the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Vulture
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Vulture. In Leviticus 11:14, Deuteronomy 14:18, Isaiah 34:15, in place of this word, we should probably read "black kite," Milvus migrans. This is a bird which, except in the winter months, collects in Palestine in great numbers and is very sociable in its habits, according to the reference in Isaiah. Another Hebrew word rendered "vulture," R. V. "falcon," in Job 28:7, is elsewhere correctly rendered kite. It is a striking instance of the accuracy of the Scripture writers that, while the peculiar faculty for discovering their food which carrion-devourers possess is popularly attributed to the sense of smell, the Bible rightly attributes it to sight. In the book of Job the characteristic of the eagle is that "her eyes behold afar off." Job 28:7 refers to the same peculiarity, "There is a path which the vulture's eye hath not seen," implying that its vision is most acute and penetrating. It is well proved that birds of prey discern their booty at vast distances, that the eager flight of one is observed and followed by another, and so on, till many are gathered together wheresoever the carcase is.
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Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Vulture'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/v/vulture.html. 1893.
