Scholars have labored to determine the exact meaning of Hebrew words by comparing them with those of related languages, such as Arabic. Thus the Hebrew word sis is thought to identify the swift, since that bird is still called sis in Arabic. (Jer. 8:7) Additionally, names of birds and beasts in the Bible may be onomatopoeic (imitating the sound the creature makes, just as “cluck,” “hoot,” and “quack” help to identify chickens, owls and ducks in English). The Hebrew name sis, for example, appears to fit the shrill si-si-si cry of the swift.

Future developments will undoubtedly reveal the exact meaning of such questionable (and, it might be added, relatively minor) terms. In fact, some points will no doubt be clarified only by the firsthand testimony of those who were alive when the Bible was written. The evidence will be forthcoming in God’s new order, when ancient Hebrews and other peoples come back from the dead in the promised resurrection of the “righteous and the unrighteous.”​—Acts 24:15; John 5:28, 29.