The word Tepiarepd is used in the LXX where the EV reads 'pigeon' as well as where it reads 'dove.' The same bird is probably meant by the two English words. But in the directions for sacrilice in Leviticus, the word 'pigeon' is regu- larly used, and in Lk 2-* wepiarepa is translated 'pigeon,' though elsewhere in the Gospels it is rendered 'dove.' In Lv 12" a poor woman, 'if she be not able to bring a lamb, shall bring two turtles or two young pigeons.' The mother of Jesus brings the poor woman's sacritice.
To the ancients tlie dove symbolized purity (Aristotle mentions the iliastity of the dove), and this fact pcrhap- iii.nl.' I.inl.sof this class suitable for sacrifice. 1 liu only oilier reference to the dove in the Gos].)els i.s found m Mt lO'", where the dis- ciples are bidden to be as pure (d/f^paioi) as doves, a command which St. Paul echoes in Ko 16'^ and Ph 21=.
The turtle-dove {Tpvywi/) is mentioned only in the quotation from Lv 128 ;„ lj^ 2-\ There are three species of turtle-doves in Palestine. The col- lared turtle (T. risorias) is the largest, and' fre- quents the shores of the Dead Sea. The palm turtle (T. Senegalensis) ' resorts much to the gardens and enclosures of Jerusalem.' 'It is very familiar and confiding in man, and is never molested.' The common turtle {'£. auritas) is the most abundant of the three species.
The eagle (de7-6s) is the subject of a proverbial saying recorded in Mt 24™ || Lk 17=' ' where the carcass is, there shall the eagles be gathered together.' According to Post, there are four kinds of vultures and eiglit kinds of eagles to be found in the Holy Land. Here the term 'eagle' is generic. Thomson describes the eagles' flight as majestic, and their eyesight and, apparently, sense of smell, are both extremely keen.
The exact force of the above saxinu- i- Ii I'l i I '■ iniin' .
to ' the conflux of the godly 1 Gospel' (Master Trapp). Mor( passage as hinting at the gallui the moribund Jewish nation ! in Mt 24 the reference ol > and false Christs of v.'^. I faith, such men will find 1 i lar fanaticism to their "^\ i : perfectly gem-i;.! in i-nn, ..< ■\ National ruin ;im I i > I i
ANIMALS
Christianity, i. 126). In Lk 17^7 the 'wheresoever* becomes 'where,* and the sajing ia in answer to a definite question regarding the sij^ns that are to mark the sudden return of the Son of Wan. Here it is difficult not to interpret the eagles of
the Roman standards.
For St. Luke evidently does not take
lent of a -eneral la«-. The Matthajan
form and position give
he more attractive interpretation.
The Faven (lipot) is mentioned only in Lk VT-*, ' Consider tiie ravens how they neither sow nor reap.' Tlie parallel Mt 6^ reads, 'birds.' The whole jiassafre and the force of Luke's change will be considered in § iv. The term ' raven ' includes the numerous tribes of crows. Tristram mentions eight difierent species as common in Palestine. God's care for the ravens is twice mentioned in OT (Job 38-", Ps 147"). These passages may have influenced Luke, if he changed 'birds' into 'ravens.' Again, they may have been in the mind of our Lord, if Luke gives the original form of the saying.
Tlie aparrow {(rrpoveiov) is twice mentioned in sayings recorded both in Matthew and Luke. In Mt 10^ we read, ' Are not two .sparrows sold for a farthing?' and in Lk 12* 'Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings ? ' In Tatian's Diatessaron the words in tabcrna, ' in the cookshop,' are added. Doubtless we have here the prices current in popular eating-houses in the time of our Lord. ' Sparrows, two a farthing ; five a halfpenny.' In Mt 10-> and Lk 12' our Lord adds, ' Ye are much more worth than many span'ows.' For a dis- cussion of these references to sparrows and of their bearing on our Lord's teaching, we must again refer our readers to § iv.
3. For fsh, three words are used, I'x^us, IxSvSiov, and dxpapiof. The latter term is confined to John. In the feeding of the live thousand, the Synoptics speak of 'two fishes' {dvo IxOoas, Mt U"-'^, Mk gis. 41. «^ Lij gi3. 16) I'l^g parallel narrative in John reads dvo i\j/a.pia, which is also translated ' two fishes' (Jn 6"-"). But while the Syn. ixBvt is a general term, 6\l/dpi.oi>, says Edersheira, ' refers, no doubt, to those small fishes (probably a kind of sardine) of wliich millions were caught in the lake, and whicli, dried and salted, would form the most common savoury, with bread, for the fisher-popula- tion along the shore ' {Life and Times of Jesus the Me-^siah, i. 682). The jiarable of the Drag-net (Mt J3J7-50J ig taken from the life of the Galihean fisher- folk. But this definite meaning of irj/apiov cannot always be maintained : for in John's narrative of the miraculous draught of fishes, o^papiov and ix6vi are interchanged as equivalents [oypipiov, Jn 219.111.13. fj/gusj vv.* "• "). Jesus says to the dis- ciples, ' Bring of the fish (6\pap'i.oii/) whicli ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and ilrag^-ed the net to shore full of great fishes ' (IxSi'av). Both in the narratives of the miraculous multiplication of loaves and fishes and ia His post-resurrection appearance by the lake, oirr Lord makes use of the disciples' own resources, while adding to them something of His own. In the similar miracle recorded in Lk .'), I'x^i's is the word used (w.^-^). When narrating; the feeding of the four thousand, both Matthc" .md M:iik speak of a few small fishes (6\iya <\«. j.a, Mt \:v'\ Mk 8'). These are probably the s.inn' a< i1m' i\^apia of Jn 6. In Mt 15*" ix^i's reappiiviis. Tin- remaining references to fish do not require luiu-h comment. Mt 17" is concerned with the stater in the fish's mouth. Tliis passage contains the only reference to line- fishing in the Gospels : ' Cast a hook and take the first fish (ixSi'v) that cometh up.' In Lk 24" we read that our Lord convinced the disciples of the reality of His resurrection by eating before them a piece of cooked fish (ix9vot dirrov lUpo^). In Mt 7'°l|Lk 11" the word ^x*'''. 'fish,' is found in the teaching of Jesus. In Mattliew the passage runs thus : ' What man is there among you who, if his