Hebrew word · H1772

דַּיָּה

vehadaiyah

hawk

A bird of prey, probably a kite. It is attested here and (in the plural, dayyot) in Isa 34:15, where kites gather in Edom's ruins, each with her mate. Many link it to da'ah/'swoop'.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

a bird of prey (perhaps the kite)

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

In depth

From the study of Deuteronomy 14:13

Range of meaning

A bird of prey, probably a kite. It is attested here and (in the plural, dayyot) in Isa 34:15, where kites gather in Edom's ruins, each with her mate. Many link it to da'ah/'swoop'.

Against the English

BSB and WEB have 'kite (of any kind)'. KJV and YLT have 'vulture', which modern readers picture as a bald-headed carrion bird. Others render it 'kite' or 'falcon'.

How it drifted

The KJV's 'vulture' was a reasonable guess in 1611, when bird names were used loosely. Today 'vulture' points to a specific family (Gyps, Aegypius), and that is probably not the bird meant. Still, kites do scavenge, so the KJV's sense of 'carrion bird' is not far off.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Isa 34:15 kites sit among wild creatures that take over a land under judgment, so the bird is associated with ruins and carcasses. The black kite (Milvus migrans) is one of the most common raptors passing through the Levant, migrating in very large numbers, and it scavenges readily. That makes it a likely candidate.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 14:13 וְהַדַּיָּ֖ה and the black kite

    the red kite, the falcon, any kind of kite,

    Here: 'And the dayyah.' Elsewhere this bird gathers in pairs among the ruins of a devastated land (Isa 34:15), a picture of scavengers taking over a wasteland. It is often taken to be the black kite, a common scavenger in the Levant. Some take it as a doublet of the Leviticus name da'ah.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 34:15 דַיּ֖וֹת black kites

    There the owl will make her nest; she will lay and hatch her eggs and gather her brood under her shadow. Even there the birds of prey will gather, each with its mate.

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