OWL
[Heb., kohs; yan·shuphʹ (yan·shohphʹ); ʼoʹahh].
Owls are outstanding among the night birds of prey and are mentioned several times in the Bible account. Once thought to be related to the hawk family, they are now generally associated with other night feeders, such as the whippoorwill and the nightjar.
The owl has a short, hooked beak and powerful viselike talons resembling the hawk’s, but is distinctive in its broad head, large eyes and ears, as well as by having a reversible toe on each foot so that, while the other toes point forward, this outer toe can be turned outward or even backward, thereby enabling the bird to get a firm grip on a variety of objects. The large eyes with their expanding irises make the greatest possible use of the dim light at night, and, unlike most other birds, the owl’s eyes are binocular, enabling it to view an object with both eyes at once. Its soft plumage is a mottled brown with an intricate feather pattern and generally gives an impression of exaggerated bulk to the bird’s body. According to an article in The Scientific American (April 1962, p. 78), the owl’s wings are ultrasonically silent, the soft down on the upper surfaces and the feathery fringes on the leading and trailing edges of the wings apparently serving to reduce the turbulence of the air flow. Thus the owl noiselessly swoops through the darkness and silently drops down on its unsuspecting prey, primarily killing rodents, though some also eat small birds and insects. The cries of owls range from a shrill screech to a booming hooting sound.
The Hebrew kohs, included among the ‘unclean’ birds (Lev. 11:13, 17; Deut. 14:16), is suggested by some to indicate the “little owl” (AV, RS, Koehler and Baumgartner’s Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, p. 428), designated as Athene noctua. This Latin name, used in scientific classification, derives from the fact that the owl was regularly associated by the pagan Greeks with Athena (Athene), the Greek goddess of wisdom, and it is evidently from this mythology that the owl has been unduly credited with being wise. The Hebrew word (kohs) is elsewhere translated “cup” (Gen. 40:11), and some suggest that the term is applied to the owl as describing the typical facial “disks,” or ruff around the eyes, a saucerlike effect created by stiff radiating feathers. Others connect it with the bird’s cry, that of the “little owl” being a plaintive “kew-kew.” The “little owl,” about ten inches (25.4 centimeters) in length, is one of the most widely distributed owls in Palestine, found in thickets, olive groves and desolate ruins. The psalmist in his lonely affliction felt like “a little owl of desolated places.” (Ps. 102:6) Appropriately, the Arabic name for this particular variety of owl is the “mother of ruins.”
Also listed in the Mosaic law as ‘unclean’ is the bird called in Hebrew yan·shuphʹ (or, yan·shohphʹ), a name thought by some to indicate a “snorting” or “harsh blowing” sound (the Hebrew word for “blow” being na·shaphʹ), while others connect it with the “twilight” (Hebrew, neʹsheph) as indicating simply a nocturnal bird. (Lev. 11:17; Deut. 14:16) According to The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Vol. 2, p. 252), the name “is used today for Otus, the eared owl,” while Koehler and Baumgartner (Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, p. 386) give the “long-eared owl.” A bird about fifteen inches (38.1 centimeters) in length, the long-eared owl is so called from the earlike erectile tufts on the sides of its broad head. It frequents wooded and desolate areas and is depicted as one of the creatures to inhabit the ruins of Edom.—Isa. 34:11.
The abandoned houses in Babylon’s ruins were foretold to be “filled with eagle owls [plural form of ʼoʹahh].” (Isa. 13:21) These circumstances and the Hebrew name, understood to denote a creature that “howls” with a doleful cry, well fit the eagle owl (Bubo ascalaphus), a bird found in caves and ruins and common in the region of Petra and Beer-sheba. Its cry is a loud, prolonged, powerful hoot. The largest and most powerful of the owls of Palestine is the eagle owl. Like other owls, at night its large eyes have a luminescent reddish-yellow glow when reflecting light, and, together with its mournful cry, this characteristic doubtless contributed toward its being a symbol of evil portent among superstitious pagan peoples.
Some scholars believe the term li·lithʹ, used at Isaiah 34:14 as among the creatures haunting Edom’s ruins, applies to some type of owl. The name is said to be used today “for Strix, the tawny owl.” (The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. 2, p. 252) However, see the article under NIGHTJAR.