Bible animals

by J. G. Wood

The name Nisroch, by the way, is evidently the same word as nesher, and bears even closer resemblance to the Arabic niss'r. This bird was also the war standard of Assyria, just as the eagle is that of France, and the metaphors used by Habbakuk and Jeremiah had therefore a doubly forcible sense.

We find the same bird employed as a visible emblem of Divine omnipresence and omniscience in the visions seen by Ezekiel and St. John: "And every one had four faces; the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle" (Ezek. x. 14). Then, in the Revelation, chap. iv. ver. 6, 7, is the account of a vision of very similar character: "In the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

THE VULTURE, OR EAGLE OF SCRIPTURE.

"Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together."—Matt. xxiv 28.

"And the first beast was like a lion, and the second was like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle."

From these passages we shall see that the Griffon Vulture was not held by the Scriptural writers in the contempt with which we are apt to regard it. Not having any Vultures resident in our country, for the simple reason that there is not enough carrion in the whole of England to feed a single Vulture for a month, we have no practical knowledge of them, and are apt to confound, under the common title of Vulture, birds of most dissimilar aspect. Some of them, especially those which inhabit the West Indies, are mean-looking, slouching, sneaking, obscene birds, which, even when brought to this country, and nourished on fresh meat, cannot be regarded without inspiring a feeling of disgust.

But there are others which are really grand and noble birds, which excite admiration instead of disgust, and one of the chief among these is the Griffon Vulture. Scavenger though it be, it is not disgusting in its habits, and may even be called a cleanly bird. It is intelligent, after its way, and is quite as susceptible of human teaching as the falcon or the cormorant. It is not quarrelsome, and, even when feeding, does not try to drive away its neighbour, but feeds alongside of him with perfect amity and quiet.

In common with other birds of its order, the Griffon Vulture is a very long-lived bird, and even this characteristic is noticed in the well-known passage, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: ... who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's" (Ps. ciii. 1, 5).

This passage has often been absurdly misinterpreted by commentators who have not appreciated the metaphorical style of all Oriental poetry. Taking the passage in its exact literal sense, and not knowing that reference is made to the Vulture and not to the eagle, they have taken for granted that the eagle had some mode of renewing its youth, and, in fact, after becoming old, went through some process by which it shook off the decrepitude of old age, and became young again. Others, seeing that such an interpretation was both strained and far-fetched, have thought that reference was made to the annual moult of the eagle, which they fancied to be of a very severe character, the whole of the feathers being shed at once, so as to leave the bird naked and helpless, and then being restored with added strength and beauty.