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the desert owl
The desert owl, like the white owl, is considered unclean. This bird is adapted to arid environments, which reflects the wilderness experience of the Israelites. The desert owl's habitat can be seen as a metaphor for spiritual barrenness, a theme prevalent in the prophetic literature where the wilderness often symbolizes a place of testing and reliance on God (e.g.,Hosea 2:14). The mention of the desert owl in the list of unclean animals serves as a reminder of the Israelites' journey through the wilderness and their need to remain pure and distinct from the surrounding nations.

the osprey
The osprey, a bird of prey, is also deemed unclean. Known for its keen hunting skills, the osprey represents predatory behavior, which is contrary to the peaceful and holy life God desires for His people. The inclusion of birds of prey in the list of unclean animals highlights the importance of avoiding characteristics associated with violence and aggression. This aligns with the broader biblical narrative that calls for a life of peace and righteousness, as seen in passages likeIsaiah 11:6-9, which envisions a future where predatory behavior is transformed into harmony.

“The white owl” (Leviticus 11:18) appears in a list of birds the Lord told Israel not to eat.

• Literally, the command forbade taking this bird for food. Israel was to trust that the Creator knew what was best for their health and holiness (Leviticus 11:44–45).

• Owls hunt at night and feed on carrion. By avoiding such creatures, Israel learned to separate from what is associated with death and darkness.Isaiah 34:11 pictures the owl inhabiting ruined, cursed places—an image of desolation God did not want His people to imitate.

• The white owl’s haunting cry makes it a symbol of loneliness inPsalm 102:6. Refusing it as food underlined the call to be a people of life, not isolation or uncleanness.

• WhileActs 10:11–16 shows that dietary restrictions no longer bind believers, the deeper lesson of distinguishing holy from unholy remains (1 Peter 1:15–16).

“The desert owl” follows immediately in the verse.

• Known for thriving in barren wilderness, this bird reinforced God’s warning to stay clear of what belongs to spiritual emptiness.Jeremiah 50:39 pictures desert owls in destroyed Babylon—again linking the bird with judgment.

• Its diet mirrors the white owl’s, accenting the pattern: predators and scavengers were off-limits.Deuteronomy 14:15 repeats the ban, proving God’s consistency.

• For Israel, every meal became a reminder that they were passing through a spiritual desert toward a promised land. Abstaining from the desert owl dramatized that identity (Numbers 15:37-41).

• Believers today likewise guard what they “consume” morally (Philippians 4:8), even though the food law itself has been fulfilled in Christ (Mark 7:18-19).

Finally, “the osprey” is listed.

• This strong fish-eating raptor swoops down to seize its prey. By declaring it unclean, God taught Israel to respect life rather than imitate ruthless predation.

•Job 39:26 speaks of birds that soar on the wind at God’s command, yet Leviticus singles out some of those same impressive creatures as off-limits. The lesson: God, not human admiration, decides what is acceptable.

• The osprey lives around water, contrasting with the owls’ deserts and ruins. Whether in sea, sky, or sand, the principle stayed the same—holiness touches every environment (Leviticus 11:46-47).

• Christ’s saving work now defines purity (Hebrews 10:10). Still, the osprey’s mention reminds us that obedience—then and now—springs from trusting God’s wisdom over our own.

Leviticus 11:18 literally forbids Israel from eating the white owl, desert owl, and osprey. Each bird—night hunter, wilderness dweller, powerful raptor—illustrates God’s call to separate from death, desolation, and predatory violence. The regulation safeguarded health and, more importantly, highlighted Israel’s distinct holiness. In Christ the ceremonial restriction is fulfilled, yet the passage still urges believers to trust God’s definitions of purity and to live set-apart lives in every setting.

And the pelican.--The pelican is one of the largest and most voracious of the web-footed birds. It fills its capacious pouch with fish almost to suffocation, which it disgorges either for its own future consumption, or for the nourishment of its young, by pressing the under mandible against the neck and breast to assist the vomiting up of the contents. Hence its Hebrew name, which denotes "the vomiter." During this operation the red nail of the upper mandible comes in contact with the breast, thus imparting to it the appearance of blood, which is most probably the origin of the fable that it feeds its young with its own life-blood. The pelican often builds in deserted places as far as twenty miles from the shore. When it has filled its expansive pouch with prey, it retires to its lonely place of repose, where it remains with its head leaning against its breast almost motionless till impelled by hunger to fly to the water in search for a fresh store of victims. It is to this melancholy attitude of lonely desolation that the Psalmist refers when he says, "I am like a pelican of the wilderness" (Psalm 102:6), and it is to its habit of building in deserted places that the prophets allude when they describe the desolation of Edom and Nineveh by saying that "the pelican shall possess" them (Isaiah 34:11;Zephaniah 2:14). In the last two passages the Authorised Version, which wrongly translates it "cormorant" in the text, has rightly pelican in the margin.

And the gier eagle.--As the name of a bird, this word (racham),which is here in the masculine form, and denotes "the merciful," only occurs again in the parallel passage,Deuteronomy 14:17, where, however, it is in the feminine (rachamah). The species here intended is most probably the Gyps, called alternately the sacred or Egyptian vulture and Pharaoh's hen, which is often figured on the ancient Egyptian monuments. It was regarded with religious veneration in Egypt, both because it prevented epidemics by acting as scavenger, and because of its extreme devotion and tenderness to its young, since it was believed to watch over its offspring a hundred and twenty days every year, and to feed them, if necessary, with the blood of its thighs. Hence it was used to denote both "mother" and "merciful" in Egyptian, and hence, too, its name "merciful" in Hebrew. The ancients also believed that there were no male vultures, and that the females conceived through the wind. It was probably to counteract this superstitious belief that the lawgiver uses here the masculine form and the feminine form in the parallel passage inDeuteronomy 14:17. The vulture is most loathsome in its habits, and feeds upon the foulest carrion, for which reason it is put in the list of unclean birds. . . .

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