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Speckled Bird

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

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SPECKLED BIRD . Jeremiah 12:9 (only). If the MT [Note: Massoretic Text.] of this passage is correct, the tr. [Note: translate or translation.] can hardly be other than ‘Is mine heritage unto me ( i.e. to my sorrow [a dativus ethicus , Cheyne, ad toc .]) (as) a speckled bird of prey? Are (the) birds of prey against her round about?’ (so, substantially, RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). The people of Israel is compared to a bird of prey , just as, on account of its hostility to Jehovah, it is compared in v. 3 to a lion. But, as a speckled bird attracts the hostile attention of other birds, Israel becomes a prey to the heathen. The rendering proposed by some, ‘mine heritage is unto me the ravenous hyæna ,’ cannot be obtained from the present text, which, however, is possibly incorrect.