Hebrew word · H6158

עֹרֵב

'orev

raven

Raven or crow (the Hebrew covers the crow family broadly). A scavenger, black (Song 5:11), unclean for eating (Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14). It also appears as the bird Noah sent out (Gen 8:7) and as the bird God used to feed Elijah (1 Kgs 17:4–6).

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

raven

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 Psalm 147:9

Range of meaning

Raven or crow (the Hebrew covers the crow family broadly). A scavenger, black (Song 5:11), unclean for eating (Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14). It also appears as the bird Noah sent out (Gen 8:7) and as the bird God used to feed Elijah (1 Kgs 17:4–6).

Against the English

English 'raven' is accurate. 'Young ravens' rightly renders בְּנֵי עֹרֵב, literally 'sons of a raven'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 38:41: 'Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young cry to God and wander for lack of food?' This is the closest parallel and may be the source or a shared tradition. Jesus' 'Consider the ravens… God feeds them' (Luke 12:24; Matthew's parallel has 'birds of the air') takes up this Psalm/Job image.

From the study of 1 Kings 17:4

Range of meaning

Raven, and more widely birds of the crow family. In the Old Testament they are scavengers and creatures of desolate places (Isa 34:11). They are unclean and may not be eaten (Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14), they eat carrion and the eyes of the dead (Prov 30:17), and they are birds whose young cry to God for food (Job 38:41; Ps 147:9). The raven is also the first bird Noah sends out (Gen 8:7).

Against the English

"Ravens" is accurate. The English gives no hint of how odd the choice is: to an Israelite, a raven was unclean and a picker of corpses, not a likely waiter.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Masoretic vowels (the vowel points added by medieval Jewish scholars), the Septuagint (korax, "raven") and the Latin Vulgate (corvus) all read "ravens." Psalm 147:9 and Job 38:41 show God feeding ravens. Here the roles are reversed: the ravens feed God's prophet.

From the study of 1 Kings 17:6

Range of meaning

Raven or crow: the large black birds of the corvid family. They eat carrion and scavenge at kills and rubbish heaps. Elsewhere in the Bible they are the first bird Noah sends out (Gen 8:7), they peck out eyes (Prov 30:17), they live among ruins (Isa 34:11), and God feeds their young (Job 38:41; Ps 147:9).

Against the English

Every major English version says 'ravens', which is accurate. What English readers lose is that Israel's law lists the raven 'of every kind' among the unclean birds that must not be eaten (Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14).

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has korakes and the Vulgate has corvi, both meaning 'ravens'. Josephus retells the story with ravens bringing the food (Antiquities 8.319). The Talmud (b. Hullin 5a) asks where the food came from and how unclean birds could serve. Some medieval Jewish commentators mention a minority reading: the same consonants pointed as ʿarbîm, 'Arabs', or as people from a place called Oreb or Orbo.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 8:7 הָֽעֹרֵ֑ב the raven

    and sent out a raven. It kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth.

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 11:15 עֹרֵ֖ב raven

    any kind of raven,

    Here: The large black bird of the crow family. It was well known in Israel as a scavenger of carcasses and a bird of desolate places. Here it stands as the head of a group of birds, not as one precisely defined species.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 14:14 עֹרֵ֖ב raven

    any kind of raven,

1 Kings · 2

  1. 1 Kings 17:4 הָעֹרְבִ֣ים the ravens

    And you are to drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”

    Here: Ravens: black, scavenging birds of the crow family, classed as unclean in the food laws (Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14). The article ("the ravens") presents them as birds God already has in view. A small minority reading, discussed under debates, takes the word as a people group instead.

  2. 1 Kings 17:6 וְהָעֹרְבִ֗ים and the ravens

    The ravens would bring him bread and meat in the morning and evening, and he would drink from the brook.

    Here: 'The ravens' with the definite article: the particular ravens God said he had 'commanded' in v. 4. These are unclean scavenger birds under Israel's food laws, and they are the ones God picks to cater for his prophet.

Job · 1

  1. Job 38:41 לָעֹרֵ֗ב for the raven

    Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?

    Here: The raven, the large black bird of the crow family. It eats carrion and was ritually unclean in Israel (Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14). The bird chosen is deliberately an unlovely one.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 147:9 עֹ֝רֵ֗ב a raven

    He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.

    Here: The raven or crow, a black, loud carrion-eating bird listed as unclean in Lev 11:15 and Deut 14:14. It was an ordinary, unloved bird, not one people prized.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 30:17 עֹרְבֵי־ [the] ravens of

    As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.

    Here: Ravens: black carrion birds that are ritually unclean (Leviticus 11:15), known for feeding on dead bodies, and often going for the eyes first.

Song of Songs · 1

  1. Song of Songs 5:11 כָּעוֹרֵֽב׃ like <the> raven

    His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 34:11 וְעֹרֵ֖ב and raven

    The desert owl and screech owl will possess it, and the great owl and raven will dwell in it. The LORD will stretch out over Edom a measuring line of chaos and a plumb line of destruction.

    Here: 'And the raven.' This identification is secure. The raven is a carrion bird, unclean under the law (Lev 11:15), and at home among corpses and ruins. That suits the slaughter scene of 34:3–7.

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