of · bird

What it means

of (עוֹף) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “bird”.

Any creature that flies. It is usually singular with a collective sense: "the birds".

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. The animals with wings and feathers that fly through the sky: doves, eagles, ravens.
2. A small winged creature, like the locust, which the law classifies apart.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Bird; in a broad sense, every creature that flies, also winged insects. It usually goes in the singular with a collective sense. It comes from the verb עוּף (fly).

• Birds in the creation Genesis 1:20Genesis 1:21Genesis 1:26
• Birds in the ark Genesis 7:14Genesis 8:17
• Birds for the burnt offering Leviticus 1:14Genesis 8:20
• Winged insects in the food laws Leviticus 11:20Leviticus 11:23
• Being food for the birds: punishment Jeremiah 7:331 Samuel 17:44

Historical and cultural background

The law allowed a burnt offering “from the birds”: “from the turtledoves or from the young pigeons” (Leviticus 1:14).

How we translate it

“Birds” 51 times and “bird” 16. In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, when the Hebrew speaks of the swarming winged creatures (שֶׁרֶץ הָעוֹף), it is translated “winged insect”, so that it is clear which animals the law means (Leviticus 11:20).

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• birds ×51
• bird ×16
• winged ×2
• winged insect ×2

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×22
• Leviticus×10
• Deuteronomy×3
• 1 Samuel×2
• 2 Samuel×1
• 1 Kings×4
• Job×3
• Psalms×4
• Ecclesiastes×1
• Isaiah×1
• Jeremiah×9
• Ezekiel×6
• Hosea×4
• Zephaniah×1

• Genesis 1:20

  And Elohim said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living beings, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the vault of the heavens.”

• Genesis 1:21

  And Elohim created the great sea monsters and every living being that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good.

• Genesis 1:22

  And Elohim blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”

• Genesis 1:26

  And Elohim said, “Let us make the human being in our image, according to our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

• Genesis 1:28

  And Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every animal that creeps on the earth.”

• Genesis 1:30

  And to every animal of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that creeps on the earth, that has life, I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

• Genesis 2:19

  And YHWH Elohim formed from the ground every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called it, as a living being, that was its name.

• Genesis 2:20

  And the man gave names to all the livestock and to the birds of the sky and to every animal of the field; but for Adam there was not found a helper corresponding to him.

• Genesis 6:7

  And YHWH said, “I will wipe out the human being whom I have created from the face of the ground, from human being to livestock, to creeping things and to the birds of the sky, for I am sorry that I made them.”

• Genesis 6:20

  Of the birds according to their kind, and of the livestock according to their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind will come to you to be kept alive.

• Genesis 7:3

  also of the birds of the sky seven and seven, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

• Genesis 7:8

  Of the clean animals and of the animals that are not clean, and of the birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground,

• Genesis 7:14

  they, and every animal according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every bird, every winged creature.

• Genesis 7:21

  And all flesh that moved on the earth perished: birds, livestock, animals, and all the swarming things that swarm on the earth, and all human beings.

• Genesis 7:23

  And he wiped out all that existed that was on the face of the ground, from human being to livestock, to creeping things and to the birds of the sky; and they were wiped out from the earth. And only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.

• Genesis 8:17

  Every animal that is with you, of all flesh, birds and livestock and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, bring out with you, and let them swarm on the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

• Genesis 8:19

  Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, by their families went out of the ark.

• Genesis 8:20

  And Noah built an altar to YHWH, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

• Genesis 9:2

  And the fear and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth and on every bird of the sky, on everything that creeps on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are given.

• Genesis 9:10

  and with every living being that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that came out of the ark, to every animal of the earth.

• Genesis 40:17

  In the top basket there was every kind of food for Pharaoh, the work of a baker, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

• Genesis 40:19

  Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head from upon you and hang you on a pole, and the birds will eat your flesh from upon you.”

• Leviticus 1:14

  And if his offering to YHWH is a burnt offering from the birds, he shall present his offering from the turtledoves or from the young pigeons.

• Leviticus 7:26

  And you shall not eat any blood, whether of bird or of beast, in any of your dwellings.

• Leviticus 11:13

  And these you shall hold detestable among the birds; they shall not be eaten; they are a detestable thing: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the sea eagle,

• Leviticus 11:20

  Every winged insect that walks on all fours, it shall be a detestable thing for you.

• Leviticus 11:21

  But these you may eat of all the winged insects that walk on all fours: those that have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth.

• Leviticus 11:23

  But every other winged insect that has four feet, it shall be a detestable thing for you.

• Leviticus 11:46

  This is the instruction for the beasts, and the birds, and every living being that moves in the waters, and for every being that swarms on the earth,

• Leviticus 17:13

  And any man of the sons of Israel or of the resident aliens who reside among them, who hunts game, an animal or a bird that may be eaten, shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust.

• Leviticus 20:25

  So you shall separate between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean.

• Deuteronomy 14:19

  And every winged swarming thing is unclean for you; they shall not be eaten.

• Deuteronomy 14:20

  Every clean bird you may eat.

• Deuteronomy 28:26

  And your carcass will be food for all the birds of the heavens and for the animals of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.

• 1 Samuel 17:44

  The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and to the beasts of the field.”

• 1 Samuel 17:46

  This day YHWH will hand you over into my hand, and I will strike you and remove your head from you; and I will give the corpses of the camp of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and to the animals of the earth, and all the earth will know that Israel has Elohim.

• 2 Samuel 21:10

  Rizpah daughter of Aiah took the sackcloth and spread it for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water poured on them from the heavens; and she did not allow the birds of the heavens to settle on them by day, or the animals of the field by night.

• 1 Kings 4:33

  And he spoke of the trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that comes out in the wall; and he spoke of the beasts, and of the birds, and of the creeping things, and of the fish.

• 1 Kings 14:11

  Whoever of Jeroboam’s house dies in the city, the dogs will eat; and whoever dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat; for YHWH has spoken.’

• 1 Kings 16:4

  Whoever of Baasha’s house dies in the city, the dogs will eat; and whoever of his dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.”

And 31 more times.