Leviticus 11:19

And the stork,..... A bird of passage, Jeremiah 8:7 it has its name from kindness, which it exercises both to its dam, and to its young.

And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, These are they ... abomination among the fowls.

Leviticus 11:19 And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.Ver. 19. And the stork.] Which builds high, but feeds low on fishes, frogs, and snakes; and so might be the rather rejected as unfit for food. And the lapwing.] Which is worthily made a hieroglyphic of infelicity; because it hath as a coronet upon the head, and yet feeds upon the worst of excrements. It is pity that the saints, that are brought up in scarlet, should embrace the dunghill; that any one that is washed in Christ’ s blood, should bedabble his robe in the stinking puddle of the world. And the bat.] Cast away either thy wings or thy teeth, saith one to a neuter, and loathing this batlike nature, be what thou art, either a bird or a beast. Dr Hall, Epist. to W. L.

(19) And the stork.—Besides the parallel passage, Deuteronomy 14:18, the word (chasidah) here rendered “stork” also occurs in Job 39:13; Psalms 104:17; Jeremiah 8:7; Zechariah 5:9, and is so translated, except Job 39:13, where the Authorised Version has “wing” in the text and “stork” in the margin. Its name literally denotes in Hebrew “the pious,” “the kind,” and is so called because the ancients regarded it as a type of maternal and filial affection and tenderness. The mother has been known to prefer perishing with its offspring in the flames rather than desert them when its attempts to rescue them from a fire had failed. The white stork is one of the largest land birds. Its black and powerful wings strikingly contrast with the pure white of its plumage. Hence the remark “they had wings like the wings of the stork” (Zechariah 5:9). The storks build on the loftiest towers and most conspicuous ruins, and also on the tops of high trees, where they may be seen to this day by the Sea of Galilee. It is to this that the Psalmist alludes: “as for the stork, the fir-trees are her home” (Psalms 104:17). To these nests they regularly return at the proper season, which marks them as the most punctual of migratory birds; and it is to this feature in their nature that the prophet refers: “the stork in heaven knoweth her appointed times” (Jeremiah 8:7). The stork feeds on fish, reptiles, and all kinds of offal and garbage, for which reason it is here placed in the list of unclean birds. The heron.—Whilst the two preceding birds are named after their good qualities, viz., “the merciful” and “the pious,” this bird, which only occurs again in the parallel passage in Deuteronomy 14:18, is termed (anaphah) “the angry,” “the cruel,” which aptly describes the heron. It is allied to the stork, and is of such a savage nature that it will defend itself with its beak against the dogs after it has had its legs shot and broken. It resides on the banks of rivers and in marshy places, and feeds on fish, frogs, lizards, snails, field-mice, and all sorts of insects, for which reason it is here included in the proscribed list of unclean birds. It exists in a variety of species. Hence the adjunct, “after her kind.” And the lapwing.—Better, the hoopoe. This dirty bird, which only occurs again in the parallel list in Deuteronomy 14:18, and which according to the ancients builds its nest of human dung, feeds upon offal and garbage. Its loathsome smell during brooding-time, and for weeks after, is perfectly insufferable. Though its flesh, which in the autumn tastes like quail’s, is eaten in some places, yet the Mohammedans regard it as proscribed.

Verse 19. The stork] חסידה chasidah, from חסד chasad, which signifies to be abundant in kindness, or exuberant in acts of beneficence; hence applied to the stork, because of its affection to its young, and its kindness in tending and feeding its parents when old; facts attested by the best informed and most judicious of the Greek and Latin natural historians. See Bochart, Scheuchzer, and Parkhurst, under the word חסד chasad. It is remarkable for destroying and eating serpents, and on this account might be reckoned by Moses among unclean birds. The heron] אנפה anaphah. This word has been variously understood: some have rendered it the kite, others the woodcock, others the curlew, some the peacock, others the parrot, and others the crane. The root אנף anaph, signifies to breathe short through the nostrils, to snuff, as in anger; hence to be angry: and it is supposed that the word is sufficiently descriptive of the heron, from its very irritable disposition. It will attack even a man in defence of its nest; and I have known a case where a man was in danger of losing his life by the stroke of a heron's bill, near the eye, who had climbed up into a high tree to take its nest. Bochart supposes a species of the eagle to be meant, vol. iii., col. 335. The lapwing] דוכיפת duchiphath, the upupa, hoopoe, or hoop, a crested bird, with beautiful plumage, but very unclean. See Bochart, and Scheuchzer. Concerning the genuine meaning of the original, there is little agreement among interpreters. The bat] עטלף atalleph, so called, according to Parkhurst, from עט at, to fly, and עלף alaph, darkness or obscurity, because it flies about in the dusk of the evening, and in the night: so the Septuagint νυκτερις, from νυξ, the night; and the Vulgate vespertilio, from vesper, the evening. This being a sort of monster partaking of the nature of both a bird and beast, it might well be classed among unclean animals, or animals the use of which in food should be avoided.

19. the stork] In the two lists, and Psalms 104:17 (‘the fir trees are her house’); Jeremiah 8:7 (‘knoweth her appointed times,’ i.e. of migration), Zechariah 5:9†. The Heb. word means ‘pious’ or ‘merciful’ (referring to her tenderness towards her young). In the difficult passage, Job 39:13, either the stork is mentioned, or there is a play upon words with reference to her name, and a contrast between her and the ostrich seems indicated. See R.V. mg. and A.V. mg. the heron] Many kinds of heron are found both in Egypt and Palestine. The ibis R.V. mg. was a sacred bird to the Egyptians, and one variety of heron found in great numbers round Lake Huleh is called the white ibis. the hoopoe] (lapwing A.V.) The traditional interpretation of this strange Heb. word dûkîphath from LXX. and Vulg. onwards is fixed. Some consider it to be derived from the cry of the bird, like that of the cuckoo. Cheyne thinks it is derived by transposition of letters from ḳ ?ippôd, the ‘porcupine’ or bittern, Isaiah 14:23; Isaiah 34:11; Zephaniah 2:14. the bat] In both lists and Isaiah 2:20 (there in plur.) †. The derivation of the Heb. word is uncertain, but its meaning is not questioned.

19. The stork — Its Hebrew name, chasidah, signifies kindness, of which it has been in all ages the type.