SEV Biblia, Chapter 11:16
el avestruz, y el mochuelo, y la gaceta, y el gavilán según su especie;
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Leviticus 11:16
Verse 16. The owl] hn[yh tb bath haiyaanah, the daughter of vociferation, the female ostrich, probably so called from the noise they make. "In the lonesome part of the night," says Dr. Shaw, "the ostriches frequently make a very doleful and hideous noise, sometimes resembling the roar of the lion; at other times, the hoarser voice of the bull or ox." He adds, "I have heard them groan as if in the deepest agonies."- Travels, 4to edition, p. 455. The ostrich is a very unclean animal, and eats its own ordure as soon as it voids it, and of this Dr. Shaw observes, (see above,) it is remarkably fond! This is a sufficient reason, were others wanting, why such a fowl should be reputed to be unclean, and its use as an article of diet prohibited. The night hawk] smjt tachmas, from smj chamas, to force away, act violently and unjustly; supposed by Bochart and Scheuchzer to signify the male ostrich, from its cruelty towards its young; (see Job xxxix. 13-18;) but others, with more reason, suppose it to be the bird described by Hasselquist, which he calls the strix Orientalis, or Oriental owl. "It is of the size of the common owl, living in the ruins and old deserted houses of Egypt and Syria; and sometimes in inhabited houses. The Arabs in Egypt call it Massasa, the Syrians Bana. It is very ravenous in Syria, and in the evenings, if the windows be left open, it flies into the house and kills infants, unless they are carefully watched; wherefore the women are much afraid of it."] Travels, p. 196. If this is the fowl intended, this is a sufficient reason why it should be considered an abomination.
The cuckoo] PjŤ shachaph, supposed rather to mean the sea mew; called shachaph, from tpjŤ shachepheth, a wasting distemper, or atrophy, (mentioned chap. xxvi. 16; Deut. xxviii. 22,) because its body is the leanest, in proportion to its bones and feathers, of most other birds, always appearing as if under the influence of a wasting distemper. A fowl which, from its natural constitution or manner of life, is incapable of becoming plump or fleshy, must always be unwholesome; and this is reason sufficient why such should be prohibited.
And the hawk] Ĺn nets, from the root hxn natsah, to shoot forth or spring forward, because of the rapidity and length of its flight, the hawk being remarkable for both. As this is a bird of prey, it is forbidden, and all others of its kind.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 16. And the owl , etc.] The great and little owls being after mentioned, it seems best, by the word here used, to understand the “ostrich” with the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, the Oriental versions, and the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan: the account which Pliny gives of the African and Ethiopic ostriches is this; that they are the largest of birds, and almost of the kind of beasts; that they exceed the height of a horseman on horseback, and are swifter than the horses; that their wings are given them to help them in their running, otherwise they are not flying fowls, nor are they lifted up from the earth. Their hoofs are like to those of harts, with which they fight, and are cloven, and serve to gather up stones, which in their flight they throw with their feet against them that follow them; they have a wonderful concoction, digesting whatever is swallowed down; and, according to Galen f278 , all the parts of them, their flesh and their eggs, are hard and difficult of digestion, and excermentitious: Aben Ezra says f279 , their flesh is as dry as a stick, and it is not usual to eat it, for there is no moisture in it; and therefore nothing can be eaten of the whole species, but the daughter or young one, for that being a female and little, there is some moisture in it; but not so the male when little; wherefore as the flesh of this creature is always reckoned by the Jews as unlawful to be eaten, it may the rather be supposed to be intended here, since if not here, it cannot be thought to be any where observed; and yet we find that both the eggs and the flesh of this creature have been eaten by some people: their eggs with the Indians were reckoned delicate eating, as Aelianus reports; and near the Arabians and Ethiopians were a people, as both Diodorus Siculus f281 and Strabo relate, who were called Struthophagi, from their living on ostriches; and they eat them in Peru, where they are common f283 ; and in several parts of Africa, as Nubia, Numidia, and Lybia, as Leo Africanus f284 relates: and the night hawk ; which, according to Pliny f285 , is sometimes called “cymindis”, and is seldom to be found in woods, sees not so well in the day time, and wages a deadly war with the eagle, and they are often found joined together: Bochart who thinks that the female ostrich is meant by the preceding bird, is of opinion that the male ostrich is meant here, there being no general name in the Hebrew language to comprehend both sexes: and the cuckoo ; a bird well known by its voice at least: some have thought it to be the same with the hawk, changing its figure and voice; but this has been refuted by naturalists f287 : but though it is here forbidden to be eaten, yet its young, when fat, are said to be of a grateful savour by Aristotle: and Pliny says, no bird is to be compared to it for the sweetness of its flesh, though perhaps it may not be here intended: the word is by the Septuagint rendered a “sea gull”, and so it is by Ainsworth, and which is approved of by Bochart f289 : and the hawk after his kind ; a well known bird, of which, according to Aristotle f290 , there are not less than ten sorts: Pliny says sixteen; it has its name in Hebrew from flying, it being a bird that flies very swiftly; (see Job 39:26) the hawk was a symbol of deity with the Egyptians, and was reverenced and worshipped by them f292 .
Matthew Henry Commentary
What animals were clean and unclean.
--These laws seem to have been intended, 1. As a test of the people' obedience, as Adam was forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge; an to teach them self-denial, and the government of their appetites. 2. To keep the Israelites distinct from other nations. Many also of thes forbidden animals were objects of superstition and idolatry to the heathen. 3. The people were taught to make distinctions between the holy and unholy in their companions and intimate connexions. 4. The la forbad, not only the eating of the unclean beasts, but the touching of them. Those who would be kept from any sin, must be careful to avoi all temptations to it, or coming near it. The exceptions are very minute, and all were designed to call forth constant care and exactnes in their obedience; and to teach us to obey. Whilst we enjoy ou Christian liberty, and are free from such burdensome observances, we must be careful not to abuse our liberty. For the Lord hath redeeme and called his people, that they may be holy, even as he is holy. We must come out, and be separate from the world; we must leave the company of the ungodly, and all needless connexions with those who ar dead in sin; we must be zealous of good works devoted followers of God and companions of his people.
Ceremonial purification.
--After the laws concerning clean and unclean food, come the law concerning clean and unclean persons. Man imparts his depraved natur to his offspring, so that, excepting as the atonement of Christ and the sanctification of the Spirit prevent, the original blessing, "Increas and multiply," Ge 1:28, is become to the fallen race a direful curse and communicates sin and misery. Let those women who have receive mercy from God in child-bearing, with all thankfulness own God' goodness to them; and this shall please the Lord better tha sacrifices __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
ואת 853 בת 1323 היענה 3284 ואת 853 התחמס 8464 ואת 853 השׁחף 7828 ואת 853 הנץ 5322 למינהו׃ 4327
