Swallow

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 8
 
 
Barn Swallow – Hirundo Rustica
1. deror. This is interpreted “roving about,” which agrees well with the habits of the swallow or swift. They come and go, and are not domesticated (Prov. 26:22As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come. (Proverbs 26:2)). In Psalm 84:33Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God. (Psalm 84:3) it is typical of the wanderer finding rest and protection in God’s house.
 
The Common Crane
2. agur, mentioned with the word sis, translated “crane” and “swallow;” but sis doubtless refers to the swallow, and agur to the crane. The swallow (or perhaps the swift) is mentioned as “chattering,” or having a “garrulous note,” and it is migratory (Isa. 38:1414Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me. (Isaiah 38:14); Jer. 8:77Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord. (Jeremiah 8:7)). Several species of the swallow frequent Palestine: the Hirundo rustica, H. rufula, etc. A species of swift finds the Jordan valley warm enough in the winter, and need not migrate.
 
Barn Swallows Flying