are addle and corrupted: others again have their young ones of different growth, according to the time, it may be presumed, they have been forsaken of the dam. They (the Arabs) often meet with a few of the little ones no bigger than well grown pullets, half starved, straggling and moaning about like so many distressed orphans for their mother. In this manner the ostrich may be said to be hardened against her young ones as though they were not hers; her labour, in hatching and attending them so far, being vain, without fear, or the least concern of what becomes of them afterwards. This want of affection is also recorded Lam. iv. 3, "the daughter of my people is become cruel, like ostriches in the wilderness;" that is, by apparently deserting their own, and receiving others in return. Hence one of the great causes of lamentation was, the coming in of strangers and enemies into Zion, and possessing it. Thus, in the 12th verse of this chapter, it is said, "The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem;" and in ch. v. ver. 2, "Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. Mr. Vansittart adds, the phrase "her labour is vain" wants an explanation; because, while eggs are laid, and young ostriches produced, it can never be correct: and if the mother did even drive her young ones from her, still it could not be said that her labours had not been successful; because, while there was a young brood remaining, it would be evident that she had been prosperous. Now, labour in vain, as it appears to me, must either be that which is not productive, or else what profits not the person who labours, or otherwise what profits another who does not labour. And this, I think, is the case with the ostrich in the interpretation here suggested; and is moreover the true signification of the phrase. This phrase occurs Levit. xxvi. 16, "Ye sow your seed in vain, for another shall reap it," not yourselves. Likewise, Isai. lxv. 21, 22, 23: "They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat; they shall not labour in vain" that is, profitless for themselves, and for the good of others. And again, Isai. xlix. 4, "Then I said, I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength for nought and in vain ;” that is, when he had departed from the worship of Jehovah, and had been given up to the service of the gods of the nation, and consequently to their advantage, and not his own. It is in this sense that I wish to understand the Hebrew word, which is not a forced signification, and is moreover the exact peculiarity and property of the ostrich intended to be marked. The phrase "without fear," or "without solicitude," "without maternal discrimination," implies that she appears to be without any apprehension or concern for those belonging to herself more than for those of another. Because God hath made her feeble of instinct, Natural affection and sagacious instinct are the grand instruments by which Providence continueth the race of other animals: but no limits can be set to the wisdom and power of God. He preserveth the breed of the ostrich without those means, and even in a penury of all the necessaries of life. "Those parts of the Sahara (the desert) which these birds chiefly frequent are destitute of all manner of food or herbage; except it be some few tufts of coarse grass, or else a few other solitary plants of the laureola, apocynum, and some other kind, each of which is destitute of nourishment, and, in the Psalmist's phrase, even withereth before it is plucked. So that, considering the great voracity of this camel bird, it is wonderful not only how the little ones, after they are weaned from the provision I have mentioned, should be brought up and nourished; but even how those of fuller growth, and much better qualified to look out for themselves, are able to subsist 41" Yet at the time she haughtily assumes courage Dr. Durell justifies this translation by observing, that the ostrich cannot soar as other birds, and therefore the words in our version when she lifteth up herself, cannot be right: besides the verb occurs only in this place, and in Arabic it signifies, to take courage, and the like. "Notwithstanding the stupidity of this animal, its Creator hath amply provided for its safety, by endowing it with extraordinary swiftness, and a surprising apparatus for escaping from its enemy. They, when they raise themselves up for flight, laugh at the horse and his rider. They afford him an opportunity only of admiring at a distance, the extraordinary agility and the stateliness likewise of their motions; the richness of their plumage, and the great propriety there was in ascribing to them an expanded quivering wing. Nothing certainly can be more entertaining than such a sight, the wings, by their rapid but unwearied vibrations, equally serving them for sails and oars; while their feet, no less assisting in conveying them out of sight, are no less insensible of fatigue 42" "In running, the ostrich has a proud haughty look; and, even when in extreme distress, never appears in great haste, especially if the wind be favourable with it 43" Xenophon, in his Anabasis, mentioning the desert of Arabia, 41 Dr. Shaw, Trav. p. 451, ed. 4to. 42 Dr. Shaw. states that the OSTRICH is frequently seen there; that none could take them, "the horsemen who pursued them soon giving it over; for they escaped far away, making use both of their feet to run, and of their wings, when expanded, as a sail to waft them along." I conclude this article by a poetical version partly from Dr. Young and Dr. Scott. OWL. Didst thou the ostrich clothe with plumes so fair? While far she flies, her scatter'd eggs are found There are several varieties of this species, all too well known to need a particular description. They are nocturnal birds of prey, and have their eyes better adapted for discerning objects in the evening, or twilight, than in the glare of day. Under the preceding article I have shown that what our translators, in several places, have rendered "owls" is an appellation of the ostrich. I shall now examine the other passages. I. cos. Levit. xi. 17; Deut. xiv. 16; and Psal. cii. 6, is, in our version, rendered "the little owl." Aquila, Theodotion, Jerom, Kimchi, and most of the older interpreters are quoted to justify this rendering. M. Michaelis, Quest. No. c. p. 211, at some length supports the opinion that it is "the horned owl." Bochart, though with some hesitation, suspected it to be the "onocrotalus," a kind of pelican; because the Hebrew name signifies" cup," and the pelican is remarkable for a pouch or bag under the lower jaw; but there are good reasons for supposing that bird to be the NP KAATH of the next verse. Dr. Geddes thinks this bird "the cormorant ;" and as it begins the list of water-fowl, and is mentioned always in the same contexts with л, confessedly a water-bird, his opinion may be adopted. Levit. xi. 17; Deut. xiv. 16; and Isai. xxxiv. 11. In the two first places our translators render this "the great owl," which is strangely placed after" the little owl," and among water-birds. "Our translators," says the author of Scripture Illustrated, "seem to have thought the owl a conve .YANSUPH ינשוף .II nient bird, as we have three owls in two verses 44." Some critics think it means a species of night-bird, because the word may be derived from W NESHEPH, which signifies the twilight, the time when owls fly about. But this interpretation, says Parkhurst, seems very forced; and since it is clearly mentioned among water-fowls, and the LXX have, in the first and last of those texts, rendered it by IBIE, the Ibis, I feel disposed to adopt that bird here; and think the evidence strengthened by this, that in a Coptic version of Levit. xi. 1745, it is called IP or HIP, which with a Greek termination, would very easily make ẞic. In the Samaritan version, according to the order of the words, w SHALAC, "the cormorant" of our translation is rendered ' IBI, and YANSUPH by 7 BARBERI, perhaps the TogDugos: but I think it most likely that the order has been changed, and that the IBIS is the bird here intended. III. KIPPOZ, which occurs only in Isai. xxxiv. 15, and is in our version rendered "the great owl," Bochart thinks to be that species of serpent which is called in Greek anovτias, and in Latin Jaculus, from the violence with which it leaps or darts on its prey 46. But the prophet's hints respecting making a nest, and laying and hatching eggs, are contrary to his construction; for though some serpents are oviparous, and may be thought to make nests to receive their eggs, yet we know of no serpent that hatches them, warms them by incubation, and forwards them by parental attention. These actions are certainly those of a bird 47. As the creature is represented as the tenant of desolate places, I see no sufficient reason for rejecting our translation, and therefore retain "the great owl." (4.) LILITH, Isai. xxxiv. 14, in our version the "scrichowl." The root signifies "night:" and as undoubtedly a bird frequenting dark places and ruins is referred to, we must admit some kind of owl. OX. Lexic. "A place of lonely desolation, where The screeching tribe and pelicans abide, And moaning owls from man the farthest hide." BACRE; Arab. bakerre, and bykar. See Meninski The male of horned cattle of the beeve kind, at full age, when fit for the plough. Younger ones are called "bullocks." Under the article "bull,” I asserted that the Jews never cas 44 Again in Isai. xxxiv. 11, 13, 14, 15, four different words are rendered owls; meaning, however the Ibis (or bittern) the ostrich, the lilith, and the acontias. 45 Vid. Chr. Scholzii, Lexic. Egypt. Lat. Oxonii. 1775. 4to. p. 155. Georgi. Fragm. Evang. S. Joh. Coptic. Romæ. 1789. 4to. p. cxl. præf. 46 Hieroz. v. iii. p. 194. edit. Rosenmuller. 47 Scripture Illustrated, in loc. p. 172. trated any of their animals, grounding their declaration on Levit. xxii. 24, and yet quoted a passage from Dr. Adam Clarke, who thinks that oren were castrated animals. This was also the opinion of Le Clerc. But Michaelis, in his elaborate work on the laws of Moses, vol. ii. p. 400, article clxviii. has proved that castration was never practised. The rural economy of the Israelites led them to value the ox as by far the most important of domestic animals, from the consideration of his great use in all the operations of farming 48. In the patriarchal ages, the ox constituted no inconsiderable portion of their wealth. Thus Abraham is said to be very rich in cattle, Gen. xxiv. 35. This is also remarked of Jacob, Gen. xxx. 43. And of Job it is declared, that "his substance was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the East." Job, i. 3. Men of every age and country have been much indebted to the labours of this animal. So early as in the days of Job, who was probably the contemporary with Isaac, "the oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them," when the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away. In times long posterior, when Elijah was commissioned to anoint Elisha, the son of Shaphat, prophet in his stead, he found him ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen, 1 Kings, xix. 19. For many ages, the hopes of oriental husbandmen depended entirely on their labours. This was so much the case in the time of Solomon, that he observes, in one of his Proverbs, "Where no oxen are, the crib is clean (or rather empty); but much increase is by the strength of the ox." Prov. xiv. 4. The ass, in the course of ages, was compelled to bend his stubborn neck to the yoke, and share his Jabours; but still, the preparation of the ground, in the time of spring, depended chiefly on the more powerful exertions of the latter. When this animal was employed in bringing home the produce of the harvest, he was regaled with a mixture of chaff, chopped straw, and various kinds of grain, moistened with acidulated water. Such is the meaning of that prediction, Isai. xxx. 24, "the oxen likewise, and the young asses that ear the ground, shall eat clean provender 49, which hath been winnowed with the shovel, and with the fan." When the Lord returns to bless his repenting people, so rich and abundant shall be the produce of their fields, that the lower animals which toil in the service of man, and have assigned for their usual subsistence the most ordinary food, shall share in the general plenty, and feed 48 See some interesting remarks on this subject, in Michaelis' Commentaries on the Laws of Moses, v. ii. p. 388. Dr. Smith's translation. 49 Bishop Lowth renders it, "well fermented maslin." |