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Bible Dictionaries
Bittern
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or BITTERN ( Isaiah 14:23; Isaiah 34:11 , Zephaniah 2:14 ). Although the bird of this name the Botaurus stellaris is found in Palestine, especially in the Huleh marshes, the philological evidence is quite against this translation. The Heb. word is kippôd , and is generally accepted to be the equivalent of the Arab. [Note: Arabic.] kunfudh , ‘ porcupine .’ This animal suits the Scriptural requirements at least as well as the bittern. It (the Hystrix cristata ) is common all over Palestine. Large specimens measure as much as 3 ft. from the nose to the tip of the spines. The porcupine is a vegetable-eating, nocturnal animal; it is solitary in its habits, and very timid of man. It glides about in the twilight or starlight in a most weird way, giving vent at times to peculiar short grunts. When roused to self-defence, the porcupine is most dangerous; its erect quills, which pierce like a needle, make it most difficult to capture. In all respects the porcupine is a likely and appropriate inhabitant of desolate ruins untrodden by the foot of man. Porcupine are eaten by both fellahin and Bedouin .
E. W. G. Masterman.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Bittern'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/b/bittern.html. 1909.
