Pelican in Biblical History

Bible History

Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
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What is a Pelican?
PELICAN
(Heb. the vomiter), a voracious water-bird, unclean by the Levitical law. Lev 11:18, of singular construction and habits, resembling the goose, though nearly twice as large. Its bill is 15 inches long. The female has a large pouch or bag capable of containing 2 or 3 gallons of water, and food enough for six common men. Out of this pouch she feeds herself and her young, and from this habit and the red nail at the end of her bill came the notion that she fed her offspring on her own blood. The pelican was formerly more abundant than now in the Levant, but Dr. Thomson has seen it at Lake Huleh and the Sea of Galilee. Having gorged itself with fish, this bird flies miles into the wilderness, where it sits in some lonely place "for hours, or even days, with its bill resting on its breast, a picture of melancholy." Ps 102:6. The margin correctly reads "pelican" for "cormorant" in Isa 34:11; Zeph 2:14. (Sec cut. p. 667.)

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Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'pelican' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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