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Topic

Swan

2 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 They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently.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.

Leviticus 11:18Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave Forbidden as food
And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle,
Deuteronomy 14:16Easton · Smith · ISBE · Nave Forbidden as food
The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan,

In the reference works

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 2 references

Mentioned in the list of unclean birds (Lev. 11:18; Deut. 14:16), is sometimes met with in the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee.

Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 2 references

(Heb. tinshemeth), thus rendered by the Authorized Version in (Leviticus 11:18; 14:16) where it occurs in the list of unclean birds Rut either of the renderings "porphyrio" (purple water-hen) and "ibis" is more probable. Neither of these birds occurs elsewhere in the catalogue; both would be familiar to residents in Egypt, and the original seems to point to some water-fowl. The purple water-hen is allied to our corn-crake and water-hen, and is the largest and most beautiful of the family Rallidae . It frequents marshes and the sedge by the banks of rivers in all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean and is abundant in lower Egypt.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 2 references

swon (tinshemeth, "chameleon," "tree-toad," "water-hen," "owl"; kuknos; Latin cygnus; Anglo-Saxon: swan and swon): Mentioned only in old versions and the Revised Version margin in Le 11:18: "the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle," and in De 14:16 Septuagint porphurion = "water-hen"; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) ibis). In the Revised Version (British and American) this is rightly changed to "the horned owl, and the pelican, and the vulture." A bird of the duck family wrongly placed among the abominations in old versions of the Bible, now changed to horned owl.

White and gray swans spend their winter migratory season on the waters of the Holy Land. They are among the most ancient birds of history; always have been used for food; when young and tender, of fine flesh and delicious flavor; so there is no possibility that they were ever rightfully placed among the birds unsuitable for food. Their feeding habits are aquatic, their food in no way objectionable.

Gene Stratton-Porter

In the topical indexes

Nave's Topical Bible (1896) · 2 references, grouped by sub-topic

→ Forbidden as food Le 11:18; De 14:16

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.

Swan

The verses

In the reference works

In the topical indexes

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