And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,
Parallel translations
- WEB the horned owl, the screech owl, and the gull, any kind of hawk,
- BSB the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,
- NKJV the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind;
- NASB the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, and the hawk in its kind,
- NLT the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the seagull, hawks of all kinds,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The horned owl, screech owl, gull, and hawks are forbidden. The list of unclean birds continues.
Overview
These birds, largely nocturnal hunters and scavengers, fit the pattern of creatures linked to death and desolation. Precise modern identification of each Hebrew name is uncertain, but the categories are clear enough for obedience. The enumeration kept Israel's holiness concrete and constant, pointing beyond ritual to the heart-purity God works through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 13:21–22But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
- Phil 3:18–19(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
- Eph 5:7–11Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
- John 3:19–21And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
- Eph 2:2–3Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
- Deut 14:15–18And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,
- Ps 102:6I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.
- 1 Th 5:5–7Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
- Eph 4:18–19Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
- Rev 18:2And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
- Isa 34:11–15But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 11:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.