jackdaw

There is no consensus among scholars about the bird this word refers to. The word occurs five times, and from the contexts it can be stated with some certainty that

a. it is an unclean bird (that is, it is not a seed eater)
b. it is associated with the Judean Desert
c. it is associated with ruin

An additional feature, which has largely been overlooked, is that in four of the five verses the discourse structure indicates that it was paired in the biblical writers’ minds with the raven. This would indicate that this bird is probably a carrion eater or scavenger and possibly black.

These contexts would rule out the interpretation “pelican”. Psalm 102:6 could possibly be construed as referring to the great distress a pelican would suffer in the desert. However, this argument is weakened by the fact that it would be almost nonsensical in Isaiah 34:11 to indicate that Edom will become a place of hot springs and desolation by saying that it will be “a dwelling place of pelicans”. The White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus, which is the pelican seen most often in the land of Israel, lives in large rivers, lakes, lagoons, and oceans. They are passing migrants in Israel, staying only a few weeks in autumn. They stop briefly in the Huleh and Eilat areas, as they move from the Black Sea, the Danube Delta, and the Caspian Sea to Africa. No place in the whole of the Middle East could be called a “dwelling place of pelicans”. To do so would be to indicate that the place has become a wetland or full of suitable lakes well-stocked with fish.

Some sort of owl seems more likely, and most modern English translations follow Driver’s suggestion in this regard. New English Bible and Revised English Bible have “horned owl”. This is not a species of owl but a much broader classification referring to a family of owls that have prominent ear tufts. New International Version and New American Bible have an even more general term, “desert owl”. There is no such family or species of owl, and the phrase simply means an owl found in the desert.

However, another interesting suggestion has been the jackdaw. Besides fitting all of the contexts, it also makes a fitting pairing with the raven in Leviticus 11:18; Deuteronomy 14:17; Isaiah 34:11; and Zephaniah 2:14. In the latter two passages the birds mentioned would be the jackdaw, two types of owl, and the raven, making a typical Hebrew correspondence between opening and closing items, and between the two middle items. In modern Hebrew the jackdaw is called qa’ak, which might be a slightly modified form of the biblical qa’ath. All scholars are agreed that the name relates to the sound the bird makes, and this would certainly be a good representation of the sound made by the jackdaw.

Since the pelican is unlikely as the proper translation of this name, it will not be described here. Descriptions of owls indigenous to Israel can be found under owl.

The Jackdaw Corvus monedula is a member of the same family as ravens and crows but is smaller. It is black all over.

This bird is a symbol of uncleanness, desolation, and possibly death.

Jackdaws are found in the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe. A word for a small type of crow would be the best choice in most other places. Even a phrase such as “small crows and big crows” could be used for jackdaws and ravens.

If an owl is accepted as the meaning of qa’ath then a general word for owl is a better choice than any one subspecies of owl. However, care should be taken not to introduce an association with witchcraft, since this was not the case in the original Hebrew.

Jackdaw, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

cobra

There is general agreement among modern scholars that the word pethen refers to the cobra, since the word is closely associated with snake charming, which requires a snake that can raise the front part of its body vertically, something a viper cannot do. The words tsif‘oni and tsefa‘ are also probably references to a type of cobra. This can be well supported by the contexts in which the word occurs, in which reference is made to the fact that it lives in holes and lays eggs. These contexts would rule out any of the vipers.

There is some evidence that pethen was the earlier name for the cobra, and tsefa‘ and tsif‘oni were later names. Something similar is the case with English, where “cobra” has been in use only for the last one hundred years, and previously “asp” was used.

“Adder” is used as the name for some of the subspecies of viper and is probably not the best word to translate these three Hebrew words.

Cobras are characterized by their ability to spread the ribs in their neck area, so as to form a broad flat profile called the hood. This makes the snake look much thicker than it really is. Cobras also have short fixed fangs in the front of their mouths. The cobra that is found in the land of Israel is the Desert Cobra or Walter Innes’s snake (Walterinnesia aegyptia), while the cobra found in Egypt is the Egyptian Cobra Naja haje. The cobra is a large snake, reaching 2 meters (6 feet) in length, and about 50 millimeters (2 inches) in diameter. It is dark brown with a yellowish underside. In some areas where it is found it has broad yellowish bands, which give it its alternative English name, banded cobra. When it rears up and spreads its hood, the hood has a yellowish background, but displays a broad dark brown horizontal stripe.

Its bite is very poisonous, and it takes quick effect, acting on the nervous system. The cobra feeds on mice, gerbils, birds, bird’s eggs, lizards, frogs, and other snakes. It hunts by following scent trails, which it senses with its tongue. When within range of its prey, it raises its head slowly vertically, and suddenly strikes at the unsuspecting victim. It lives mainly in grassland and where the vegetation is fairly thick. It takes cover in rat holes, holes in eroded banks, hollow trees, under logs, and among exposed roots. It may lay its eggs in any of these sheltered places. In cold weather it coils itself up to preserve its body heat.

The cobra, besides being a symbol of lurking danger, was also closely associated with Egypt. In some poetic passages, therefore, it is a metaphor for the enemies of Israel, Egypt in particular.

The Egyptian cobra is found all over Africa, and a local word should not be difficult to find. In South and Southeast Asia a word for the King Cobra Naja hannah or one of the other cobras would be a good equivalent. In areas where these cobras are symbols of good luck and the presence of a deity, the Hebrew symbolism might need to be explained in a footnote. In other parts of the world, if cobras are unknown, the name of a local long poisonous snake of a type different from vipers and adders is a possible choice.

In passages where snakes are referred to as “stinging”, it is not necessary to use a verb meaning literally “to sting”. This is just the Hebrew way of referring to the bite of a snake. In many languages the verb used for a snake’s bite is different from the one used to refer to the bite of something else, such as a dog.

Desert cobra, Wikimedia Commons
Egyptian cobra, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

See also flying fiery serpent, adder / serpent / asp / viper, and serpent.

pig

The word chazir is used for domestic and wild pigs. The domesticated pig was known in Egypt around 2500 B.C. and was probably domesticated in Canaan about that time too. Domestication of wild pigs seems to have coincided everywhere with the development of agriculture. Wild pigs were probably penned in large enclosures and fed scraps, thus keeping them away from planted fields. Later on, when full domestication had taken place, it was more usual for pigs to be herded rather than kept in pens. Pigs eat almost anything and herding did away with the necessity to feed them. It soon was noticed that the rooting activity of the pigs rid areas of tree roots and shrubs and promoted the growth of grass for grazing. So early swineherds herded the pigs into areas where future grazing was wanted, away from planted fields. Jews who kept pigs may not have done so with the idea of eating their meat, which was unclean, but to promote grazing grass and to sell the pigs to neighboring tribes.

Wild pigs, in the form of the European Boar Sus scrofus, were once abundant in Israel, especially in the Jordan Valley. Even now since neither Jews nor Moslems eat the meat of wild pigs, and thus do not hunt them, they can still be found in the Jordan Valley and in many other areas where there is both water and thick undergrowth.

The Greek words choiros and hueios mean “pig” or “pig meat”. The word hus means a female pig or sow.

The domesticated pigs of biblical times looked much more like wild pigs than the modern breeds of pig. They would have been brown or gray in color and fairly hairy. The young pigs probably had horizontal stripes.

Of all animals the pig was considered the most unclean.

In languages that differentiate between wild and domestic pigs, in Psalms 80:13 the word for a wild pig should be used. In 2 Peter 2:22, although the Greek specifies a female pig, the gender of the pig is not really important in the proverb. Many translations have simply “pig”.

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

In Toposa it is translated as “warthog.” “Since the warthog is not herded like its domestic counterpart, it required a footnote to explain Luke 8:32.” (source: Schröder 2026, p. 101).

dugong

This animal is only mentioned in Scripture with regard to the leather made from its skin. It is clear that its hide made very good leather. The King James Version’s “badger” and Revised Standard Version’s “goat” are almost certainly mistranslations. New English Bible’s “porpoise” has more support since an Arabic word very similar to the Hebrew refers to the porpoise or dolphin. However catching sufficient porpoises to make a covering for the tabernacle would have been problematic for the Israelites since these animals live entirely in the sea while the Israelites were not a seagoing nation.

However, some local Bedouin tribes that live near the sea have for centuries made sandals and other articles from the skins of an animal called dugong and many modern scholars interpret tachash as referring to this animal. New International Version and New English Bible (margin) have “sea cow”. The dugong, which swims slowly and feeds on underwater weeds near the shore, is fairly easy to catch in nets.

The Dugong (Dugong dugong) is a large animal about 3 meters (10 feet) long, which lives in the sea, usually in small herds of twelve to fifteen animals. They swim slowly and feed in fairly shallow water on underwater weeds near mouths of rivers. They sometimes even move a short distance up the river. They need to come to the surface every few minutes to breathe, and they sometimes come out of the water to lie on rocks or sandbanks.

Although they have flippers rather than legs and a tail that looks like that of a large fish dugongs are mammals. They have soft fur. They do not lay eggs but give birth to babies and feed them on milk from their breasts. They are found in fairly large numbers even today in the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea and are also found along the tropical coasts of East Africa, South Asia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia and the Solomon Islands. They have also been reported in Taiwan.

Dugongs are distantly related to seals. They are pale gray in color and the male has small tusks in its upper jaw. They are harmless and unsuspicious animals and are easy to catch. Dugong skins are fairly thick soft and long-wearing and make high quality leather. The fur is usually left on the leather.

Three very similar animals are the Senegal Manatee Trichechus senegalensis, which is found in West Africa, the Caribbean Manatee Trichechus manatus, which is found on the coasts and in the lagoons of the Caribbean islands and Florida, and the South American Manatee Trichechus inunguis, which is found in the Amazon and Orinoco rivers.

Where dugongs and manatees are known, the best choice will be the word for one of the three mentioned in the previous paragraph. In areas where they are not known, the word for the seal can be used. Where seals are also not known, a more general expression such as “good soft leather” or “furs” is better than trying to name the animal. It is the skin rather than the animal that is in focus in all cases.

Dugong, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

See also fine leather.

gecko

Translations generally agree that ’anaqah indicates the gecko. There are many different species of gecko in the land of Israel, ranging from the fairly large Rock Gecko Ptyodactylus hasselquistii to the small Turkish Gecko or Mediterranean Gecko Hemidactylus turcicus, which is only about 10 centimeters (4 inches) long. ’Anaqah is probably a general word for all kinds of gecko. The word is related to a verb meaning “to cry out”, and it is this that gives the clue to the identification of the name.

Geckos are the only lizards that call. The name “gecko” is borrowed from the Malay word getjok, which mimics the call of one type of gecko. In many languages the names for the different kinds of gecko also mimic their two syllable calls. For instance, in Thai the giant gecko is called tuk-gae (ตุ๊กแก) and the house gecko ching-chok (จิ้งจก).

Besides their distinctive calls, all geckos are characterized by the knobs on the end of their toes. These pads are covered in microscopic hairs that catch on any slight roughness of the surface and enable the geckos to walk upside down on ceilings and overhangs.

Geckos feed on ants, moths, beetles, flies, mosquitoes, and other insects. The males often fight, and one may end up with the detached tail of the other in its mouth. This too may be eaten. Some of the larger geckos also eat small lizards and small snakes.

Geckos are listed as unclean. In the context of Proverbs 30:28 the gecko is a symbol of an insignificant creature that associates freely with royalty.

Geckos are found throughout Africa, the Middle East, southeastern Europe, Asia, and the tropical parts of Australia. In these areas it will not be hard to find a local word. In areas where they are not found, a word borrowed from Hebrew or the dominant language of the area can usually be combined with the word for lizard; for example, “anaka lizard” or “gecko lizard”.

While King James Version has “spider” for semamith at Proverbs 30:28, other translations and commentators are unanimous in interpreting this word as “lizard”. It probably is a reference to the house gecko, which is the most common lizard found inside houses. Most modern commentators take the verb to be a passive in this verse, that is, “the lizard, which can be held [or, caught] in the hand.”

Rock gecko, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

yanshuf / tawny owl

Owls are found worldwide except in the Antarctic and on some islands. They are active at night and are characterized by flat faces and short hooked beaks that they can open very wide. They swallow their prey whole and later regurgitate the undigested parts as small balls. They also have the ability to turn their heads more than 180 degrees.

There are two basic owl families, both of which are found in the land of Israel. One family is the Tytonidae, which are the Barn and Grass Owls. They have heart-shaped whitish faces, usually outlined by a dark line, and small dark eyes. The other family is the Strigidae, the typical owls. This family contains a large variety of species, all of which have large eyes that may vary in color from light brown through orange to yellow. This family includes the eared or horned owls, the fairly rare fishing owls, and owls that vary in size from the midget scops owl (less than 20 centimeters [8 inches]) through to the giant eagle owl (over 70 centimeters [28 inches]).

Eight species of owl are fairly common in the land of Israel. Most are very seldom seen by humans, but they are quite well known by their different and distinct calls. In biblical times the nights would have been much quieter than in most modern places, and the strange night sounds probably would have interested people, causing some speculation about what was making the sound. The different owls would thus probably have had different names even if people had never seen them. In fact it is unlikely that they would have been able to associate most of the calls with the owls that were seen.

As with most of the owls, there is no complete agreement among the versions. It would appear at first that “screech owl” has strong support as the translation of yanshuf. However, this is misleading. The next Hebrew name on the list of unclean birds in Leviticus 11:18 and Deuteronomy 13:16 is tinshemeth, which New International Version renders “white owl” and New American Bible “barn owl”. In fact both white owl and barn owl are simply alternate names for the screech owl, which these two versions have included earlier in the list. They have thus actually listed the same owl twice. Among Jewish scholars the translation of tinshemet as barn owl has a long history, and in modern Hebrew this is the name of the barn owl. Thus it seems best to translate yanshuf in some other way.

There are two likely candidates. For translators who have translated the word tachmas earlier in the list as “eared owl”, yanshuf can be translated as “tawny owl”. For those who decided to follow modern Hebrew usage and translate tachmas as “nightjar”, it would be good to translate yanshuf as “eared owl”, which also follows modern Hebrew usage.

The Tawny Owl Strix aluco is a fairly rare bird in Israel, but where it is present, its call is unmistakable. The male calls with a series of hoots “HOO-hoo-hoo, hoo-HOO-hoo”, and the female replies with a higher pitched single hoot “HOO”. Its eyes are outlined with pale circles, so that it looks as though it is wearing spectacles. As its name indicates, it is a mottled gray-brown color. It prefers wooded areas or orchards and roosts close to the trunk of a tree.

It is listed as an unclean bird.

Owls very similar to the tawny owl, which belongs to the same family as Wood Owls Strigidae, are found in many places in the world. In sub-Saharan Africa the Wood Owl Strix woodfordii is very similar to the tawny owl, while in Australasia the Boobook Owl Ninox novaseelandiae is a good equivalent. Elsewhere the word for a medium-sized wood owl, or a phrase meaning “tawny-colored owl” can be used.

Tawny owl, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

Leviathan

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English as “Leviathan” is translated in Poqomchi’ as “monster crocodile” (source: Ronald Ross), in Kalanga as “a monster of the sea called Leviathan” (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), and in Hiligaynon as “the dragon Leviatan” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation).

 

Scholars are divided in the details of the meaning of this word, but all are agreed that it refers to a monster that lives in water. The word seems to be related to a Hebrew root that means “to twist.” Some believe that the notion of livyathan is related to ancient Egyptian beliefs about a mythical monster crocodile that was thought to be responsible for the annual flooding of the Nile and for causing eclipses of the sun. The passages in Job 41:1 and Psalms 74:14 support this view. In Psalms 74:13 and 14 livyathan occurs in parallel with another word tannin, which refers to a monster that lives in the water. In Ezekiel 29:3 tanim is described as having powerful jaws and scales. The similarity to a crocodile has been noted by many commentators.

Others relate this monster to Babylonian myths about the chaos dragon Tiamat. The Ugaritic texts refer to a similar monster called lotan, which is the Ugaritic form of livyathan. It seems possible that this is the reference in Isaiah 27:1. The probability is that the name is used in both senses in the Bible.

There is general agreement among Jewish scholars that tannin is the more generic word for “sea monster”, while behemoth and livyathan are the names of two of those monsters. This is reflected in 2 Esdras 6:49 and 52, where leviathan is clearly a proper name for one of these monsters.

Crocodiles are the largest of all reptiles. The species found in the Nile valley is the Nile Crocodile Crocodylus niloticus. In biblical times these crocodiles also lived in the larger rivers of the land of Israel, and another species lived in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia.

Crocodiles look like enormous lizards with large teeth, and they often reach more than 5 meters (16 feet) in length. Their skin is covered in thick fleshy scales. They live in rivers and in river estuaries and come out of the water onto land to sun themselves for long periods each day. When they are in the water they can stay submerged for ten minutes or more.

They feed on fish that they catch in the water, or lie in wait, wholly or partly submerged until some animal or person comes to drink. They then leap out of the water and seize their prey and throw or drag it into the water where they drown it. They then wedge the prey under a log or between rocks or reeds and tear large pieces from the carcass by seizing the flesh in their teeth and twisting themselves over and over until the flesh comes loose. They then swallow the meat without chewing it. In areas where these crocodiles live, people are killed every year by them.

The monster crocodile of the Egyptians, however, was not a real crocodile but a mythical one of gigantic proportions, which was associated with the annual flooding of the Nile River. It was believed to be so big that whenever it entered the Nile, it caused the river to overflow its banks.

Leviathan symbolized the Egyptian nation and probably its gods; it also symbolized the two mighty nations of Assyria and Babylon. Thus it symbolized the great enemies of Israel.

In most translations the word is transliterated from the Hebrew rather than translated, but the name by itself conveys little to the average reader. In languages where crocodiles are well known, the more meaningful expression “the giant crocodile Leviathan” can be used in the Job and Psalms passages. Then, in the Isaiah passage, where the text itself identifies Leviathan as a serpent (or reptile), the name can be used by itself. In some societies, where there are beliefs about mythical monster serpents or crocodiles associated with the flooding of rivers, the local name for the mythical monster can be used, with a footnote to indicate that in Hebrew the monster’s name is livyathan and that it represented the enemies of Israel.

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

wild boar

There is general agreement about the meaning of the Latin word aper. The animal referred to is the European Wild Boar Sus scrofa, which was once plentiful in forested areas of Europe and the Middle East from the Atlantic Coast to as far east as the Tian Shan Range in China.

Although wild boars are the ancestors of domestic pigs, they are much more active and robust animals. They are taller, almost a meter (3 feet) at the shoulder, and much more hairy all over. Their underside is covered in hairs longer than those on the rest of their body. Their color varies from gray to black. Adult males have short tusks that are used both for digging and for protection. They have flat mobile snouts that are also used for digging. The piglets, up to twelve in a litter, are covered with dark stripes and spots running from head to tail. The adults are extremely protective of the younger animals and are fearlessly aggressive. This makes them very dangerous animals. Wild boars are omnivorous, eating mainly roots, but also eating grass, leaves, insects, and small animals and birds. They need to live close to water, as they rely on the cooling effects of wallowing in mud to regulate their body temperature. In Israel they were found in the Huleh swamps, and even now they can be found in the Jordan Valley and in some remote wadis.

Like domestic pigs wild boars are considered by Jews to be unclean. They are also associated with ferocity and aggressiveness. In Egypt Assyria Babylonia and later in Persia Greece and Rome the boar’s head was a common symbol of military might.

Wild pigs similar to Sus scrofa are found in Africa and Asia. They include the Giant Forest Hog Hylochoerus meinertzerhageni of the equatorial regions of Africa; the Bush Pig Potamochaerus porcus, found in the savannah areas of sub-Saharan Africa; and the Crested Wild Boar (Soor) Sus cristatus, found on the Indian subcontinent, and in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and southwestern China. All of these share the aggressive nature of the wild boar.

In Indonesia and some Philippine islands the nearest equivalent is the Babirusa Babyrousa babyrussa. However, since this animal is not nearly as large or as fierce as the wild boar, translations in these areas should probably use an expression meaning “big, fierce babirusa”.

In the southern United States, Mexico, and adjacent areas of Latin America as far south as southern Brazil and Paraguay, the closest equivalent to the wild boar is the animal known as the collared peccary, javelina, or Musk Hog Tayassu angulatus. This animal is not as large or as fierce as the wild boar, so a more descriptive expression such as “big, fierce peccary” might be the best way of translating the word.

While Psalms 80:13 has the word chazir, normally translated “pig”, the context makes it clear that this is a wild animal, and “wild boar” is the better translation.

Wild boar, Wikimedia Commons

Source: All Creatures Great and Small: Living things in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)