Birds in the Bible

• Birds were made with the sea creatures on the fifth dayGen 1:20–23
  The verses

  Gen 1:20–23And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every bird of flight after its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
• After the flood, birds too were given as foodGen 9:2–3
  The verses

  Gen 9:2–3The fear and dread of you will fall on every living creature on the earth, every bird of the air, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are delivered into your hand. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things.
• Israel may eat any clean birdDeut 14:11
  The verses

  Deut 14:11You may eat any clean bird,
• Not to be eaten: eagle, vultures, raven, ostrich, owls, stork, heron, hoopoe, batLev 11:13–19
  The verses

  Lev 11:13–19Additionally, you are to detest the following birds, and they must not be eaten because they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, any kind of falcon, any kind of raven, the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.
• Birds nest beside the springs and sing among the branchesPs 104:12
  The verses

  Ps 104:12The birds of the air nest beside the springs; they sing among the branches.
• The stork makes her home in the cypressesPs 104:17
  The verses

  Ps 104:17where the birds build their nests; the stork makes her home in the cypresses.
• In spring the cooing of turtledoves is heardSong 2:12
  The verses

  Song 2:12The flowers have appeared in the countryside; the season of singing has come, and the cooing of turtledoves is heard in our land.
• The stork, turtledove, swift and thrush keep their time of migrationJer 8:7
  The verses

  Jer 8:7Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
• The ostrich leaves her eggs on the ground to warm in the sandJob 39:14–15
  The verses

  Job 39:14–15For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand. She forgets that a foot may crush them, or a wild animal may trample them.
• Spreading her wings, the ostrich laughs at the horse and its riderJob 39:18
  The verses

  Job 39:18Yet when she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider.
• The hawk spreads its wings toward the southJob 39:26
  The verses

  Job 39:26Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south?
• Sparrows sold two for a penny, or five for two penniesMatt 10:29, Luke 12:6
  The verses

  Matt 10:29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

  Luke 12:6Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.
• The sparrow and the swallow nest near the altars of the templePs 84:3
  The verses

  Ps 84:3Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she places her young near Your altars, O LORD of Hosts, my King and my God.
• Birds do not sow or reap or gather into barnsMatt 6:26
  The verses

  Matt 6:26Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
• Birds nest in the branches of the full-grown mustard plantMatt 13:32
  The verses

  Matt 13:32Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
• “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests”Matt 8:20
  The verses

  Matt 8:20Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
• All kinds of birds have been tamed by manJas 3:7
  The verses

  Jas 3:7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,
• Solomon taught about animals, birds, reptiles and fish1 Kgs 4:33
  The verses

  1 Kgs 4:33He spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing in the wall, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.

In the stories

• Noah’s dove came back with a freshly plucked olive leafGen 8:8–12
  The verses

  Gen 8:8–12Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him in the ark, because the waters were still covering the surface of all the earth. So he reached out his hand and brought her back inside the ark. Noah waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. And behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. And Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove again, but this time she did not return to him.
• Birds of prey came down on Abram’s carcasses, and he drove them awayGen 15:10–11
  The verses

  Gen 15:10–11So Abram brought all these to Him, split each of them down the middle, and laid the halves opposite each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half. And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
• In the evening quail covered the campExod 16:13
  The verses

  Exod 16:13That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
• Quail driven in from the sea; no one gathered less than ten homersNum 11:31–32
  The verses

  Num 11:31–32Now a wind sent by the LORD came up, drove in quail from the sea, and brought them near the camp, about two cubits above the surface of the ground, for a day’s journey in every direction around the camp. All that day and night, and all the next day, the people stayed up gathering the quail. No one gathered less than ten homers, and they spread them out all around the camp.
• Fattened poultry for Solomon’s table; fowl every day for Nehemiah’s1 Kgs 4:23, Neh 5:18
  The verses

  1 Kgs 4:23ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry.

  Neh 5:18Each day one ox, six choice sheep, and some fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine was provided. But I did not demand the food allotted to the governor, because the burden on the people was so heavy.
• A rooster crowed as Peter denied JesusMatt 26:74–75
  The verses

  Matt 26:74–75At that he began to curse and swear to them, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

In the Law

• Take the young from a nest, but let the mother bird goDeut 22:6–7
  The verses

  Deut 22:6–7If you come across a bird’s nest with chicks or eggs, either in a tree or on the ground along the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, you must not take the mother along with the young. You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.
• Cleansing from skin disease: two birds, one released into the open fieldLev 14:4–7
  The verses

  Lev 14:4–7the priest shall order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed. Then the priest shall command that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot. And he is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the skin disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and release the live bird into the open field.
• For the infant Jesus: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeonsLuke 2:22, Luke 2:24
  The verses

  Luke 2:22And when the time of purification according to the Law of Moses was complete, His parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

  Luke 2:24and to offer the sacrifice specified in the Law of the Lord: “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

Sayings about snares

• “How futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it!”Prov 1:17
  The verses

  Prov 1:17How futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it!
• “Does a bird land in a snare where no bait has been set?”Amos 3:5
  The verses

  Amos 3:5Does a bird land in a snare where no bait has been set? Does a trap spring from the ground when it has nothing to catch?
• “We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler”Ps 124:7
  The verses

  Ps 124:7We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; the net is torn, and we have slipped away.
• Like birds trapped in a snareEccl 9:12
  The verses

  Eccl 9:12For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.

Other sayings

• “Like a bird that strays from its nest”Prov 27:8
  The verses

  Prov 27:8Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who wanders from his home.
• Houses full of deceit “like cages full of birds”Jer 5:27
  The verses

  Jer 5:27Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.
• “Like a lone bird on a housetop”Ps 102:7
  The verses

  Ps 102:7I lie awake; I am like a lone bird on a housetop.
• “I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove”Isa 38:14
  The verses

  Isa 38:14I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”