עוֹף70 H5775
Flying creatures collectively: birds, fowl (of sky, prey, sacrifice); rarely winged insects in Levitical clean/unclean lists.
The Hebrew collective noun of denotes everything with wings and the capacity for flight, though its 71 occurrences fall overwhelmingly into the category of birds. From the creation narrative where God says 'let birds fly above the earth' (Gen 1:20) to the carrion fowl that Goliath threatens David with (1 Sam 17:44), of hashammayim ('birds of the sky') is one of Scripture's most formulaic phrases, appearing 38 times. German distinguishes neatly between Vogel (bird) and Vögel (birds), while Spanish ave and French oiseau track the collective singular faithfully. A small but theologically interesting subset in Leviticus broadens the scope beyond ornithology: the 'flying creature' (of) that walks on all fours (Lev 11:20-23) clearly encompasses winged insects, a distinction the dietary laws require readers to notice.
2. flying creature, winged thing — A flying creature in the broadest sense, extending beyond birds to encompass winged insects — creatures that fly but 'go on all fours.' Restricted to just 4 occurrences in the Levitical dietary legislation (Lev 11:20, 21, 23; Deut 14:19), this sense is the wider zoological category that the clean/unclean laws require: 'every flying creature (of) that creeps, going on all fours, is detestable to you' — except those with jointed legs for leaping, like locusts. The multilingual glosses reveal translator difficulty: English and French resort to 'flying creature/créature,' while Spanish retains ave and German der fliegende, all struggling with a Hebrew term that here transcends the bird/insect boundary. 4×
AR["الطَّيْرِ"]·ben["-পাখির","উড়ন্ত"]·DE["der-flying","der-flying-creature"]·EN["the-flying","the-flying-creature"]·FR["le-flying","le-flying-créature"]·heb["ה-עוף"]·HI["उड़ने वाला","चलने वाला","पक्षी-के"]·ID["burung","yang-terbang"]·IT["il-flying","il-flying-creatura"]·jav["ingkang-mibur","manuk"]·KO["그-새의"]·PT["a-ave","o-voador"]·RU["-летающего","из-птиц"]·ES["el-ave"]·SW["chenye-mabawa","vyenye-mabawa","warukao"]·TR["kanatlarda","uçanın"]·urd["-پرندوں-میں-سے","پرندوں-کا","پرندوں-کے"]
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
1. bird, fowl — Birds or fowl as a zoological class — the collective designation for avian creatures of every kind, including sky-birds in the creation framework (Gen 1:20-22, 26, 28), carrion birds that consume the dead (1 Sam 17:44; 1 Kgs 14:11), birds of the mountains (Ps 50:11), migratory or wandering birds (Isa 16:2), birds as food (Lev 7:26; 17:13), and birds for sacrifice (Gen 8:20; Lev 1:14). With 67 occurrences, this sense covers the characteristic phrase of hashammayim ('birds of the sky'). Spanish ave/aves, French oiseau, German Vogel/Vögel, and English 'bird/fowl' all converge on a standard ornithological term. 67×
AR["الطَّيْرِ","طَيرِ","طَيْرَ","طَيْرُ","طَيْرِ","طُيورُ-","عُوف"]·ben["পাখি","পাখি-","সেই-পাখি"]·DE["Vogel","Vogel-von","Vögel","Vögel-von","Vögeln","[עוף]","den-Vögeln","zum-Vogel"]·EN["a-bird-of","bird-of","birds-of","birds-of-","the-bird"]·FR["le-oiseau","oiseau","oiseau-de","עוף"]·heb["ה-עוף","עוף"]·HI["पकशियोन","पकशी","पक्षियों","पक्षियों-ने","पक्षी","पक्षी-","पक्षी-ने"]·ID["burung","burung-burung"]·IT["il-uccello","uccello","uccello-di","un-uccello-di"]·jav["ing-peksi","peksi","peksi-"]·KO["(접)-새","그-새","새","새-가","새-의","새가","새가-","새들을","새를"]·PT["a-ave","as-aves","ave","ave-de","aves-de"]·RU["птиц","птица","птице","птицей","птицу","птицы","птицы-"]·ES["ave-de","aves-de","el-ave"]·SW["ndege-wa","wa-ndege"]·TR["-kuş","-kuşun","kus","kuşları","kuşları-","kuşlarına","kuşlarını","kuşu","kuşuna","kuşunu","kuşunun"]·urd["پرندا-اُس","پرندوں","پرندوں-اُن","پرندوں-نے","پرندوں-کو","پرندہ","پرندے"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
עוֹף70 n.m. Gn 40:17 coll. flying creatures, fowl, insects;—ע׳ abs. Gn 1:20 +, cstr. v 21 +;— 1. fowl birds, Gn 40:17, 19 (E), 7:8 (J), 1:20, 22 (P), 1 K 5:13 +; especially (38 times) ע׳ הַשָּׁמַיִם fowl of the sky, Gn 2:19, 20 (J), 1:26, 28, 30 (P), Ho 2:20 Ec 10:20 +, carrion birds 1 S 17:44, 46 2 S 21:10 1 K 14:11 + 11 times; ע׳ הָרִים ψ 50:11, ע׳ נוֹדֵד Is 16:2, כִּכְלוּב מָלֵא ע׳ Je 5:27;…