Hebrew word · H344

אַיָּה

'aiyah

falcon

A bird of prey. It appears in only three places: the food lists here and in Lev 11:14, and in Job 28:7. Proposed identifications are falcon, kite, or buzzard. Some connect the name to the bird's cry, though this is uncertain.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

hawk, falcon, 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. It appears in only three places: the food lists here and in Lev 11:14, and in Job 28:7. Proposed identifications are falcon, kite, or buzzard. Some connect the name to the bird's cry, though this is uncertain.

Against the English

BSB and WEB have 'falcon'. KJV and YLT have 'kite'. Other modern versions vary between 'falcon' and 'kite'. Because the same Hebrew word becomes different English birds in different Bibles, comparing English lists can be confusing.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 28:7: 'a path no bird of prey knows, and the eye of the ayyah has not seen it.' There the ayyah is proverbial for sharp sight, which suits a falcon or kite scanning from the air.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 11:14 הָאַיָּ֖ה the hawk

    the kite, any kind of falcon,

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 14:13 הָ֣אַיָּ֔ה the hawk

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

    Here: 'The ayyah.' Elsewhere this is the bird whose eye has never seen the hidden path to wisdom (Job 28:7), so it was proverbial for sharp sight. Falcon and kite are both defended identifications. The name may imitate the bird's cry.

Job · 1

  1. Job 28:7 אַיָּֽה׃ a hawk

    No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.

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