{"id":588,"date":"2022-07-25T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/?p=588"},"modified":"2022-07-25T09:26:15","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T15:26:15","slug":"bird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/archives\/588","title":{"rendered":"BIRD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\"><img src=\"http:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/clipart2177153-1.png\">          <strong>BIRD<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><em><strong>Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, \nOver many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore\u2014\nWhile I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,\nAs of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door . . .\nQuoth the Raven \"Nevermore.\" <\/strong><\/em>\n\n(Edgar Allen Poe, \"The Raven\") \n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">One shudders in delight at the tone of Poe\u2019s macabre poem, which carries on the literary tradition of war, death, and mystical power as symbolized by the genus&nbsp;<em>corvus<\/em>&nbsp;(including <strong>ravens, rooks, jackdaws, crows<\/strong> . . .). Aesop, Shakespeare, Dickens, and others went on about this ubiquitous black fowl. Of course, corvids form only a sliver of the world\u2019s bird population, and&nbsp;stories throughout humanity&nbsp;abound with references to them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li>In ancient Greece, the&nbsp;<strong>crane<\/strong>&nbsp;was sacred to Hermes and Hestia, the&nbsp;<strong>eagle<\/strong>&nbsp;to Zeus.<\/li><li>The&nbsp;<strong>pelican<\/strong>, legend says, pierced its breast bloody to feed its young in a show of piety.<\/li><li>The Victorian culture picked up the Greek Aphrodite\u2019s and Jewish King Solomon&#8217;s association of love with the swooping&nbsp;<strong>swallow<\/strong> to popularize jewellery that spoke of romantic faithfulness.<\/li><li>No one could forget Rowlings&#8217;s <strong>owl<\/strong> Hagrid&nbsp;(<em>Harry Potter<\/em>), and Narnian skies flutter with many winged creatures including the <strong>hummingbird<\/strong>, <strong>albatross<\/strong>, and <strong>flamingo<\/strong>.<\/li><li>The Beatles (\u201c<strong>Blackbird<\/strong> Singing in the Dead of Night\u201d) also employed the trope of the bird to say something or other philosophical.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Scriptural writers, too, mentioned a great variety of birds\u2013some quite exotic, such as <strong>storks<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Jer.%208.7\">Jer. 8:7<\/a>) and <strong>ostriches<\/strong> and <strong>peacocks<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Job%2039.13\">Job 39:13<\/a>). Our feathered friends appear in many Bible stories; for example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li>God fashioned the birds of the air on the fifth day of Creation (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Gen.%201.21\">Gen. 1:21<\/a>)\u2013some considered unfit to eat or offer as sacrifice such as the <strong>heron, hawk, stork, cormorant<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Lev.%2011.13-19\">Lev. 11:13-19<\/a>).<\/li><li>&#8220;Clean\u201d bird flesh was edible and offered by the poor in Temple sacrifice to the Lord (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Gen.%2015.9\">Gen. 15:9<\/a>;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Lev.%2012.8\">Lev. 12:8<\/a>).<\/li><li>Elijah was fed bread and meat brought to him on God&#8217;s command by an &#8220;unclean&#8221; flock (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/1%20Kings%2017.5-6\">1 Kings 17:5-6<\/a>). The Lord is greater than religion, His grace superseding law.<\/li><li>God used bird imagery to describe His people\u2019s flight from and return to His presence, physically and spiritually (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Exod.%2019.4\">Exod. 19:4<\/a>;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Deut.%2032.11-12\">Deut. 32:11-12<\/a>;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Hos.%2011.11\">Hos. 11:11<\/a>;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Ps.%2055.6-8\">Ps. 55:6-8<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Ps%20124.7\">124:7<\/a>). We cannot escape Him (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Ps.%20139.9-10\">Ps. 139:9-10<\/a>). <\/li><li>Noah took birds (both unclean and clean) into the Ark, using the&nbsp;raven&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<strong>dove<\/strong>&nbsp;to determine when the waters had receded sufficiently for disembarkment (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Gen.%208.6-8\">Gen. 8:6-8<\/a>).<\/li><li>Jonah, whose name in Hebrew means<em>&nbsp;<\/em>dove<em>&nbsp;<\/em>or&nbsp;<strong>pigeon<\/strong>, fled his God-ordained task as prophet (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Jonah.%201.3\">Jon. 1:3<\/a>).<\/li><li>Eagles symbolized punishing war (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Deut.%2028.49\">Deut. 28:49<\/a>;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Hab.%201.8\">Hab. 1:8<\/a>).<\/li><li>Goliath cursed David, threatening to feed his flesh to <strong>carrion<\/strong> birds (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/1%20Sam.%2017.44\">1 Sam. 17:44<\/a>); similarly, <strong>vultures<\/strong> picked the bones of corpses (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Matt.%2024.28\">Matt. 24:28<\/a>)<strong>.<\/strong><\/li><li>God, like a bird Himself, offers us protection and healing (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Isa.%2031.5\">Isa. 31:5<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Isa%2040.31\">40:31<\/a>;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Ps.%2017.8\">Ps. 17:8<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Ps%2091.4\">91:4<\/a>;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Ruth%202.12\">Ruth 2:12<\/a>;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Mal.%204.2\">Mal. 4:2<\/a>).<\/li><li>But the Lord also uses birds to inflict holy judgment upon evil people as a general principle (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Prov.%2030.17\">Prov. 30:17<\/a>) and at the end of the Great Tribulation (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Rev.%2019.17-18\">Rev. 19:17-18<\/a>).<\/li><li>The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove as a symbol of God\u2019s presence (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Luke%203.22\">Luke 3:22<\/a>;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/John%201.32\">John 1:32<\/a>), perhaps an echo of His birdlike hovering over the waters of creation (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Gen.%201.2\">Gen. 1:2<\/a>).<\/li><li>Jesus compared the value of birds to humans in showing the providential care of the Father for the birds themselves, and for humans through the birds (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Matt.%206.26\">Matt. 6:26<\/a>;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Luke%2012.7\">Luke 12:7<\/a>).<\/li><li>In preaching and parable, Jesus used bird imagery to teach His followers about the nature of the Kingdom (<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Matt.%2013.%204\">Matt. 13: 4<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Matt%2013.19\">19<\/a>;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/biblia.com\/bible\/esv\/Mark%204.30-32\">Mark 4:30-32<\/a>).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>It&#8217;s amazing how God uses humble, physical items to allude to exalted, spiritual realities<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-small-font-size\"><p><strong>NOTE<\/strong>: In these short articles tying literature and culture to the Bible, I explore what God might have been saying in His pattern of usage for each symbol. English rendition of the original Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek varies with translations (e.g., \u201cscroll\u201d is sometimes interchangeable with \u201cbook\u201d); however, the quality and underlying meaning of the selected emblem remain consistent across Bible versions. I&#8217;ve used two excellent resources for much of my research: <em>A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature<\/em> (David Lyle Jeffrey) and <em>Dictionary of Biblical Imagery<\/em> (Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, Tremper Longman III).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BIRD Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore\u2014 While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door . . . Quoth the Raven &#8220;Nevermore.&#8221; (Edgar Allen Poe, &#8220;The Raven&#8221;) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/archives\/588\" class=\"more-link\">&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  BIRD<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[11,6,10,9,8,5],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":632,"href":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588\/revisions\/632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}