Ostrich

Narrator: Chris Genthree
Duration: 2min
 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 8
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This name occurs but twice in the AV.
1. yaen (Lam. 4:33Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. (Lamentations 4:3)), where its cruelty is referred to. A kindred Hebrew word (preceded by bath, signifying the female), bath yaanah, “daughter of howling,” is eight times translated “owl” (Lev. 11:1616And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, (Leviticus 11:16); Deut. 14:1515And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, (Deuteronomy 14:15); Job 30:2929I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. (Job 30:29); Isa. 13:2121But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. (Isaiah 13:21); Isa. 34:1313And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. (Isaiah 34:13); Isa. 43:2020The beast of the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. (Isaiah 43:20); Jer. 50:3939Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. (Jeremiah 50:39); Mic. 1:88Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls. (Micah 1:8)). It is classed among the unclean birds, and is characterized by dwelling in waste places, and also by its wailing cry, which well agree with the habits of the ostrich. Though some passages may seem to point to the owl, doubtless the ostrich is referred to in all the above passages.
2. notsah, signifying “plumage,” is translated ostrich in Job 39:13-1813Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? 14Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust, 15And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. 16She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labor is in vain without fear; 17Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding. 18What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider. (Job 39:13‑18): the ostrich, however, is referred to in Job 39:1313Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? (Job 39:13) by the word renanim, pl., which signifies, “a crying or wailing,” but in the AV is translated “peacocks.” The passage is obscure, but Job 39:1313Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? (Job 39:13) may be better translated thus: “The wing of the ostrich beats joyously: but is it the stork’s pinion and plumage?” The passage then speaks of the ostrich leaving its eggs unprotected, and being hardened against its young. The ostrich leaves its eggs in the sand, well covered up. The sun keeps them warm by day, and the parent sits upon them at night. Other eggs are left unprotected nearby for the young birds when hatched to eat, and these may be trampled on. As to the indifference of the parents to their young, it is asserted that when a hunter approaches they will leave their nests and then often they cannot find the place again in the wide desert; but dead jackals have been found near the nests, which have been killed by the parent birds. Some suppose that Job 39:1616She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labor is in vain without fear; (Job 39:16) refers to other birds laying eggs in the ostrich’s nest, from which are hatched birds that are “not hers.” Job 39:1818What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider. (Job 39:18) refers to the speed of the bird, which has often exceeded that of the best horses. The ostrich is of the family Struthionidæ, order Cursores.