Pelican
A friend of mind has pointed out to me that my list of birds in the bible is missing a species, the pelican! It is true that the Pelican does appear in some translations of the bible. Particularly the King James Authorised Version. Where there are three references. Although other translations have Screech Owl, or Cormorant instead. Also there is a footnote to Zephaniah 2:14 which suggests that cormorant could be translated as Pelican here as well. This is very confusing to me and just reinforces the view that the bible translators have had a very difficult time dealing with the birds!
Interesting point Chris, i’ve felt for a long time that some of the biological translations were, well not sloppy but lacking in biological cross referencing. Take the KJV v the NIV: bittern (!) and cormorant v Barn (Screech) and Desert (Pharoah) Eagle Owl! Given that the passage is about a ruin, it’s not rocket science but biological science to work out which is correct! (the NIV!)
Cheers,
Mike.
Comment by Mike — January 27, 2010 @ 3:21 am |