Hebrew word · H5861

עַ֫יִט

'ayit

bird of prey

Bird(s) of prey: raptors and carrion birds such as vultures, kites and eagles. Usually collective. Possibly linked to a verb meaning to swoop or rush screaming onto prey (cf. 1 Sam 15:19; 25:14).

Appears 8 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

bird of prey, a swooper

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 Ezekiel 39:4

Range of meaning

Bird(s) of prey: raptors and carrion birds such as vultures, kites and eagles. Usually collective. Possibly linked to a verb meaning to swoop or rush screaming onto prey (cf. 1 Sam 15:19; 25:14).

Against the English

KJV/BSB/WEB "ravenous birds"; ESV "birds of prey"; NIV "carrion birds". In modern English "ravenous" means "very hungry". The Hebrew names a kind of bird (predators and scavengers), not how hungry they are.

How it drifted

In older English "ravenous" meant "given to ravin", that is, preying and plundering. The KJV used it in that sense; today it mostly means starving.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 15:11 (birds of prey come down on Abram's sacrificed animals and he drives them away); Isa 18:6 (corpses left "to the birds of prey of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth", a close parallel); Isa 46:11 (Cyrus called a "bird of prey from the east"); Jer 12:9.

From the study of Isaiah 46:11

Range of meaning

A general word for birds of prey: raptors and carrion birds that swoop down on bodies (vultures, kites, eagles). It may be related to a verb meaning 'to dart, swoop, shriek'.

Against the English

KJV and WEB say 'ravenous bird'. BSB, ESV, NIV and NASB say 'bird of prey'. NLT adds 'swift'. 'Bird of prey' is closest.

How it drifted

In KJV English 'ravenous' meant 'living by prey, rapacious'. Today it mostly means 'starving', which shifts the picture from a predator to hunger.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 15:11 (birds of prey come down on Abram's sacrifice). Isa 18:6 and Ezek 39:4 (carrion birds feeding on slain armies). Jer 12:9 (birds of prey surrounding God's heritage). Job 28:7. The LXX renders it with a general word for 'bird' (peteinon). In a later Greek account, Xenophon (Cyropaedia 7.1.4) says Cyrus's royal standard was a golden eagle with outstretched wings. That is suggestive, but we cannot be sure Isaiah alludes to it.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 15:11 הָעַ֖יִט the bird[s] of prey

    And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

Job · 1

  1. Job 28:7 עָ֑יִט a bird of prey

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

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 18:6 לְעֵ֣יט הָעַ֔יִט to bird[s] of prey of, the bird[s] of prey

    They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey, and to the beasts of the land. The birds will feed on them in summer, and all the wild animals in winter.

  2. Isaiah 46:11 עַ֔יִט a bird of prey

    I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, and I will surely do it.

    Here: A swooping bird of prey, the kind that dives on carcasses (Gen 15:11). The picture is speed, a sudden attack from far away, and a sure strike on its target: Babylon.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 12:9 הַעַ֨יִט הַעַ֖יִט ¿ a bird of prey, that [are] bird[s] of prey?

    Is not My inheritance to Me like a speckled bird of prey with other birds of prey circling against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; bring them to devour her.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 39:4 לְעֵ֨יט to bird[s] of prey of

    On the mountains of Israel you will fall—you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to every kind of ravenous bird and wild beast.

    Here: "To the birds of prey": raptors and scavengers (vultures, kites, eagles) that swoop on carcasses. The collective singular stands for the whole flock.

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