Kite

12 sources

Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson (1831)

איח , Lev 11:14; Deu 14:13; Job 28:7. Bochart supposes this to be the bird which the Arabians call the ja-jao, from its note; and which the ancients named aesalon, “the merlin,” a bird celebrated for its sharp-sightedness. This faculty is referred to in Job 28:7 where the word is rendered “vulture. As a noun masculine plural, איים , in Isa 13:22; Isa 34:14; and Jer 50:30, Bochart says that jackals are intended; but, by the several contexts, particularly the last, it may well mean a kind of unclean bird, and so be the same with that mentioned above.

Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature by John Kitto (1856) ↑

Kite [GLEDE]

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary by American Tract Society (1859) ↑

A bird of prey, and therefore placed by Moses among the unclean birds, Lev 11:14 . See BIRDS.\par

Smith's Bible Dictionary by William Smith (1863) ↑

Kite. (Hebrew, ayah). A rapacious and keen-sighted bird of prey belonging to the hawk family. The Hebrew word thus rendered occurs in three passages -- Lev 11:14; Lev 14:13; Job 28:7. In the two former passages. It is translated "kite" in the Authorized Version, and, in the latter passage, "vulture." It is enumerated among the twenty names of birds mentioned in Deu 14:1, which were considered unclean by the Mosaic law and forbidden to be used as food by the Israelites.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary by Andrew Robert Fausset (1878) ↑

’ayyah (Lev 11:14). The red kite, Milvus regalis, remarkable for its sharp sight (Job 28:7, where for "vulture" translated "kite," ’ayyah even its eye fails to penetrate the miner’s hidden "path"; Deu 14:13). From an Arabic root "to turn," the kite sailing in circles guided by the rudder-like tail. The phrase "after its kind" implies that a genus or class of birds, not merely one individual, is meant. The bony orbits of the eye and the eye itself are especially large in proportion to the skull, in all the Raptores. The sclerotic plates enclose the eye as in a hoop, in the form of a goblet with a trumpet rim; by this the eye becomes a self-adjusting telescope to discern near or far objects. Hence, when a beast dies in a wilderness, in a very short time kites and vultures, invisible before to man, swoop in spiral circles from all quarters toward it.

New and Concise Bible Dictionary by George Morrish (1899) ↑

ayyah. There are several species of the kite which feed upon small birds, mice, reptiles, and fish. It was forbidden to the Israelites for food. Lev 11:14; Deu 14:13. The same Hebrew word is translated ’vulture’ in Job 28:7, ’falcon’ in the R.V. It is only distinguished in scripture for its keenness of vision, but this characteristic would apply to many different birds. The common kite is the Milvus regalis.

Jewish Encyclopedia by Isidore Singer (ed.) (1906) ↑

See VULTURE:

Dictionary of the Bible by James Hastings (1909) ↑

KITE.—1. ’ayyâh. In Lev 11:14, Deu 14:13 AV [Note: Authorized Version.] renders this word by ‘kite’ in Job 28:7 by ‘vulture’; RV [Note: Revised Version.] has uniformly ‘falcon.’ 2. dâ’âh: Lev 11:14 (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘vulture’; RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘kite’). 3. dayyâh; Deu 14:13 (EV [Note: English Version.] ‘glede’ [Old Eng. kite, the black kite, and the Egyptian kite are all found in Palestine, but it is impossible to say which birds are denoted by the different words.

W. Ewing.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia by James Orr (ed.) (1915) ↑

kı̄t (איּה, ’ayyāh; ἰκτῖνος, iktı́nos; Latin Milvus ictinus or regalis): A medium-sized member of the hawk tribe (see HAWK). This bird is 27 inches long, of bright reddish-brown color, has sharply pointed wings and deeply forked tail. It is supposed to have exceptionally piercing eyes. It takes moles, mice, young game birds, snakes and frogs, as well as carrion for food. Its head and facial expression are unusually eagle-like. It was common over Palestine in winter, but bred in the hills of Galilee and rough mountainous places, so it was less conspicuous in summer. It is among the lists of abominations (see Lev 11:14 and Deu 14:13). It is notable that this is the real bird intended by Job to be used as that whose eye could not trace the path to the silver mine: “That path no bird of prey knoweth, Neither hath the falcon’s eye seen it” (Job 28:7).

The word used here in the original Hebrew is ’ayyāh, which was the name for kite. Our first translators used “vulture”; our latest efforts give “falcon,” a smaller bird of different markings, not having the kite’s reputation for eyesight.

Plants and Animals of the Bible by David Cox (1970) ↑

See Hawk

Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary by Mission Mutual, adapted from the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary (2023)

A kite (Milvus milvus) is a large bird of prey. It is about 48.3 centimeters (19 inches) long. The upper feathers are dark. The belly is white.

Kites build their nests high in trees from sticks and other plant material. They usually have two or three young. They feed them snakes, grasshoppers, and other small animals. People sometimes call kites “snake hawks.”

Kites are migratory birds. They spend the summer in Israel, especially in the mountains of southern Judea, in the empty land west of the Dead Sea, and in the wilderness near Beersheba.

The red kite, also called the glede, is a medium-sized bird of prey. The edges of its upper bill overlap the lower bill like sharp scissors. Its tail is forked (split into two points), like a fish’s tail. Its call is loud and often sounds like a sharp whistle.

Other kites in the Holy Land include the black kite (Milvus migrans) and the black-winged kite (Elanus caeruleus).

The kite is listed among the unclean birds in the law of Moses (Leviticus 11:14; Deuteronomy 14:13). Some scholars and translators are not certain about the exact type of bird meant in these verses.

See Birds; Buzzard; Falcon.

Animals in the Bible (UBS) by United Bible Societies

References:

Hebrew דָּאָה, דַּיָּה (da’ah, dayah)

LEV 11:14, DEU 14:13, ISA 34:15

Discussion:

There is little doubt that this word refers to the various types of kite found in the Middle East and Egypt, especially the Black Kite Milvus migrans, which is very common in these areas. The Red Kite Milvus milvus is a passing migrant in the land of Israel, seldom stopping over for more than a few days each year.

Description:

Kites can be distinguished from hawks, eagles, and other birds mainly by the way they fly. They fly fairly low and slowly, with very obvious use of their tails as rudders. As they make their turns their tails can be seen to twist. This enables them to turn with great precision in small circles, and they often catch flying insects with their short talons.

The black kite has a grayish head, and the rest of it is a fairly uniform dark brown. It has a long triangular tail that looks V-shaped as the kite maneuvers the two outer feathers.

Black kites feed on insects, frogs, lizards, and food scraps from human dwellings, and scavenge dead fish and shellfish along the beaches of oceans, lakes, and rivers. They also pick off small bits of meat from animal carcasses and can often be seen swooping onto roads to pick up mice, birds, and other animals that have been killed by passing vehicles. They often eat in flight, holding the prey in one foot. Most types of kite are very tame and can often be seen in close proximity to houses; they will catch food scraps thrown to them by humans. When there are large concentrations of flying insects or when kites are migrating, they gather in large numbers.

Special significance or symbolism:

They are listed as unclean birds.

Translation:

Black kites are found in southeastern Europe, most of Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. In some parts of Africa their close relative, the Yellow-billed Kite Milvus migrans parasitus, is more common. Another very similar kite is the Brahminy Kite Haliastur Indus, which is very common indeed in South and Southeast Asia. In other places where hawks are known, the word for hawk can be used in the Isaiah passage, and in the lists of unclean birds an inclusive phrase like “all kinds of hawk” can be used rather than trying to identify each of the species on the list.