בַּרְבֻּרִים

From the study of 1 Kings 4:23

Range of meaning

Barburîm occurs only here in the Bible, and its meaning is uncertain. Suggestions include: geese (possibly from the root brr, 'pure, white'), swans, ducks, guinea fowl, capons, cuckoos, or simply 'choice birds'. Rabbinic writers already disagreed about it. ʾĂvûsîm is a passive participle of ʾbs, 'to feed or fatten', and is related to ʾēvûs, 'manger, crib'.

Against the English

'Fatted fowl' (KJV), 'fattened fowl' (WEB) and 'fattened poultry' (BSB) give the general sense. 'Poultry' can make a modern reader think of chickens, which is not what the word points to. YLT's 'fatted beasts of the stalls' does not take the word as birds at all. Most scholars do read it as birds.

How it drifted

'Poultry' suggests barnyard chickens. Chickens had reached the Levant by the Iron Age, but they were not yet common. The word more likely means fattened waterfowl or other birds, which were prestige foods at ancient royal tables.

Used elsewhere in the period

Fattened geese and ducks were well-known Egyptian delicacies, shown in Old Kingdom tomb paintings of force-feeding. Ashurnasirpal II's Banquet Stele lists ducks, geese and many other birds in the thousands for one royal feast.