BILLHOOK

This translates the Hebrew word ma·ʽatsadhʹ, which denotes a tool used for shaping wood, and even iron. (Jer. 10:3; Isa. 44:12) The root from which this Hebrew term is considered to be drawn has been linked with words in related languages meaning “reap,” “cut off.” Consequently Koehler (Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, p. 550) defines ma·ʽatsadhʹ as “billhook.” The modern billhook consists of a handle and a blade with a hook-shaped point. However, others understand ma·ʽatsadhʹ to designate a kind of ax, since this is its meaning in late Hebrew, and suggest that it may refer to an adz.

BILSHAN

(Bilʹshan) [perhaps, inquirer; or, their lord].

One of the prominent ones who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, 537 B.C.E.—Ezra 2:2; Neh. 7:7.

BIMHAL

(Bimʹhal) [son of circumcision].

A prominent descendant, a head of the chieftains, in the tribe of Asher.—1 Chron. 7:30, 33, 40.

BINDING HOUSE OF THE SHEPHERDS

[Heb., behth ʽeʹqedh ha·ro·ʽimʹ].

A place on the road from Jezreel to Samaria, at which place Jehu met and slew the brothers of King Ahaziah of Judah by a cistern. (2 Ki. 10:12-14) Its name apparently indicates a house where the sheep were bound to facilitate the work of shearing. Some versions render behth ʽeʹqedh as “meeting house,” indicating an inn where shepherds (ha·ro·ʽimʹ) met; others simply transliterate the Hebrew name, viewing it as the name of a town. It is generally identified with Beit-Qad about three miles (4.8 kilometers) E of En-gannim (modern Jenin). There are several cisterns at this place.

BINEA

(Binʹe·a).

A descendant of Saul’s son Jonathan; of the tribe of Benjamin.—1 Chron. 8:33-37, 40; 9:39-43.

BINNUI

(Binʹnu·i) [a building up].

1. A forefather in Israel whose descendants, over six hundred in number, returned to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.E. (Neh. 7:6, 7, 15) He is called Bani at Ezra 2:10.

2. A Levite who returned with Zerubbabel, 537 B.C.E. (Neh. 12:1, 8) Apparently it was his son Noadiah who helped care for the additional temple utensils when Ezra delivered them to the temple in Jerusalem in 468 B.C.E.—Ezra 8:33.

3. One of the sons of Pahath-moab who, at Ezra’s encouragement, sent away their foreign wives and sons.—Ezra 10:30, 44.

4. An Israelite, several of whose sons dismissed their foreign wives.—Ezra 10:38, 44.

5. An Israelite who assisted Nehemiah with rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall. (Neh. 3:24) This son of Henadad may have been the same as No. 6 below.

6. One of the Levitical sons of Henadad. Possibly the forefather of one who concurred in the “trustworthy arrangement” in the days of Nehemiah; in which case he could be the same as No. 2 above. (Neh. 9:38; 10:1, 9) If, on the other hand, Binnui himself sealed this agreement, instead of one of his descendants, he could have been the same as No. 5 above. Or he may have simply been another person with that name.

BIRDCATCHER

A person engaged in the capture of birds. (Prov. 6:5; Ps. 124:7) Among the Hebrews, this seems to have been done primarily by means of traps, snares or nets, although other means may well have been used, such as bow and arrow, sling and, perhaps, as in Egypt, by throw sticks.

After the Flood, birds, properly bled, were made available to man as food. (Gen. 9:2-4) Although the Mosaic law later proscribed the eating of certain kinds, a great variety of birds was counted as “clean” for eating. (Deut. 14:11-20) Birds caught in hunting were to have their blood ‘poured out and covered with dust.’ (Lev. 17:13, 14) In addition to use as food (Neh. 5:18; 1 Ki. 4:22, 23), some of the captured birds, specifically male pigeons and turtledoves, could be used in sacrifices (Lev. 1:14), and birdcatchers probably supplied some of the doves sold at the temple in Jerusalem during Jesus’ days on earth. (John 2:14, 16) Some birds of lovely plumage or attractive song were likely sold for caging or as pets.—Compare Job 41:5; 1 Ki. 10:22.

Of the Hebrew terms used to designate traps and snares, two (moh·qeshʹ and pahh) are considered to relate primarily to those used by birdcatchers. Some authorities suggest that moh·qeshʹ (Amos 3:5; “snare,” NW) denotes a snare that was operated by the birdcatcher (or a team of them), while pahh (Job 22:10; Ps. 91:3) describes a trap that was sprung automatically upon the bird’s entry therein. The bird was drawn into the trap by means of bait or lure.—Prov. 7:23.

Although used figuratively in most cases, the abundant references to snares, traps and nets in the Hebrew Scriptures are an indication of considerable activity in birdcatching. The birdcatcher of ancient times had to study the various habits and peculiarities of each kind of bird and employ clever methods of concealment and camouflage in placing his traps. (Compare Job 18:10; Ps. 64:5, 6; 140:5.) Even the common sparrow (Matt. 10:29) has vision that is twice as keen as that of man, while certain birds can discern objects at a distance that would require the use of binoculars by humans. This acute vision, added to the natural cautiousness of birds, points up the truth of the proverb that “it is for nothing that the net is spread before the eyes of anything owning wings.”—Prov. 1:17.

Based on examples found in ancient Egyptian reliefs and also on methods employed in recent times in Egypt and Arabic lands, it appears that one kind of trap had a wooden base with two nets on hoops or half frames attached to a common axis. These were drawn back and set with a trigger. The trap could be triggered by the birdcatcher or was activated by the bird’s touching the bait in the center of the trap, causing the nets to spring up and enclose the victim. (Job 19:6) An Egyptian clap-net used for capturing geese or other waterfowl might be as much as ten feet (3 meters) long and five feet (1.5 meters) wide, requiring four or five assistants to snap it quickly shut by pulling on a rope at the birdcatcher’s signal. The victims were then placed in cages awaiting sale or slaughter.—Compare Jeremiah 5:26, 27.

Nets were also suspended loosely between two poles near the nesting place of a number of birds and at night the birdcatchers frightened the birds by shouts or lanterns, causing them to leave their perch and become enmeshed in the net. Sometimes nets were also thus suspended to catch birds in flight during nocturnal migrations; others were cast as dragnets over bushes where the birds rested.—Hos. 7:11, 12.

Another very common method was the use of a snare consisting of a string noose attached to a supple twig. The twig was bent to the ground and lightly fastened with bait so placed that, when touched by the bird, the twig flew up, jerking the noose around the bird’s neck or legs and lifting it off the ground. In writing to Christians, the apostle Paul evidently refers to a similar device when assuring the Corinthians that his counsel on marriage is not to “cast a noose [Gr., broʹkhon]” on them.—1 Cor. 7:35.

The throw stick, appearing in Egyptian wall paintings, was a type of boomerang about eighteen inches (45.7 centimeters) in length. It was thrown at the feet of birds that feed on the ground in flocks, such as partridges, quails and others.—Compare 1 Samuel 26:20.

Although falcons and eagles, as well as dogs, appear to have been used for hunting birds by the Assyrians, Persians and Egyptians, there is no evidence for their use by the Israelites. This would be most unlikely inasmuch as these creatures were ceremonially unclean according to the Mosaic law and also might be expected to tear or rend the victim, making it unfit for eating.—Lev. 11:3, 13-16; 17:15.

A provision of the Mosaic law required that the mother bird could not be taken along with her eggs or offspring, and this doubtless served as a conservation measure for certain varieties of birds.—Deut. 22:6, 7.

Man, unable to foresee the future and limited in his ability to cope with calamity, is likened to “birds that are being taken in a trap [Heb., pahh], . . . ensnared at a calamitous time, when it falls upon them suddenly.” (Eccl. 9:12) The righteous are confronted with subtle snares, hidden traps, attractive lures and bait placed in their path to draw them into the domain of the wicked who seek to bring them to moral and spiritual ruin. (Ps. 119:110; 142:3; Hos. 9:8) False prophetesses are condemned for “hunting down . . . souls as though they were flying things.” (Ezek. 13:17-23) However, because Jehovah proves to be with his faithful servants, their “soul is like a bird that is escaped from the trap of baiters. The trap is broken, and we ourselves have escaped.” (Ps. 124:1, 7, 8) The psalmist prayed: “Keep me from the clutches of the trap [pahh] that they have laid for me and from the snares [moq·shohthʹ, feminine plural form of moh·qeshʹ] of those practicing what is hurtful. The wicked will fall into their own nets all together, while I, for my part, pass by.”—Ps. 141:9, 10.

BIRDS

Birds are warm-blooded feathered vertebrates and are oviparous, that is, egg-laying. There are some three hundred references to birds in the Bible, with about thirty different varieties being specifically named. Reference is made to their flight, often in escaping their enemies (Ps. 11:1; Prov. 26:2; 27:8; Isa. 31:5; Hos. 9:11); their roosting in trees (Ps. 104:12; Matt. 13:32); nesting (Ps. 84:3; Ezek. 31:6); their uses, particularly male pigeons and turtledoves, in sacrifice (Lev. 1:14; 14:4-7, 49-53), as food (Neh. 5:18), including their eggs (Isa. 10:14; Luke 11:11, 12); and God’s provision and care for them.—Matt. 6:26; 10:29; compare Deuteronomy 22:6, 7.

Of the general terms used in the Bible that apply to birds, the Hebrew word ʽohph is the most frequent. Basically it means any winged flying creature (Gen. 1:21), and thus may include not only birds but also winged insects. (Compare Leviticus 11:13, 21-23.) G. Driver suggests that ʽohph is onomatopoeic, imitating the sound made by the bird’s wings as they beat the air.

The Hebrew tsip·pohrʹ also occurs in a large number of texts and is a generic term applying to birds in general. (Gen. 7:14) Tsip·pohrʹ literally means “twitterer” or “chiper” and hence the name imitates the “tsip” sound so characteristic of many small birds, especially the sparrow.

A third Hebrew term, ʽaʹyit, is applied solely to the birds of prey. ʽAʹyit is understood to mean “the screamer” (compare the use of the verb at 1 Samuel 25:14), and fittingly described many of the carnivorous birds with their piercing shrieks.—Jer. 12:9.

Two general terms are found in the Greek Scriptures: orʹne·on, meaning simply “a bird” (Rev. 18:2), and pte·nosʹ, meaning “flier.”—1 Cor. 15:39.

At Acts 17:18 Athenian philosophers referred to the apostle Paul as a “chatterer.” The Greek word here (sper·mo·loʹgos) literally means a crow that picks up seeds, while figuratively it was used of a person who picks up scraps by begging or stealing, or, as in the case cited, one who repeats scraps of knowledge; an idle babbler.

Birds were among the earliest conscious living things on earth, coming into existence on the fifth creative “day” along with the marine creatures. (Gen. 1:20-23) The “flying creatures” then created included not only small birds but also very large flying creatures, and also many insect forms of life.

A thoughtful study of birds gives convincing proof of the Biblical teaching that they are of divine creation. The theory advanced by evolutionists that birds evolved from reptiles is clearly fictional and could be given credence only by the most imaginative of minds. While birds and reptiles are both oviparous, reptiles are cold-blooded, often sluggish, whereas birds are warm-blooded and among the most active of all earth’s creatures, with an unusually rapid heartbeat. The evolutionary view that reptilian scales and fins eventually developed into feathered wings (as a result of air pressure against the scales caused by billions of years of leaping and hopping by certain reptiles) is both fanciful and foundationless. The fossils of birds called by scientists Archaeopteryx (or, ancient one with wings) and Archaeornis (or, ancient bird), though showing teeth and a long vertebrated tail, also show that they were completely feathered, had feet equipped for perching, and had fully developed wings. Thus, no “intermediate” specimens, exhibiting scales developing into feathers or front legs into wings, exist to give any semblance of support to the evolution theory. As expressed by the apostle Paul, birds are of a distinct “flesh” from others of earth’s creatures.—1 Cor. 15:39.

The psalmist called upon the “winged birds” to praise Jehovah (Ps. 148:1, 10), and birds do this by their very structure and their complex design. A single bird may have as many as 2,000 to over 6,000 feathers. Yet each feather is composed of a shaft from which branch out hundreds of barbs forming an inner web, each barb containing several hundred pairs of smaller barbules and each barbule having still more minute divisions known as barbicels. A single six-inch wing feather of a pigeon is thus estimated to contain some 990,000 barbules and literally millions of barbicels. The aerodynamic principles built into birds’ wings and body design surpass in complexity and efficiency that of modern-day aircraft. A bird’s hollow bones contribute to its lightness and thus the skeleton of a frigate bird with a seven-foot (2.1-meter) wingspan may weigh only four ounces (114.4 grams). Certain wing bones of large soaring birds even have trusslike supports within the hollow portions like the struts inside airplane wings

At the time of the flood, Noah introduced into the ark for preservation pairs of birds “according to their kinds.” (Gen. 6:7, 20; 7:3, 23) There is no certain way of knowing how many different “kinds” of birds then existed, some types of birds having become extinct even in recent times. However, it is of interest to note that the listing of birds according to present-day scientific classification presented in The Encyclopœdia Britannica (1959 ed., Vol. 16, pp. 930-932) gives a total of only 204 bird “families,” including some that are now extinct or known only in fossil form. There are, of course, thousands of varieties included within these “families.”—See ARK No. 1.

Following the global flood Noah offered up “clean flying creatures” along with animals as a sacrifice. (Gen. 8:18-20) Birds were thereafter made allowable by God for inclusion in man’s diet, as long as the blood was not eaten. (Gen. 9:1-4; compare Leviticus 7:26; 17:13.) The ‘cleanness’ of certain birds at that time therefore evidently relates to some divine indication of acceptableness for sacrifice; the Biblical record shows that, as regards their being used as food, none of the birds were designated as “unclean” until the introduction of the Mosaic law. (Lev 11:13-19, 46, 47; 20:25; Deut. 14:11-20) The factors determining which birds were designated ceremonially “unclean” are not expressly stated in the Bible. Thus, while most of those so designated were birds of prey or scavengers, not all of them were. (See HOOPOE.) This prohibition was lifted following the establishment of the new covenant, as God made evident to Peter by a vision.—Acts 10:9-15.