Hebrew word · H1469

גּוֹזָל

vegozal

young bird

A nestling, chick or young bird. The only other place the word appears is Deuteronomy 32:11, where it is used of the young of an eagle (or vulture).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 14, 2026

What it means

a nestling, young (of birds)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: A nestling, chick or young bird. The only other place the word appears is Deuteronomy 32:11, where it is used of the young of an eagle (or vulture).
Against the English: 'Young pigeon' (BSB, KJV, WEB, ESV, NASB, NIV) is a reasonable inference but not what the word says. YLT's 'young bird' is closer to the Hebrew. The later law's phrase for 'young pigeons' is a different expression, benê yônāh.
Used elsewhere in the period: The Septuagint renders it περιστερά ('pigeon, dove') and the Vulgate 'columbam' ('dove'). Both ancient translations read it as a dove or pigeon, in line with the later pairing in Leviticus.

Genesis · 1

Genesis 15:9 וְגוֹזָֽל׃ and a young pigeon

And the LORD said to him, “Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a turtledove and a young pigeon.”

Here: A chick or fledgling. The only other use of the word is for an eagle's young (Deuteronomy 32:11). The word does not say what kind of bird. 'Young pigeon' is an inference from the pairing with the dove and from later law (Leviticus 1:14), which pairs turtledoves with 'young pigeons'.

Deuteronomy · 1

Deuteronomy 32:11 גּוֹזָלָ֖יו young ones its

As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions.

Here: 'Its young ones', meaning fledglings that cannot yet fly well. The only other use is Gen 15:9, of a young pigeon. The plural matters: the verse later shifts to a singular 'him'.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.