Birds of the Bible
Birds of many types are appear in Scripture. Singing birds are mentioned in Psalm 104:12 and Eccl. 12:4.
The timidity (“trembling”) of birds is alluded to in the book of Hosea.
They will come trembling like birds… —Hosea 11:11 LSB
Creation
Birds were created by God on day 5 of the Creation week.
See: ORDER OF BIBLICAL CREATION—What is the order of events in the biblical Creation?
Types of birds mentioned
Birds as human food
Eating of birds and other animals was not permitted by God until after the worldwide flood of Noah’s time. This was not part of God’s original Creation, where mankind was given plants, fruits, and such for food (Genesis 1:30). In paradise, there was no death of animals or man. Death came as a result of sin—the fall of man.
God blessed them [Adam and Eve]; and God said to them,
“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Then God said,
“Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every animal of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”;
and it was so. —Genesis 1:28-30 NASB
After the Flood (probably due to survival needs in the much harsher conditions of the post-Flood world), God allowed Noah and his family (and descendants) to eat animals. However, He simultaneously placed a fear of man into birds and other animals, providing the creatures with new caution to the threat of humans amid their new vulnerability.
The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every animal of the earth and on every bird of the sky; on everything that crawls on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. They are handed over to you. Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I have given everything to you, as I gave the green plant. —Genesis 9:2-3 NASB
After God’s chosen people (the Israelites) were delivered from bondage in Egypt, the Bible mentions that certain birds are allowed them as a food source…
“You may eat any clean bird.” —Deuteronomy 14:11 NASB
In fact, God actually provided the Israelites with a vast number of quail during their wilderness journey on exodus from Egypt. (See: Quails)
However, God’s law for the Israelites forbid them from simultaneouly taking both eggs or chicks along with their mother for food…
“If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; you shall certainly let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, in order that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.” —Deuteronomy 22:6 NASB
Clean and unclean birds for Israelites
In the Mosaic law, birds are divided into two classes…
the clean (Leviticus 1:14-17; 5:7-10; 14:4-7), which were offered in sacrifice
the unclean (Leviticus 11:13-20)
Snaring
The art of snaring wild birds is referred to in Psalm 124:7; Proverbs 1:17; 7:23.
Cages
Like a cage full of birds… —Jeremiah 5:27 LSB excerpt
Sacrifice of birds
When offered in sacrifice, birds were not divided into pieces as other creatures were.
Then he brought all these to Him and split them into parts down the middle and laid each part opposite the other; but he did not split apart the birds. —Genesis 15:10 LSB
Also see: Burnt Offerings
What does the Psalm 84:1-4 reference to birds mean?
How lovely are Your dwelling places,
O Yahweh of hosts!
My soul has longed and even fainted for the courts of Yahweh;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Even the bird has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she sets her young,
At Your altars, O Yahweh of hosts,
My King and my God.
How blessed are those who dwell in Your house!
They are ever praising You. Selah. —Psalm 84:1-4 LSB
The highly idiomatic paraphrase of this verse by Eugene H. Peterson in The Message Bible reads…
Birds find nooks and crannies in your house,
sparrows and swallows make nests there.
They lay their eggs and raise their young,
singing their songs in the place where we worship.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies! King! God!
How blessed they are to live and sing there!
More information
- Why do flightless birds have wings? Answer
- What created hummingbirds, God or Evolution?
- How can seagulls drink so much salt water and survive?
- Eggs
- Snares
- Fowlers in the Bible
- Animals of the Rainforest
- Animals of the Bible
- Rainforest Sounds, including birds