Fowl

Fowl [BIRDS; COCK]

See BIRDS.\par

Fowl. Several distinct Hebrew and Greek words are thus rendered in the English Bible. Of these, the most common is ’oph, which is usually a collective term for all kinds of birds. In 1Ki 4:23, among the daily provisions for Solomon’s table "fatted fowl" are included. In the New Testament, the word translated "fowls" is most frequently that which comprehends all kinds of birds (including ravens, Luk 12:24. See Sparrow.

Used for birds of prey: ’ayit (Gen 15:11; Job 28:7; Isa 18:6). The Assyrian host, type of the anti-Christian hosts (Rev 19:17-18, ta ornea; Eze 39:17-20), "shall be left to the fowls of the mountains ... and the fowls shall summer upon them." In the sense "poultry," see Neh 5:18; 1Ki 4:23; "fatted fowl," barburim, from barar, "to be pure." Gesenius translated "geese." Birds in general (ta peteina) (Luk 12:24).

is the rendering of the following Heb. words in the Bible:

1. Usually עוֹ (oph, a flier), πετεινόν, any winged animal, a generic term for the feathered race, frequently with the addition of הָּשָּׁמִיַם, “of the heavens.”

2. עִיַט (a’yit, so called from rushing on. its prey; compare Jer 12:9, where it is spoken of a beast), a ravenous bird (Job 28:7); as an emblem of a warlike king (Isa 46:11); collect for birds of prey (Gen 15:11; Isa 18:6; Eze 39:4). like ὄρνεον, as a vulture (Rev 18:2; Rev 19:17; Rev 19:21); translated fowl in Gen 15:11; Job 28:7; Isa 18:6.

3. צַפּור (tsippor’, so called from its twittering; Chald. צַפִּר, Dan 4:9; Dan 4:11; Dan 4:18; Dan 4:30), a small bird, spec. a sparrow (Psa 84:4; Psa 102:8; Pro 26:2; Pro 27:8; Job 40:29 [Job 40:24]; Ecc 12:6, etc.), or similar small birds (Psa 11:1; Psa 104:17; Psa 124:7; as caught by the fowler, Pro 6:5; Pro 7:23; Amo 3:5, etc.; also collect. birds of any kind, Gen 15:10;. Lev 14:4-53 Deu 4:17; Psa 8:9; Psa 148:10: etc.; and even a bird of prey, Eze 39:4), occasionally rendered by swallow and sparrow. In Neh 5:18, the word seems to have the special sense which “fowl” has with us, as it is enumerated among the viands provided for Nehemiah’s table.

4. בִּרְבֻּרַים(barburim’), “fatted fowls,” 1Ki 4:23, as provided for the table of Solomon, where Kimchi understands capons, but Gesenius, with the Jerus. Targum, geese, so called from the pureness and whiteness of their plumage: The ancient Egyptians had spacious poultry-yards, set apart for keeping geese and other wild-fowl, which they fattened for the table; and their poulterers bestowed especial care upon the geese (Wilkinson, 1:215; 2:174, abridgm.). SEE FATTED FOWL.

In the N.T. the word translated “fowls” is most frequently τὰ πετεινά, which comprehends all kinds of birds (including ravens, Luk 12:24).; but in Rev 19:17-21, where the context shows that birds of prey are meant, the Greek is τὰ ὄρνεα. The same distinction is observed in thee apocryphal writings: comp. Jdt 11:7; Sir 17:4; Sir 43:14, with 2Ma 15:33. SEE COCK; SEE SPARROW.

The following statements cover the remaining details. — Clean binds כָּלאּצַפּוֹר טְהֹרָח, Deu 14:11; Deu 14:20), i.e., all not named in Lev 11:13-19; Deu 14:12-18, were (as well as their eggs, בֵּיצַים) used for food (Luk 11:12), e.g. quails (q.v.), chickens, doves, also wild-fowl; hence bird-catching was very common (Psa 124:7; Amo 3:5; Hos 5:1; Hos 7:12, etc.), for. which purpose. nets, traps, and stool-birds (Jer 5:27; Sir 11:31 [37]) were used (see Gesen. Thes. page 685). SEE FOWLER. In robbing a nest of its eggs or young, however, “the mother-bird must be allowed to escape (Deu 22:6 sq.; see Michaelis, Syntagm. Comm. 2, 89 sq.; Mos. Recht, 3:181 sq.), a prescription founded snot only on motives of humanity (comp. Lev 22:28; yet see Heumans, De legis div. semnsu, Gott. 1748; also in his Nova Sylloge Dissertatt. page 282 sq.); although the Talmudists (Mishna, Chollin, 12:2) refer this only to clean birds, and make many nice distinctions in the matter, with various penalties attached (Maccoth, 3:4). Birds were not regularly offered in sacrifice, except in commutation for some costlier victim (Lev 1:15-17; compare Mishna, Kinnim, 5:11). SEE DOVE.

The bird was first brought to the altar, where the priest (with his nail) nipped off the head, or rather cracked (מלק) thee neck, so that it still hung to the bird (Lev 5:8); he then squeezed out the blood (sufficient, at least, in quantity for sprinkling), and finally threw the body into the fire, but without the crop, which (with its contents and the offal) was separately (ברל) thrown into the ash-heap under the altar. Before the flesh was committed to the flames, however, a folding back or breaking of the wings (שַׁסִּע בּכְנָפָיו) is prescribed, a symbol of which the meaning is not clear (see Dassov, De ave ungue secta, Viteb. 1697; Eskuche, De gall/a et gallisis ad aram Jehovca nonfractisa Rint. 1741). The Talmud mentions geese (אִוָּז, Chol. 12:1; Bekor. 7:4), a well-knows article of luxury with modern Jews. The Hebrews were accustomed to play with parlor-birds, especially children (Job 40:29 [Job 40:24]; Bar 3:17; comp. Catull. 2:1 sq.; Plaut. Capt. 5:4, 5). Of that form of divination which draw omens from the appearance or flight of birds (Muller, Etrusk. 2:187 sq.), an example occurs in the history of the Herodian family (Josephus, Ant. 19:8, 2). SEE SOOTHSAYER. Thee fable of the phoenix (Pliny, 10:2; Ovid, Met. 15:392 sq.; comp. Herod. 2:73) is thought by some (also Ewald) to be alluded to in Job 29:18 (see Gesenius, Thes. Heb. page 453 sq.). See generally Tenzel, in the Thesaur. theol. philol. 1:559 sq. Comp. BIRD.

This term is used for every description of bird described as of the heaven and of the air, including those that feed on carrion, as in Gen 15:11; Rev 19:17; Rev 19:21; and those for the table. 1Ki 4:23; Neh 5:18.

FOWL.—The word ‘fowl’ is now almost restricted to poultry, and especially to that familiar bird in a farmyard, the ‘barn-door fowl’; but it is used in the NT in a wider sense. The Gr. word πετεινά (lit. ‘flying things’) does not indeed signify, as its derivation might imply, all winged creatures—a meaning sometimes attached to ‘fowls’ in Old English (Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible , art. ‘Fowl’). It denotes ‘birds,’ of which there are many species in Palestine, including some which are only birds of passage with us. Quite arbitrarily Authorized Version renders πετεινά by ‘birds’ in Mat 8:20; Mat 13:32, Luk 9:58; and by ‘fowls’ in Mat 6:26; Mat 13:4, Mar 4:4; Mar 4:32, Luk 8:5; Luk 12:24; Luk 13:19. In every case in which πετεινά occurs in the Gospels Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 gives ‘birds.’

Borrowing so much as He did from outward nature, our Lord often employed birds to illustrate His teaching. Their nests are contrasted with His own pillowless conch (Mat 8:20). In the parable of the Sower they devour the seed that falls by the wayside (Mat 13:4); in that of the Mustard Seed they lodge under the shadow of the huge plant which grew out of such a tiny germ (Mar 4:32). Their free undistracted lives play an important part in that cumulative argument which Christ builds up in the Sermon on the Mount against the tyranny of care. They neither sow, reap, nor gather into barns, yet the heavenly Father feeds them (Mat 6:26), i.e. they are inferior to man in two respects. For (1) they cannot anticipate and influence the future as man can by the exercise of his reason or the labour of his hands; (2) God is only their Creator, but He is man’s Father, and will not forget His child. Though the ‘fowls’ cannot foresee, or work, or trust, they have no care. Yet they are fed. How foolish of man, who can do all these things, to fall so far beneath the ‘fowls,’ and worry over food and drink, when his first duty is to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness!

D. A. Mackinnon.

FOWL.—The word ‘fowl’ is used in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] for any kind of bird. The two words ‘bird’ and ‘fowl’ are employed simply for the sake of variety or perhaps to distinguish two different Heb. or Gr. words occurring near one another. Thus Gen 15:10 ‘the birds (Heb. tsippôr) divided he not,’ Gen 15:11 ‘when the fowls (Heb. ‘ayit) came down upon the carcases’; Jer 12:8 ‘the birds round about’ (same Heb. as ‘fowls’ in Gen 15:11), Psa 8:8 ‘the fowl of the air’ (same Heb. as ‘birds’ in Gen 15:10). See Bird.

foul (עוף, ‛ōph; πετεινόν, peteinón): The word is now generally restricted to the larger, especially the edible birds, but formerly it denoted all flying creatures; in Lev 11:20 the King James Version we have even, “all fowls that creep, going upon all four,” Lev 11:21, “every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four.”

1. Old Testament Terms and References

The word most frequently translated “fowl” is ‛ōph from ‛̇ūph, “to cover,” hence, wing; it is used collectively for birds and fowl in general (Gen 1:20, etc.; Gen 2:19, Gen 2:20, etc.); ‛ayı̄t (from ‛ūt, “to rush”) means a ravenous beasts; or bird of prey, used collectively of ravenous birds (Gen 15:11 the King James Version; Isa 18:6 the King James Version “fowls”; Job 28:7, “a path which no fowl knoweth,” the Revised Version (British and American) “no bird of prey”); in Isa 46:11 it is used as a symbol of a conqueror (compare Jer 12:9, “bird,” “birds of prey”; Eze 39:4, “ravenous birds”); cippōr, Aramaic cippar (from cāphar, “to twitter or chirp”), “a chirper,” denotes a small bird or sparrow (Deu 4:17 the King James Version; Neh 5:18; Dan 4:14); to give the carcasses of men to the fowls (birds) of the air was an image of destruction (Deu 28:26 the King James Version; 1Sa 17:44, 1Sa 17:46; Psa 79:2; Jer 7:33, etc.); barburı̄m, rendered (1Ki 4:23) “fatted fowl” (among the provisions for Solomon’s table for one day), is probably a mimetic word, like Greek bárbaros, Latin murmuro, English babble, perhaps denoting geese from their cackle (Gesenius, from bārar, “to cleanse,” referring to their white plumage; but other derivations and renderings are given). They might have been ducks or swans. They could have been guineas or pigeons. The young of the ostrich was delicious food, and no doubt when Solomon’s ships brought peafowl they also brought word that they were a delicacy for a king’s table. The domestic fowl was not common so early in Palestine,but it may have been brought by Solomon with other imports from the East; in New Testament times chickens were common; ba‛al kānāph, “owner of a wing,” is used for a bird of any kind in Pro 1:17. “In vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird,” the King James Version margin Hebrew, “in the eyes of everything that hath a wing.”

2. In the Levitical Law

In the Levitical law fowls (birds) were distinguished as clean and unclean (Lev 11:13 f; Deu 14:11-20; compare Gen 8:20); the first were allowed to be eaten because they fed on grains, seeds, and vegetables; the second were forbidden because they fed on flesh and carrion.

3. New Testament References and Illustrative Uses

In the New Testament the common word for “fowl” is peteinon, “winged fowl.” “The fowls of the air” (the Revised Version (British and American) “the birds of the heaven”) are pointed to by our Lord as examples of the providential care of God (Mat 6:26; Luk 12:24); in another connection the “sparrows” (strouthı́on) sold cheap, probably for food, are so employed (Mat 10:29, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?” Luk 12:6, “five ... for two pence”); their quickly picking up seeds from the ground is made to illustrate the influences which render “the word” powerless (Mat 13:4); their being sheltered in the branches, the growth of the kingdom (Mat 13:32, peteinon); the hen’s (ornis) sheltering care for her chickens, His desire to protect and save Jerusalem (Mat 23:37; compare 2 Esdras 1:30; Rth 2:12); the fowls were shown in vision to Peter as among the things made clean by God (Act 10:12; Act 11:6); in Rev 18:2; Rev 19:17, Rev 19:21, órneon, “bird,” “fowl,” a carnivorous bird (the Revised Version (British and American) “bird”), is the representative of desolation and of destruction.

For “fowls” the American Standard Revised Version has “birds” (Gen 6:7, Gen 6:20; Gen 7:3; Lev 20:25; Act 10:12; Act 11:6; with the English Revised Version Mat 6:26; Mat 13:4; Mar 4:4, Mar 4:32; Luk 8:5; Luk 12:24; Luk 13:19); for “every feathered fowl” (Eze 39:17), the Revised Version (British and American) has “the birds of every sort”; for “all fowls that creep” (Lev 11:20) and for “every flying creeping thing” (Lev 11:21), “all winged creeping things.”

Gen 15:11 (c) These are a type of Satan and his angels who are always enemies of any sacrifice for sin, and especially for any types or shadows of Calvary. Satan was defeated at the Cross, and he ever tries to get men’s minds to be occupied with every other kind of remedy for sin, except the one remedy of the Blood. In this particular case, Satanic powers wanted to hide from Israel the value of GOD’s preserving care, and His rich provision for their needs.

Dan 7:6 (b) Here is a type of the swiftness with which Alexander’s four armies and generals would progress in their campaign to conquer the earth.

Mat 6:26 (b) The Lord calls our attention to His care for the bird family so that we may realize His care for us. We are more precious than the birds, and all of the children of GOD have His promise that He will preserve and provide for them.

Mat 13:4 (a) Here is a type of evil spirits who pounce upon the Word of GOD when the sinner hears it in order to take it out of his heart and mind. (See also Mar 4:4; Luk 8:5).

Mar 4:32 (b) These birds represent evil spirits who make their home and perform their activities in religious systems. (See also Mat 13:19).

Act 10:12 (b) These birds represent unclean people who were saved by grace, washed in the Blood of the Lamb, and thereby made fit to live in Heaven. The Lord is telling us that when He saves any kind of a wicked person, He makes that person a fit subject for Heaven, the company of angels, and the presence of GOD. (See Act 11:6).

Rev 19:21 (b) By this type we understand the destructive and consuming power of the armies who would destroy their enemies.

Fowl. Most people assume that hens and roosters (cocks) were common in Palestine, but they are rarely mentioned in the Bible. Domestic chickens probably descended from the red jungle fowl of Asia. Cocks were bred for the ancient sport of cock-fighting before hens were raised for meat and eggs.

The crowing of cocks served the ancient world as an alarm clock. Cocks crowed about midnight and again about 3 A. M. Soldiers often rotated their guard duty at this regular signal. Jesus predicted that Peter would deny Him three times before the cock crowed (Mat 26:34; Mar 14:30; Luk 22:34; Joh 13:38).

Wild or tame, chickens gather in flocks. Jesus must have been familiar with this flocking instinct. He spoke of a mother hen that tucks a whole brood of chicks under her wings for safety (Mat 23:37; Luk 13:34).

The "fatted fowl" provided for King Solomon (1Ki 4:23) may have been geese. Ancient carvings from Megiddo show peasant women carrying fat geese. Geese also appear in Egyptian tomb paintings.