צפור, Gen. vii, 14, and afterward frequently; ϛρουθίον, Matt.
x, 29; Luke xii, 6, 7; a little bird every where known. The Hebrew word
is used not only for a sparrow, but for all sorts of clean birds, or for
those the use of which was not forbidden by the law. That the sparrow is
not intended in Psalm cii, 7, is evident from several circumstances; for
that is intimated to be a bird of night, one that is both solitary and
mournful; none of which characteristics is applicable to the sparrow,
which rests by night, is gregarious and cheerful. It seems rather to
mean a bird melancholy and drooping, much like one confined in a cage.
See SWALLOW.
x, 29; Luke xii, 6, 7; a little bird every where known. The Hebrew word
is used not only for a sparrow, but for all sorts of clean birds, or for
those the use of which was not forbidden by the law. That the sparrow is
not intended in Psalm cii, 7, is evident from several circumstances; for
that is intimated to be a bird of night, one that is both solitary and
mournful; none of which characteristics is applicable to the sparrow,
which rests by night, is gregarious and cheerful. It seems rather to
mean a bird melancholy and drooping, much like one confined in a cage.
See SWALLOW.