Deuteronomy 14:12

12 But these are the kinds of birds you are not to eat: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants; hoopoes; and bats.

Deuteronomy 14:12 Meaning and Commentary

Ver. 12-18. But these are they of which they shall not eat
Jarchi observes, that the unclean birds are particularly mentioned, to teach that the clean sort are more than the unclean, and therefore the particulars of the fewest are given: these are all the same names as in ( Leviticus 11:13-19 ) , excepting one, "the glede", ( Deuteronomy 14:13 ) which is a kind of kite or puttock; the Jerusalem Targum renders it the vulture, and the Targum of Jonathan the white "dayetha" or vulture; and Aristotle says ^F17 there are two sorts of vultures, the one small and whiter, the other larger and of many forms or colours; in Hebrew its name here is "raah", and is thought to be the same with "daah" in ( Leviticus 11:14 ) there translated the "vulture", which has its name there from flying, and here from seeing, for which it is remarkable; see ( Job 28:7 ) and the letters (d) and (r) are pretty much alike, and are sometimes changed, but there is another here, in ( Deuteronomy 14:13 ) mentioned, the "dayah", which is not mentioned in ( Leviticus 11:1-47 ) , though some think it the same with the "ayah", rendered both here and there the "kite"; perhaps it means another sort of vulture, the black vulture, as the Targum of Jonathan.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 Hist. Animal. l. 8. c. 3.

Deuteronomy 14:12 In-Context

10 but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales may not be eaten; it must be considered unclean.

11 "You may eat any clean bird.

12 But these are the kinds of birds you are not to eat: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants; hoopoes; and bats.

Footnotes

• [a] [The identification of some of these birds is uncertain.]