owl" (Isa. 34:14, marg. and R.V., "night monster"). The Hebrew word is from a root signifying "night." Some species of the owl is obviously intended by this word. It may be the hooting or tawny owl (Syrnium aluco), which is common in Egypt and in many parts of Israel. This verse in Isaiah is "descriptive of utter and perpetual desolation, of a land that should be full of ruins, and inhabited by the animals that usually make such ruins their abode."

A number of species of the owl are mentioned in the Bible, #Le 11:17; De 14:16 Isa 14:23; 34:15; Zep 2:14| and in several other places the same Hebrew word is used where it is translated ostrich. #Job 30:29; Jer 50:39| Some of these species were common in Israel, and, as is well known, were often found inhabiting ruins. #Isa 34:11,13-15|

OWL . In Deut 14:16-17; Isa 34:11, 2 Sam 20:15; Ps 102:6 this word doubtless denotes some one or other of the five species of owl common in Egypt and Syria. The Hebrew word translated Eagle Owl (Bubo Maximus. After Houghton.) "owl" in eight other cases means the ostrich, as is often indicated in the margin. Some of these birds we know are very abundant in Palestine, especially among ruins, and their doleful hooting as they seek their prey by night intensities the present desolation of these former habitations of pride and glory. The prophecies of Isa 34 find a fulfilment in modern Petra - ancient Idumaea - as described by Irby and Mangles: "The screaming of eagles, hawks, and owls, which were soaring above our heads in considerable numbers, seemingly annoyed at any one approaching their lonely habitation, added much to the singularity of the scene." See Night-hawk, Ostrich. OX, a well-known domestic animal, clean by the Levitical Law, strong and patient of labor, of great use in agricultural pursuits, and one of the most valuable possessions of the Jewish husbandman. Gen 24:35; Gen 30:43; 1 Sam 11:7; Job 1:3. Oxen were used for ploughing, Deut 22:10; 1 Kgs 19:19; Job 1:14; Prov 14:4; Isa 30:24; for drawing. Num 7:3, Num 3:7-8; for threshing or treading out grain, Deut 25:4; 1 Cor 9:9; for beasts of burden, 1 Chr 12:40; for sacrifice, Gen 15:9; 1 Kgs 8:63; 2 Chr 29:33; to produce milk and butter, Deut 32:14; Isa 7:22; 2 Sam 17:29; and their flesh as food. 1 Kgs 19:21; 1 Chr 12:39-40; Matt 22:4. The full-grown ox was,however, rarely slaughtered either for food or sacrifice, being esteemed too valuable for any ordinary use of this kind. The young animal was taken instead. Of the herds of Moab in our day Tristram says: "Unlike the sheep, the cattle do not find their way across Jordan to the markets of Jerusalem or Nablous. Beef is a costly luxury, for the bullocks are as valuable for the plough as the heifers are for milch-kine." The cattle of the Jews were probably broken to service when three years old. Isa 15:5; Jer 48:34. The oxen of ancient Egypt are shown by the monuments to have been large and handsome creatures, and it is likely that those of Palestine were then similar, though they have now much deteriorated, in size at least. As is shown by the above synopsis, oxen were used in general as horses are now. East of the Jordan vast herds of cattle grazed through the entire year, being driven to new pastures as old ones were exhausted. This was sometimes possible in Western Palestine, owing to the variety of elevation and climate. When these resources failed, a mixture of grains (as the Hebrew indicates) called "fodder" or "provender," Job 6:5; Isa 30:24, was given, or the torn "straw" left by the threshing-machine. See Thresh. In the more populous districts cattle were stall-fed, as to some extent in all parts. 1 Kgs 4:23; Prov 15:17; Hab 3:17. At present the herds and flocks of a whole village are commonly pastured together, and at night driven into some large cave, natural or artificial. It is possible that the cave shown at Bethlehem as our Saviour's birthplace was thus used - in part at least - and was really the manger in which the new-born Christ was laid. Various provisions of the Mosaic Law concerning cattle are recorded in the following additional references: Ex 20:10; Josh 21:28; Ex 34:19; Lev 19:19; Deut 25:7; Deut 22:1, Ex 6:4, 1 Kgs 16:10. Herds were often left to care for themselves in the vast feeding-grounds east of the Jordan. These half-wild cattle will gather in a circle around any strange object, and, if irritated, charge upon it with their horns. Ps 22:13. The wild ox of Deut 14:5, or wild bull of Isa 51:20, is probably the oryx, a powerful creature of the antelope kind, See Agriculture, Herd.

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.