Deuteronomy 14:13 — Word Study
WLCוְהָרָאָה֙ וְאֶת־ הָ֣אַיָּ֔ה וְהַדַּיָּ֖ה לְמִינָֽהּ׃
BSAthe red kiterâʼâh△ [vulture, bird of prey] the falconʼayâh [swift and powerful creature, hawk] any kindmîyn [species, type] of kitedayâh [hawk, bird of prey]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וְהָרָאָה֙ | and the red kite | Conjunction, particle, noun common feminine singular absolute |
| וְאֶת־ | and the object marker | Conjunction, particle |
| הָ֣אַיָּ֔ה | the hawk | Particle, noun common feminine singular absolute |
| וְהַדַּיָּ֖ה | and the black kite | Conjunction, particle, noun common feminine singular absolute |
| לְמִינָֽהּ׃ | to kind its | Preposition, noun common masculine singular construct, suffix |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | the red kite, the falcon, any kind of kite, |
| KJV | And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, |
| ASV | and the glede, and the falcon, and the kite after its kind, |
| YLT | and the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after its kind, |
| WEB | the red kite, the falcon, the kite of any kind, |
| BBE | The falcon and the kite, and birds of that sort; |
Where they part company is הָאַיָּה — see How Translations Differ.
The sentence comprises a main clause followed by several noun phrases and a prepositional phrase, clearly delineating the types of birds mentioned.
4 commentators on this verse
Jamieson, Ellicott, AdamClarke, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
1 of 5 occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament — a word chosen on purpose.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Deuteronomy 14:13
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Dietary Laws in Deuteronomygenerated
Deuteronomy 14:13 is part of a larger section that outlines the dietary laws for the Israelites, specifying which animals are clean and unclean for consumption. This verse focuses on birds, listing those that are not permitted to be eaten, which reflects the importance of dietary purity in the Israelite community.
Cross References
The Key Word — וְהָרָאָה, ve.ha.ra.'Ahgenerated
The word וְהָרָאָה (ve.ha.ra.'Ah) is a feminine singular noun derived from the root רָאָה (ra'ah), meaning 'to see' or 'to perceive.' This suggests that the bird is known for its keen sight, typically referring to a type of bird of prey, such as a kite or vulture.
In this context, it emphasizes the classification of birds that are not suitable for consumption. The use of the term in the dietary laws indicates a distinction between clean and unclean animals, which was significant for the health and holiness of the community.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The main clause of the verse lists the birds: וְהָרָאָה (and the red kite), וְאֶת־הָאַיָּה (and the hawk), וְהַדַּיָּה (and the black kite), followed by a prepositional phrase indicating the types: לְמִינָהּ (to kind its).
The structure emphasizes the specificity of the birds listed, with each noun phrase clearly delineating the types of unclean birds.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates וְהָרָאָה as γύπα (gypa), which refers to a vulture. This choice indicates a narrowing of the Hebrew term, focusing on the scavenging nature of the bird.
The other terms are similarly rendered, with הָאַיָּה translated as ἰκτῖνα (iktina), suggesting a specific type of hawk, aligning with the characteristics of birds of prey.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Deuteronomy 14:13 lists certain birds that the Israelites are not allowed to eat, including the red kite, the hawk, and any kind of kite. These dietary laws reflect the importance of purity in the Israelite community.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
The dietary laws serve to set the Israelites apart as a holy people, emphasizing their relationship with God and their commitment to following His commandments.
Birds that are scavengers or have characteristics associated with predation are often deemed unclean, as they do not fit the criteria for clean animals outlined in the Torah.
While the specific dietary laws may not apply to Christians, they can still provide insight into the importance of holiness and obedience to God.
Other unclean animals include the eagle, the bearded vulture, and various types of ravens and hawks, as noted in the surrounding verses.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can we learn about God's standards for purity from these dietary laws?
- How do these classifications of animals reflect the cultural context of the Israelites?
- In what ways can we apply the principles of holiness and obedience in our own lives today?
- How do these laws help us understand the significance of the Israelites' identity as God's chosen people?
Commentators on this verse — 4 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Deuteronomy 14:13 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, Glede , [ wªhaaraa'aah (H7201)] - thought to be the same kind as that rendered vulture, Leviticus 11:14-15.
Read Robert Jamieson on Deuteronomy 14 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(13) The glede, and the kite, and the vulture.—In Leviticus 11:14, “the vulture and the kite” alone are named. The Hebrew words are in Leviticus dââh and ayyah. In this place they are rââh, ayyah, and dayyah. The close resemblance between the names is noticeable. For a description of the creatures, see list in Variorum Bible.
Read Charles John Ellicott on Deuteronomy 14 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleVerse 13. The vulture after his kind] The word דאה daah is improperly translated vulture Leviticus 11:14, and means a kite or glede. The word דיה daiyah in this verse is not only different from that in Leviticus, but means also a different animal, properly enough translated vulture. See Clarke on Leviticus 11:14.
Read AdamClarke on Deuteronomy 14 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges13. glede, falcon, kite] ra’ah, ’ayyah, dayyah, of which the first is probably a clerical error for da’ah (from da’ah, to dart, of the eagle, Deuteronomy 28:49), darter or swooper, and the third a later variant of the same, being a gloss on the first (the LXX has only two names in the v.). Tristram (102, 98) suggests both the milvus migrans, the black kite, and the buteo vulgaris, the common buzzard: Ar. ’aḳ ?ab is applied to all smaller eagles and buzzards. The ’ayyah (from its cry; cp. Ar. yuyu), Tristram (102) takes as mulvus ictinus, the kite or red kite, ‘perhaps the keenest-sighted of all the birds of prey,’ cp. Job 28:7. Read black and red kite or buzzard and kite. LXX, γύψ and…
Read Cambridge on Deuteronomy 14 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
the red kite, the falcon, any kind of kite,
the red kite, the falcon, the kite of any kind,
the red kite, the falcon, any kind of kite,
the kite, the black kite, the dayyah after its species,
Tyndale line
And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind,
and the glede, and the falcon, and the kite after its kind,
and the glede, and the falcon, and the kite after its kind;
And the glede, and the kite, and the vultur after his kind,
Nor the glead nor the kite, nor the vulture, after their kind,
Strictly literal
and the falcon, and the kite, and the black kite after its kind;
and the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after its kind,
and the kite, and the falcon, and the vulture after its kind,
And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind,
the red kite and black kite, any kind of falcon.
From the Latin
The ringtail, and the vulture, and the kite according to their kind:
Simplified
buzzard, kites, any kind of falcon,
The falcon and the kite, and birds of that sort;
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text lists the birds as וְהָרָאָה וְאֶת־הָאַיָּה וְהַדַּיָּה לְמִינָהּ. The Septuagint matches four out of five words, while the Samaritan Pentateuch differs by using דאה (red bird) instead of וְהָרָאָה.
וְהָרָאָה֙ וְאֶת־ הָ֣אַיָּ֔ה וְהַדַּיָּ֖ה לְמִינָֽהּ׃
4 of the 5 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
ואת הדאה ואת האיה למינה
1 word differs from the Masoretic Text: דאה (red bird)
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Deuteronomy 14:13
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
דָּאָה (da'ah) refers to a bird of prey, likely a kite or hawk. The word is derived from a root meaning 'to see' or 'to perceive,' suggesting sharp sight. The entries consistently identify it as a type of bird of prey, with no significant disagreement among the lexicons.
דָּאָה n.f. a bird of prey, possibly kite
base
H7201 דָּאָה a bird of prey, possibly kite
7201 ra'ah raw-aw'
from 7200; a bird of prey (probably the vulture, from its
sharp sight):--glede. Compare 1676.
see HEBREW for 07200
see HEBREW for 01676
רָאָה (ra.ah) — glede.
1) bird of prey
1a) perhaps kite or hawk
Conj | Art | N-fs — Conjunction · particle · noun common feminine singular absoluteHC/Td/Ncfsa
kit ('ayyah; iktinos; Latin Milvus ictinus or regalis): A medium-sized member of the hawk tribe (see HAWK). This bird is 27 inches long, of bright reddish-brown color, has sharply pointed wings and deeply forked tail. It is supposed to have exceptionally piercing eyes. It takes moles, mice, young game birds, snakes and frogs, as well as carrion for food. Its head and facial expression are unusually eagle-like. It was common over Palestine in winter, but bred in the hills of Galilee and rough mountainous places, so it was less conspicuous in summer. It is among the lists of abominations (see Le 11:14 and De 14:13). It is notable that this is the real bird intended by Job to be used as that whose eye could not trace the path to the silver mine:
"That path no bird of prey knoweth,
Kite
An unclean and keen-sighted bird of prey (Lev. 11:14; Deut. 14:13). The Hebrew word used, ’ayet, is rendered “vulture” in Job 28:7 in Authorized Version, “falcon” in Revised Version. It is probably the red kite (Milvus regalis), a bird of piercing sight and of soaring habits found all over Palestine.
(Heb. ayyah), a rapacious and keen-sighted bird of prey belonging to the hawk family. The Hebrew word thus rendered occurs in three passages -- (Leviticus 11:14; 14:13; Job 28:7) In the two former it is translated "kite" in the Authorized Version, in the latter "vulture." It is enumerated among the twenty names of birds mentioned in (14:1) ... which were considered unclean by the Mosaic law and forbidden to be used as food by the Israelites.
A bird of prey, and therefore placed by Moses among the unclean birds, Le 11:14. See BIRDS.
אֵת (eth) is primarily a grammatical marker in Hebrew, indicating the definite direct object of a verb. It is not translated into English and typically precedes nouns that are definite. The word is derived from a demonstrative sense of entity, related to the Hebrew word for 'self.' Its Aramaic equivalent is יָת (yat).
אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
base
H853 אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
853 'eth ayth
apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of
entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more
definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or
namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).
see HEBREW for 0226
אֵת (et) — [Obj.].
sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative
Aramaic equivalent: yat (יָת "whom" H3487)
HC/To — Conjunction · particleHC/To
אַיָּה (ayah) refers to a type of bird, specifically a hawk, falcon, or kite. The entries suggest it may be related to another Hebrew word, אָיָּה (ayah), which means 'screamer.' The word appears in contexts discussing birds of prey.
אַיָּה n.f. hawk, falcon, kite
base
H344 אַיָּה hawk, falcon, kite
344 'ayah ah-yaw'
perhaps from 337; the screamer, i.e. a hawk:--kite, vulture.
see HEBREW for 0337
אַיָּה (ay.yah) — falcon.
hawk, falcon, kite
Art | N-fs — Particle · noun common feminine singular absoluteHTd/Ncfsa
hok (nets; hierax, and glaux; Latin Accipiter nisus): A bird of prey of the genus accipiter. Large hawks were numerous in Palestine. The largest were 2 ft. long, have flat heads, hooked beaks, strong talons and eyes appearing the keenest and most comprehensive of any bird. They can sail the length or breadth of the Holy Land many times a day. It is a fact worth knowing that mist and clouds interfere with the vision of birds and they hide, and hungry and silent wait for fair weather, so you will see them sailing and soaring on clear days only. These large hawks and the glede are of eagle-like nature, nesting on Carmel and on the hills of Galilee, in large trees and on mountain crags. They flock near Beersheba, and live in untold numbers in the wilderness of the Dead Sea. They build a crude nest of sticks and twigs and carry most of the food alive to their young. Of course they were among…
Hawk
(Heb. netz, a word expressive of strong and rapid flight, and hence appropriate to the hawk). It is an unclean bird (Lev. 11:16; Deut. 14:15). It is common in Syria and surrounding countries. The Hebrew word includes various species of Falconidae, with special reference perhaps to the kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), the hobby (Hypotriorchis subbuteo), and the lesser kestrel (Tin, Cenchris). The kestrel remains all the year in Palestine, but some ten or twelve other species are all migrants from the south. Of those summer visitors to Palestine special mention may be made of the Falco sacer and the Falco lanarius. (See NIGHT-HAWK.)
(Leviticus 11:16; 14:15; Job 39:26) The hawk includes various species of the Falconidae . With respect to the passage in Job (l.c.) which appears to allude to the migratory habits of hawks, it is curious to observe that of the ten or twelve lesser raptors (hawk tribe) of Palestine, nearly all are summer migrants. The kestrel remains all the year, but the others are all migrants from the south.
דַּיָּה (dayah) refers to a bird of prey, specifically a hawk or possibly a kite. The term is linked to the idea of frequenting ruins, as noted in Isaiah 34:15. It is derived from a root meaning to fly rapidly, which connects it to the notion of a vulture.
[דַּיָּה] n.f. id. [דָּאָה]—frequenting ruins Is 34:15
ref
H1772 [דַּיָּה] id. [דָּאָה]—frequenting ruins
1772 dayah dah-yaw'
intensive from 1675; a falcon (from its rapid
flight):--vulture.
see HEBREW for 01675
דַּיָּה (day.yah) — hawk.
a bird of prey (perhaps the kite)
Conj | Art | N-fs — Conjunction · particle · noun common feminine singular absoluteHC/Td/Ncfsa
kit ('ayyah; iktinos; Latin Milvus ictinus or regalis): A medium-sized member of the hawk tribe (see HAWK). This bird is 27 inches long, of bright reddish-brown color, has sharply pointed wings and deeply forked tail. It is supposed to have exceptionally piercing eyes. It takes moles, mice, young game birds, snakes and frogs, as well as carrion for food. Its head and facial expression are unusually eagle-like. It was common over Palestine in winter, but bred in the hills of Galilee and rough mountainous places, so it was less conspicuous in summer. It is among the lists of abominations (see Le 11:14 and De 14:13). It is notable that this is the real bird intended by Job to be used as that whose eye could not trace the path to the silver mine:
"That path no bird of prey knoweth,
Kite
An unclean and keen-sighted bird of prey (Lev. 11:14; Deut. 14:13). The Hebrew word used, ’ayet, is rendered “vulture” in Job 28:7 in Authorized Version, “falcon” in Revised Version. It is probably the red kite (Milvus regalis), a bird of piercing sight and of soaring habits found all over Palestine.
(Heb. ayyah), a rapacious and keen-sighted bird of prey belonging to the hawk family. The Hebrew word thus rendered occurs in three passages -- (Leviticus 11:14; 14:13; Job 28:7) In the two former it is translated "kite" in the Authorized Version, in the latter "vulture." It is enumerated among the twenty names of birds mentioned in (14:1) ... which were considered unclean by the Mosaic law and forbidden to be used as food by the Israelites.
A bird of prey, and therefore placed by Moses among the unclean birds, Le 11:14. See BIRDS.
מִין (miyn) means 'kind' or 'species,' primarily referring to types or categories, often in relation to animals. It is derived from a root meaning to portion out. The term is consistently used across lexicons without significant disagreement.
[מִין] n.[m.] kind, species
base
H4327 מִין kind, species
4327 miyn meen
from an unused root meaning to portion out; a sort, i.e.
species:--kind. Compare 4480.
see HEBREW for 04480
מִין (min) — kind.
kind, sometimes a species (usually of animals)
Prep | N-ms | Suff — Preposition · noun common masculine singular construct · suffixHR/Ncmsc/Sp3fs