Hebrew word · H601

אֲנָפָה

ha'anafah

heron

Some unclean bird, identity uncertain. Proposals include the heron or other wading birds, a plover-type bird (from the Septuagint), and a bird of prey (from the Talmud). The root ʾ-n-p means "to snort, be angry." It is connected to ʾap, "nose, anger."

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 21, 2026

What it means

1) an unclean bird

1a) perhaps an heron

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 Leviticus 11:19

Range of meaning: Some unclean bird, identity uncertain. Proposals include the heron or other wading birds, a plover-type bird (from the Septuagint), and a bird of prey (from the Talmud). The root ʾ-n-p means "to snort, be angry." It is connected to ʾap, "nose, anger."
Against the English: Modern versions say "heron" with more confidence than the evidence warrants. KJV and YLT also say "heron." None of them signals that the identification is a reasoned guess.
How it drifted: Not exactly drift. It is false precision. Translators need a bird name, and "heron" fits the context, but the Hebrew word appears only twice (here and Deut 14:18) and is never described.
Used elsewhere in the period: The Septuagint renders it charadrios, a name the Greeks gave to a streamside bird (perhaps a plover or a thick-knee). The Vulgate copies the Greek: charadrion. The Talmud (Ḥullin 63a) and Rashi call it "the irritable dayyâ (kite)" and explain the name from the root "to be angry": "it gets angry with its companions." Ancient tradition therefore pointed in at least three directions.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 1

Leviticus 11:19 הָאֲנָפָ֖ה the heron

the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

Here: A bird nobody can identify for certain. "Heron" is the usual guess because it fits beside the stork as another long-legged wading bird. The name seems to come from the root ʾnp, "to snort, be angry." Note that no "and" joins it to the stork: the two are listed side by side.

Deuteronomy · 1

Deuteronomy 14:18 וְהָאֲנָפָ֖ה and the heron

the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, or the bat.

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