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Bible Dictionaries
Pelican
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
or קאת , Leviticus 11:18; Deuteronomy 14:17; Psalms 102:7; Isaiah 34:11; Zephaniah 2:14; a very remarkable aquatic bird, of the size of a large goose. Its colour is a grayish white, except that the neck looks a little yellowish, and the middle of the back feathers are blackish. The bill is long, and hooked at the end, and has under it a lax membrane, extended to the throat, which makes a bag or sack, capable of holding a very large quantity. Feeding her young from this bag has so much the appearance of feeding them with her own blood, that it caused this fabulous opinion to be propagated, and made the pelican an emblem of paternal, as the stork had been before chosen, more justly, of filial affection. The voice of this bird is harsh and dissonant, which some say resembles that of a man grievously complaining. David compares his groaning to it, Psalms 102:7 .
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Watson, Richard. Entry for 'Pelican'. Richard Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/wtd/p/pelican.html. 1831-2.
