Topic
Feathers
3 passages cited, from 1 classic reference work.
These works date from 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 They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently.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.
- Job 39:13ISBE
Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?
- Psalms 91:4ISBE
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
- Daniel 4:33ISBE
The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.
In the reference works
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 3 references
feth'-erz (notsah; Latin penna): "Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings (the Revised Version (British and American) "pinions") and feathers (the American Standard Revised Version "plumage") unto the ostrich?" (Job 39:13 the King James Version); "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler" (Ps 91:4 the King James Version). In the Revised Version (British and American) this is again changed to pinions. in Da 4:33 the word "feathers" is left. The wonderful plumage of birds was noted and prized in those days, just as now. Old ostriches were too tough and rank of flesh for food. They were pursued for their feathers, which were used for the headdressing and shield ornaments of desert princes. No one doubts that the ships of Solomon introduced peacocks because of their wonderful feathers. Those of the eagle were held in superstitious reverence as late as the days of Pliny, who was ten years old at the time of the crucifixion of Christ. Pliny wrote that the eagle was so powerful that if its feathers be laid in a box with those of other birds, the eagle feathers would "devour and consume all the rest."
Gene Stratton-Porter
Texts: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.