not only between male and female relatives (Gen. 29:11; 31:28) but also between male relatives. (Gen. 27:26, 27; 45:15; Ex. 18:7; 2 Sam. 14:33) It was likewise a gesture of affection between close friends.—1 Sam. 20:41, 42; 2 Sam. 19:39.

Kissing might accompany a blessing. (Gen. 31:55) Aged Israel or Jacob kissed and embraced Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, before blessing their father and them. (Gen. 48:8-20) When the patriarch later finished giving commands to his twelve sons he expired and “Joseph fell upon the face of his father and burst into tears over him and kissed him.” (Gen. 49:33–50:1) Samuel kissed Saul when anointing him as Israel’s first king.—1 Sam. 10:1.

A fond greeting included kissing, perhaps accompanied by weeping and embracing. (Gen. 33:4) The father of the returning prodigal of Jesus Christ’s illustration fell upon his son’s neck and “tenderly kissed him.” (Luke 15:20) Kissing also went with a loving farewell. (Gen. 31:55; Ruth 1:9, 14) When the apostle Paul was about to depart from Miletus, the older men of the Ephesian congregation were so moved that they wept and “fell upon Paul’s neck and tenderly kissed him.”—Acts 20:17, 37.

The Bible makes brief reference to kisses associated with love between the sexes. (Song of Sol. 1:2; 8:1) In giving advice to guard against the devices of a wicked woman, the book of Proverbs warns of the seductive kiss of a prostitute.—Prov. 7:13.

Kisses could be hypocritical. Absalom, shrewdly seeking power, kissed men who drew near to bow down to him. (2 Sam. 15:5, 6) Treacherous Joab’s kiss meant death to unsuspecting Amasa. (2 Sam. 20:9, 10) Also, it was with a deceitful kiss that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ.—Matt. 26:48, 49; Mark 14:44, 45.

FALSE WORSHIP

Kissing as an act of adoration toward false gods was forbidden by Jehovah, who mentions 7,000 men who did not bend the knee to Baal and kiss him. (1 Ki. 19:18) Ephraim was scored for making idols and saying: “Let the sacrificers who are men kiss mere calves.” (Hos. 13:1-3) The Greeks and Romans had the practice of throwing a kiss with the hand to their idols, if these were inaccessible, and in this way they also greeted the rising sun. Job 31:27 may allude to a similar idolatrous practice.

THE “HOLY KISS”

Among early Christians there was the “holy kiss” (Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; 1 Thess. 5:26) or “kiss of love” (1 Pet. 5:14), possibly bestowed on individuals of the same sex. This early Christian form of greeting may correspond to the ancient Hebrew practice of greeting one with a kiss. Though the Scriptures provide no details, the “holy kiss” or “kiss of love” evidently reflected the wholesome love and unity prevailing in the Christian congregation.—John 13:34, 35.

FIGURATIVE USE

Kissing, as representing a demonstration of respect and devotion, is mentioned in the inspired advice to “serve Jehovah with fear” and “kiss the son, that He may not become incensed and you may not perish from the way.” (Ps. 2:11, 12) Persons responding favorably and submitting to God’s king and kingdom will realize great blessings when it can be said: “Righteousness and peace—they have kissed each other,” because the connection of the two will be as evident to all as is the close association of affectionate friends.—Ps. 85:10.

KITE

[Heb., ʼay·yahʹ, “black kite”; da·ʼahʹ, “red kite”; and perhaps day·yahʹ, “glede,” likely a variety of kite].

The kite is a bird of prey and scavenger combined. Both the black kite and the red kite, the common varieties found in Palestine, are included among the unclean birds according to the Law. (Lev. 11:13, 14; Deut. 14:12, 13) The Deuteronomy list contains ra·ʼahʹ in place of da·ʼahʹ as in Leviticus, but this is considered as probably due to a scribal substitution of the Hebrew equivalent of “r” (ר) for “d” (ד), the letters being very similar in appearance.

The Hebrew name ʼay·yahʹ is believed to be in imitation of the piercing cry of the black kite (classified by ornithonlogists as Milvus migrans).

The original meaning of the Hebrew name da·ʼahʹ is uncertain, but it is suggested that it indicates a “swooping or darting flight,” as in the expression “he came darting [from Heb. da·ʼahʹ] upon the wings of a spirit” (Ps. 18:10), and in references to the ‘pouncing’ of the eagle. (Deut 28:49; Jer. 48:40; 49:22) The name thus points to a bird of prey, and Koehler and Baumgartner (Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, p. 198) suggest the red kite (Milvus milvus).

The kite is of the same family as the hawks and falcons and is described as a slender-bodied hawk. A medium-sized bird measuring about twenty-three inches (c. 58 centimeters) in length, the kite has a wingspread of some three feet (1 meter). Its gliding flight is remarkably graceful and effortless and the bird uses its distinctive long forked tail as a rudder to steer through its wheeling and swooping aerial maneuvers.

Though feeding on small rodents and reptiles, the kite as found in the East is a scavenger, often congregating around villages or cities, where the birds attack any offal or carcasses available. Though it has the characteristic hooked beak of the bird of prey, the kite’s talons do not have the power of the eagle’s or falcon’s but are comparatively weak, like those of the carrion-eating vulture. Job uses the black kite as an example of superior sharp-sightedness, while showing that man’s ingenuity and search for wealth leads him into underground paths that even the farseeing birds of prey cannot see.—Job 28:7.

The black kite arrives in Palestine in March, having spent the winter in Africa. It is very common in Egypt and may well have been one of the birds Joseph foretold would eat the dead body of Pharaoh’s executed chief baker. (Gen. 40:19) It is represented in Egyptian paintings and even appears among the hieroglyphic characters. During their season in Palestine the black kites range the country in large numbers, building their nests in the forks of trees, or on the ledges of city buildings, often including strips of cloth in the nest-building materials.

The red kite, which is found in Palestine even during the winter months, is a reddish-brown bird, barred with black, with a grayish-white head. In England, where the bird also migrates, the name “glede” was applied to it due to its gliding flight. The paper kite used by young boys in play also derives its English name from these soaring birds.

[Picture on page 1010]

Red kite, with long forked tail and hooked beak

KITRON

(Kitʹron).

A city from which the Zebulunites failed to expel the Canaanite inhabitants. (Judg. 1:30) Kitron is identified by some geographers with Tell el-Far, about seven miles (11 kilometers)