Signification of the word Oreb—The Raven tribe plentiful in Palestine—The Raven and the Dove—Elijah and the Ravens—Various explanations of the circumstance—Feeding the young Ravens—Luis of Grenada's sermon—The white Raven of ancient times—An old legend—Reference to the blackness of the Raven's plumage—Desert-loving habits of the Raven—Its mode of attacking the eye—Notions of the old commentators—Ceremonial use of the Raven—Return of the Ravens—Cunning of the bird—Nesting-places of the Raven—The magpie and its character—The starling—Its introduction into Palestine—The Rabbi perplexed—Solution of the difficulty.
IT is more than probable that, while the Hebrew word oreb primarily signifies the bird which is so familiar to us under the name of RAVEN, it was also used by the Jews in a much looser sense, and served to designate any of the Corvidæ, or Crow tribe, such as the raven itself, the crow, the rook, the jackdaw, and the like. We will first take the word in its restricted sense, and then devote a brief space to its more extended signification.
As might be expected from the cosmopolitan nature of the Raven, it is very plentiful in Palestine, and even at the present time is apparently as firmly established as it was in the days when the various Scriptural books were written.
There are few birds which are more distinctly mentioned in the Holy Scriptures than the Raven, though the passages in which its name occurs are comparatively few. It is the first bird which is mentioned in the Scriptures, its name occurring in Gen. 8:77And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. (Genesis 8:7): "And it carne to pass at the end of forty days that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;" And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro until the waters were dried up from off the earth.”
Here we have, at the very outset, a characteristic account of the bird. It left the ark, and flew to and fro, evidently for the purpose of seeking food. The dove, which immediately followed the Raven, acted in a different manner. She flew from the ark in search of food, and, finding none, was forced to return again.
The Raven, on the contrary, would find plenty of food in the bodies of the various animals that had been drowned, and were floating on the surface of the waters, and, therefore, needed not to enter again into the ark. The context shows that it made the ark a resting-place, and that it “went forth to and fro," or, as the Hebrew Bible renders the passage," in going and returning," until the waters had subsided. Here, then, is boldly drawn the distinction between the two birds, the carrion-eater and the feeder on vegetable substances-a distinction to which allusion has already been made in the history of the dove.
Passing over the declaration in Lev. 11:1515Every raven after his kind; (Leviticus 11:15) and Deut. 14:1414And every raven after his kind, (Deuteronomy 14:14), that every Raven (i.e. the Raven and all its tribe) is unclean, we come to the next historical mention of the bird. This occurs in 1 kings 17. When Elijah had excited the anger of Ahab by prophesying three years of drought, he was divinely ordered to take refuge by the brook Cherith, one of the tributaries of the Jordan. “And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens [orebim] to feed thee there.
“So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
“And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook.”
In this passage we have a history of a purely miraculous character. It is not one that can be explained away. Some have tried to do so by saying that the banished prophet found the nests of the Ravens, and took from them daily a supply of food for his sustenance. The repetition of the words "bread and flesh" shows that the sacred writer had no intention of signifying a mere casual finding of food which the Ravens brought for their young, but that the prophet was furnished with a constant and regular supply of bread and meat twice in the day. It is a statement which, if it be not accepted as the account of a miracle, must be rejected altogether.
I may here mention that an explanation of the passage has been offered by some commentators, who render the word orebim as "Arabs," and so arrive at the conclusion that the prophet was fed in his retirement by the Arab tribes which carne to the brook for water. Others have thought that the Orebim were the inhabitants of a village called Orbo, near the Cherith. There is, however, no need of any such explanations. The account of the prophet's flight to the Cherith and of the daily supply of food which he received has been accepted as a simple statement of facts by al} Jewish writers, and there is no alternative but either to accept it in the same sense or to reject it.
This part of the subject naturally leads to certain passages in which the feeding of the young Ravens is mentioned. See, for example, Job 38:4141Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat. (Job 38:41): “Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat." This passage is rendered rather differently and more forcibly in the Jewish Bible. “Who provideth for the raven his food, when his young ones cry unto God, and wander for lack of meat?" A passage of similar import occurs in Psa. 147:99He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. (Psalm 147:9): "He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry." An evident reference is made to these passages in Luke 12:2424Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? (Luke 12:24): "Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?”
In all these cases reference is made to a curious idea which prevailed respecting the Raven. It was thought that the Raven was a cruel parent, and that after the eggs were hatched it cared nothing for the young until they were full fledged. As, moreover, the Bird was thought to be peculiarly late in attaining its plumage, the young Ravens must all die of hunger, were they not fed in some remarkable manner. This subject is treated at some length by Luis of Grenada in his Sermons. As the passage in question is a very curious one, I give both the original and a translation. For the latter I am indebted to the Rev. C. J. Smith, author of "Synonyms and Antonyms," who has preserved, with much success, the quaint structure of the language.
“Dominica XIV. post Pent. Concio 1: “Nisi hffic enim omnia magnam nobis admirationis materiam divinffique providentiin notitiam prwberent, nequaquam Dominus inter cetera sapientiw et providentiw sirve argumenta hoc etiam commemoraret, cum ad Job ait: Quis prseparat corvo escam suam, guando pulli ejes clamant ad Demi' vagantes eó quód non habeant cibos?' Et in Psal.: 'Qui dat jumentis escarn ipsorum et pullis corvorum invocantibus eum "
Cur autem hoc in loco pullorum corvi preecipue meminerit, in causa est, quod in his miro modo singularis providentiw cura elucet. Ait enim interpres quidam corvorum pullos eum implumes adhuc sunt, candorem pue se ferre: ideoque a parentibus ut nothos negligi, quod eorum non referant colorem. Quo tempore divina providentia, que nusquam dormit, eos ad se clamantes alit. Vermiculos enim quosdam in nidulo nasci constituit, quorum esu sustentantur donec nono tandem die nascentibus plumis parentum colorem referant, atque ita demum ab illis nutriantur.
“Cum igitur divina providentia nulla in re neque animalculis istis etiam si a patribus deserantur desit, quanta illa diffidentia est, quffl solis hominibus eam deesse profitetur? Si horno inter omnes inferioris hujus mundi creaturas nobilissirnum et pulcherrimurn animal est, si solus ipse Dei imagine insignitus, si ipse hujus magnae familke princeps ac dominus est, si ejus obsequio cuneta militant, si omnia rerum conditor subiecit pedihus ejus oves et boyes universas, insuper et pecora campi, &c. qui fieri potest ut cum hujus mundi moderator Dñs nullum neque animalculum neque vermiculum a providentice suco cura excludat, sed omnibus abunde omnia suppeditat, pium hominern (cujus obsequio cuneta destinavit) fame et inedia confici patiatur. Si pater aliquis filii sui familiam, servos, antillas, et jumenta diligenter curaret, illisque necessaria abunde provideret, quornodo filium fame perire sineret, cujus familiam tanta cura fovet et alit? Quis enim hoc in animum inducere possit? Hace ijitur altera ratio est qua celestis Magister diffidentiam nostram curare, et spem alere atque fulcire studet.”
“Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sermon 1:
"For if it were not that all these things afford to us great matter of admiration and demonstration of the providence of God, it were in vain that the Lord, among other tokens of His wisdom and providence, had selected this also, when He saith in Job: `Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, wandering for lack of meat.' And in the Psalms: Who giveth their own food to the cattle, and to the young ravens that call upon Him.'
Now that in this place He hath been mainly mindful of the ravens' young, is partly for this cause, that marvelously in them the singular tare of Providence doth show forth. For a certain annotator saith, that the young ravens while as yet they are unfledged do appear of whiteness, and therefore are neglected of their parents as if they were bastards, seeing that they resemble not their color. At which time Divine Providence, who nowhere sleepeth, doth feed them who call upon Himself. For He causeth certain vermicles (small worms) to be bred in the little nest, by eating of which they are sustained, until at length on the ninth day, the feathers beginning to grow, they resemble the color of their parents, and so come to be nourished by them.
“Seeing then that Divine Providence is never wanting in any master, not even to these little creatures, though they be deserted of their parents, how great is that distrust which averreth that it is wanting unto men alone I If man be among all the creatures of this lower world the noblest and the fairest of things; if he alone be made illustrious by God's image; if he himself be of this great family the leader and lord; if in obedience to him all things serve; if the Constructor of all things hath put under his feet sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; ' how shall it be that when the Lord, the Ruler of this world, shutteth out none, neither insect nor worm, from the care of His providence, but supplieth abundantly all things for all, He should suffer the righteous man, for whose service He hath appointed all things, to perish of hunger and lack of food?
“If it be that every father would diligently care for his son's household, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and cattle, and provide them abundantly with all things needful, how should He suffer His sons to perish whose families He, cherisheth and feedeth with so great care? Who, indeed, could harbor such a thought? This then is another consideration whereby the heavenly Master seeks to cure our distrust, and to feed and stay our hope.”
Some of the old writers improved on this legend by saying that the worms crawled into the mouths of the young Ravens, so that the birds had not even the trouble of picking them up.
Some of the ancient Jewish writers had an idea that the Raven was originally a white bird, and that its color was changed by way of punishment for its evil disposition and deceitful conduct. A similar idea was held by the old mythological writers. They said that the Raven was formerly the favorite bird of Apollo, and that it was celebrated for its sweet song and snowy white plumage. Part of its duty was to bring water for its master from the fountain Hippocrene.
One day, instead of doing its duty, the bird amused itself in the Barden, and at last fell asleep. Fearful when it awoke that it should be punished for its carelessness, the cunning Raven snatched up a snake, killed it, and brought it to Apollo, saying that the serpent had disputed the passage to the fountain, and that, after a long fight, it had just been killed. Apollo, angry with the bird for having told a lie, drove it from his presence, and as it fled its musical voice turned into a harsh croak, and its white plumage became black.
“‘Liar! ' exclaimed the god,
The Python-killer, as from his kern eye
The lightning darted, 'Me wouldst thou deceive
With such a wretched tale! Hence, hence! Begone!
Black as thy falsehood fly through shuddering air,
A bird of lonely right! Dumb be thy voice
Of sweetest melody: henceforth thy cry
Tell but of woes and horrors, a wild shriek
Of darkness and dismay.'”
Knight's Quarterly Magazine
Reference to the blackness of the Raven's plumage is made in the Song of Solomon. " My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
“His beard is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy and black as a Raven." (Cant. 5:10, 11.) A similar expression is common among ourselves.
On account of its mode of life, the Raven cannot exist in a wild state in cultivated ground. Hence it has disappeared from the greater part of England, and is seldom to be seen except on wide moors or in large forests. Cultivated ground affords it scarcely any food, and it is therefore a bird of the wilderness rather than of the towns.
Like all feeders on carrion, it is wonderfully quick in detecting a dead or dying animal, and rivals the vulture itself in the sharpness of its vision. If anyone who is passing over a part of the country where Ravens still survive, should wish to see one of the birds, he has only to lie flat on the ground, and keep his eyes nearly shut, so as only to see through the lashes. Should there be a Raven within many miles, it is cure to discover the apparently dead body, and to alight at no great distance, walking round and round, with its peculiar sidelong gait, and, if it be not checked in time, will make a dash at the eye of the prostrate individual, and probably blind him for life.
This habit of pecking at the eye is inherent in all the crow tribe, probably because they know instinctively that if the animal will allow its eye to be pecked out it must be dead; and if it should still possess life, it would be blinded for the moment, so as to allow its assailant to escape. The Scriptures note this custom of the Raven, as we see in Prov. 30:1717The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it. (Proverbs 30:17): “The eye that mocketh at his father and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.”
The desert-loving habit of the Raven is noticed in Isa. 34:1111But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. (Isaiah 34:11): "The cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.”
WE will now pass to the notices of the Raven as given by the writers and commentators of the Talmud.
Being an unclean bird, and one of ill omen, it was not permitted to perch on the roof of the Temple. According to some writers, it was kept off by means of scarecrows, and according to others, by long and Sharp iron spikes set so closely together that there was no room for the bird to pass between them. The latter is by far the more probable account, as the Raven is much too cunning a bird to be deceived by a scarecrow for any length of time. It might be alarmed at the first sight of a strange object, but in a very short time it would hold all scarecrows in supreme contempt.
Its carrion-eating propensities were well known to the ancient writers, who must have had many opportunities of seeing the Raven unite with the vultures in consuming the bodies, not only of dead animals, but of warriors killed in battle. So fond was the Raven of this food that, according to those writers, the very smell of human blood attracted the bird; and, if a man accidentally cut himself, or if he were bled for some illness, the odor of the blood would bring round the spot all the Ravens of the place.
The punctuality with which the Raven, in common with all its kin, returns to its roosting-place, was also familiar to the Talmudists, who made rather an ingenious use of this habit. The ceremonial law of the Jews required the greatest care in observing certain hours, and it was especially necessary to know the precise time which marked the separation of one day from another. This was ascertained easily enough as long as the day was clear, but in case of a dull, murky day, when the course of the sun could not be traced, some other plan was needed.
In the olden times, no artificial means of measuring time were known, and the devout Jew was consequently fearful lest he might unwittingly break the law by doing on one day an act which ought to have been done on another. A convenient method for ascertaining the time was, however, employed, and, as soon as the Ravens, rooks, and similar birds were seen returning to their homes, the sun was supposed to be setting.
This habit of returning regularly at the same time is mentioned by Mr. Tristram in his "Land of Israel:"—
“Of all the birds of Jerusalem, the raven is decidedly the most characteristic and conspicuous. It is present everywhere to eye and ear, and the odors that float around remind us of its use. On the evening of our arrival we were perplexed by a call-note, quite new to us, mingling with the old familiar croak, and soon ascertained that there must be a second species of raven along with the common Corvus corax. This was the African species (Corvus umbrinus, Hed.), the ashy-necked raven, a little smaller than the world-wide raven, and here more abundant in individuals.
“Beside these, the rook (Corvus agricola, Trist.), the common gray, or hooded crow (Corvus cornix, L.), and the jackdaw (Corvus monedula, L), roost by hundreds in the sanctuary. We used to watch them in long lines passing over our tents every morning at daybreak, and returning in the evening, the rooks in solid phalanx leading the way, and the ravens in loose order bringing up the rear, generally far out of shot. Before retiring for the night, popular assemblies of the most uproarious character were held together in the trees of the Kedron and Mount Olivet, and not until sunset did they withdraw in silence, mingled indiscriminately, to their roosting-places on the walls.
“My companions were very anxious to obtain specimens of these Jerusalem birds, which could only be approached as they settled for the night; but we were warned by the Consul that shooting them so close to the mosque might be deemed a sacrilege by the Moslems, and provoke an attack by the guardians of the Haram and the boys of the neighborhood. They finally determined, nevertheless, to run the risk; and stationing themselves just before sunset in convenient hiding-places near the walls, at a given signal they fired simultaneously, and, hastily gathering up the spoils, had retreated out of reach, and were hurrying to the tents before an alarm could be raised. The discharge of ten barrels had obtained fourteen specimens, comprising five species.
“The same maneuver was repeated with equal success on another evening; but on the third occasion the ravens had learned wisdom by experience, and, sweeping round Siloam, chose another route to their dormitory.”
Those who have tried to come within gunshot of a Raven, even in this country, can appreciate this anecdote, and can understand how the Raven would ever afterward keep clear of a spot where the flash and smoke of fire-arms had twice appeared.
An anecdote which authenticates this cautious turn of mind in the Raven is given in Mr. Thompson's work on the “Natural History of Ireland." There was a large yard in which the sparrows used to congregate, and it was a custom of the owner to lay a train of corn for the sparrows to eat, and then to rake the whole line with a discharge from a gun concealed in an outhouse. A tame Raven lived about the premises, and as soon as it saw any one carrying a gun towards the fatal outhouse, it became much alarmed, and hurried off to hide itself. As soon as the gun was fired, out carne the Raven from its place of concealment, pounced on one of the dead sparrows, carried it off, and ate it in its private haunt.
The nest to which the Raven returns with such punctuality is placed in some spot where it is safe from ordinary intruders. The tops of lofty trees are favored localities for the nest, and so are old towers, the interior of caves, and clefts in lofty precipices. The nest is large and clumsy, and the bird, trusting in the inaccessible character of the locality, troubles itself very little about concealment. The Raven is a peculiarly domestic bird, and a pattern of conjugal affection. It pairs for life, and both male and female take their share of sitting on the eggs and nurturing the young.
THE old writers of whom mention has been made admitted that all the Corvidæ were signified by the word oreb. Sometimes they drew a distinction between them, but, as a role, the word oreb might mean any of those birds, from a Raven to a starling.
The MAGPIE is one of those birds which is separately mentioned. Like the Raven, it was thought to be harsh and cruel to its young, so that whenever a man behaved badly to his children, either by neglect or by absolute cruelty, he was called a Magpie-man by way of derision. Similarly, a man of a morose or evil disposition was termed a Raven-hearted man. As, however, the Magpie is not entirely black, but has some white in its plumage, it was held to be rather a better bird than the Raven. Moreover, it is fond of haunting the habitations of men, so that it was held to be of a softer nature than the Raven, which always kept itself as far from mankind as possible.
Lastly, we come to the Starling, which, as I have already mentioned, is considered as one of the Raven tribe, and is ranked under the name of Oreb. The old writers had no very great opinion of this bird, which they considered as exceptionally quarrelsome, probably on account of its shrill, harsh cry. They had a curious proverb, "Two Starlings cannot sleep in one bed," by which they meant that two quarrelsome people ought not to associate together.
There is a rather curious legend respecting the introduction of the Starling into Palestine.
Many years ago, a strange bird appeared in Jerusalem. It was caught, and brought before a celebrated Rabbi for examination, in order that he might decide whether it belonged to the clean or the unclean birds. After examining it, he could not make up his mind to either side of the question, and left the disputed point to be settled in a different way.
He ordered the bird to be placed on the roof of a house, and to be carefully watched, in order that the birds which associated with it might be noticed. For some time no birds of any kind would recognize the stranger, until at last there carne a Raven from Egypt, which claimed acquaintance with it. In consequence of this, the Starling was ever afterward classed with the Raven, and considered as an unclean bird. The Egyptian Raven which is here mentioned is described as being a very small bird, scarcely larger, indeed, than the Starling itself.