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Bible Dictionaries
Owl
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or OWL
1 . bath ya‘ânâh , RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘ ostrich ’ (wh. see).
2 . yanshûph , Leviticus 11:17 , Deuteronomy 14:15 , ‘great owl’; [ yanshöph ], Isaiah 34:11 owl,’ RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘bittern’; commonly thought to be the ibis.
3 . kôs , Leviticus 11:17 , Deuteronomy 14:16 , ‘little owl’; Psalms 102:6 ‘owl.’
4 . qippôz , Isaiah 34:15 , AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘great owl,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘arrowsnake.’ The description’ make her nest, and lay, and hatch’ certainly seems to point to some bird, but what kind is uncertain
5 . tinshemeth , Leviticus 11:18 , Deuteronomy 14:15 , AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘swan,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘horned owl.’ See Swan.
6 . lîlîth , Isaiah 34:14 , AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘screech owl,’ AVm [Note: Authorized Version margin.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘night monster,’ RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘Lilith,’ the fabulous monster which is in Jewish folklore such an enemy of children.
Owls are very plentiful in Palestine. Most common of all is the little bömeh ( Athene glaux ), whose melancholy cry can be heard anywhere in the open country when twilight begins. It is a general favourite and very tame. The great Egyptian eagle-owl, the next most common species, is a large bird, nearly two feet long, with long ear tufts (see No. 5). It haunts ruins, and has a prolonged and desolate cry.
E. W. G. Masterman.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Owl'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/o/owl.html. 1909.
