Bible Dictionary
Bird
Birds were used as food and, under the Mosaic law, were distinguished as clean or unclean. Certain clean birds could be offered in sacrifice, while birds also appear in Scripture as objects of hunting, comparison, and poetic observation.
Definition
Birds are feathered creatures mentioned in Scripture as food, sacrificial offerings, objects of hunting, and subjects of poetic observation. The Mosaic law distinguishes clean birds from unclean birds; clean birds could be offered in sacrifice, while birds were also used as food.
Biblical Usage
Birds appear in sacrificial regulations, descriptions of snaring, references to singing and nesting, and comparisons emphasizing timidity or shelter. The sparrow and swallow are used in a comparison concerning the security associated with God’s altars.
Historical Background
The Mosaic law divided birds into clean and unclean classes. When birds were offered in sacrifice, they were not divided as other sacrificial animals were. Wild birds were commonly caught with snares.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Birds are divided in the Mosaic law into two classes, (1) the clean (Lev. 1:14-17; 5:7-10; 14:4-7), which were offered in sacrifice; and (2) the unclean (Lev. 11:13-20). When offered in sacrifice, they were not divided as other victims were (Gen. 15:10). They are mentioned also as an article of food (Deut. 14:11). The art of snaring wild birds is referred to (Ps. 124:7; Prov. 1:17; 7:23; Jer. 5:27). Singing birds are mentioned in Ps. 104:12; Eccl. 12:4. Their timidity is alluded to (Hos. 11:11). The reference in Ps. 84:3 to the swallow and the sparrow may be only a comparison equivalent to, “What her house is to the sparrow, and her nest to the swallow, that thine altars are to my soul.”