Topic
Cage
8 passages cited, from 4 classic reference works.
These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Jeremiah 5:27Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave For birds, unclean
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
- Revelation 18:2Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave For birds, unclean
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
- Job 41:5ISBE
Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
- Amos 8:1Easton
Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
- Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 11:30ISBE
Like as a partridge taken and kept in a cage, so is the heart of the proud; and like as a spy, watcheth he for thy fall:
- Matthew 10:29ISBE
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
- Matthew 21:12ISBE
¶ And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
- James 3:7ISBE
For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 3 references
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 2 references
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 7 references
kaj (kelubh; phulake): The earliest known form of cage made to confine a bird, for the pleasure of its song or the beauty of its coloring, was a crude affair of willows or other pliable twigs. Later cages were made of pottery, and now they are mostly made of wire. References in the Bible make it very clear that people were accustomed to confine in cages such birds as they especially prized for pets, or to detain them for market purposes. James indicated that cages were common when he wrote (Jam 3:7): "For every kind of beasts and birds .... is tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind." In Job (Job 41:5) we find these lines "Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?" The only way to play with a bird is to confine it so that it grows accustomed to you and thus loses fear. Jeremiah compared the civil state of Judah to a "cage (crate) full of birds" (Jer 5:27), "the houses of the rich being stuffed with craftily-obtained wealth and articles of luxury" (HDB). The sale of sparrows as an article of food still continues in the eastern markets. Jesus referred to this (Mt 10:29) and it was He who entered the temple and overthrew "the seats of them that sold the doves" (Mt 21:12). In Re 18:2 we find a reference to "a hold (the King James Version "cage") of every unclean and hateful bird." See also Ecclesiasticus 11:30.
Gene Stratton-Porter
In the topical indexes
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.