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What does "Raven" mean in the Bible?

Under this term are evidently included the various birds of the crow family, some eight or more species of which are found in Palestine. Raven appears in 6 verses across 6 books of the Bible.

Brown-necked raven (Corvus ruficollis) in flight (Israel)
Brown-necked raven (Corvus ruficollis) in flight (Israel) · © Greg Schechter from San Francisco, USA (Brown-necked raven), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What does the Bible say about Raven?

RA'VEN (black). Song 6:11. Under this term are evidently included the various birds of the crow family, some eight or more species of which are found in Palestine. The raven, like most of its congeners, feeds principally on carrion. It resembles our crow in size, shape, and color, and is ceremonially unclean. Lev 11:15. When about to feed upon a dead body, it is said to seize first upon the eyes. Hence the allusion, Prov 30:17, implying the exposure of the body in the open field, than which nothing was regarded as more disgraceful. See Burial. Ravens live in desolate regions, Isa 34:11, and it is only by restless flight over large areas that they are able to obtain even an uncertain living. Job 38:41; Ps 147:9; Luke 12:24. But Raven. (Corvus Corax. After Houghton.) they do not, as has been believed, turn their young from the nest before they are able to supply themselves with food. Whether the raven sent out of the ark by Noah ever returned to him is not agreed: according to the literal reading of the Hebrew, also of the Samaritan text, and the Chaldee, it did; but a different opinion is supported by the LXX., the Syriac, the Latin, and most of the Fathers. Gen 8:7. There is no reason for questioning the simple statements of 1 Kgs 17:4-7 concerning the miraculous feeding of Elijah at the brook Cherith by these birds.

Definition text: Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible · 1898. Public domain.

Compiled by Protos: the verse list on this page. Where one name belongs to more than one person or place, each of them gets a separate entry.

What is the Hebrew word for Raven?

Hebrew · H6158

עֹרֵב

o.rev

raven

TBESH, STEPBible, licensed CC BY 4.0.

Where does Raven appear in the Bible?

Raven is referenced in 6 verses across 6 books. Every passage below is about this one, not just every verse the word turns up in.

What else appears in these passages?

These turn up in the same passages as Raven.

Common questions

How many times does the Bible mention Raven?

Raven appears in 6 verses across 6 books, most often in Deuteronomy, which accounts for 1 of them.

Which books of the Bible mention Raven?

Deuteronomy, Genesis, Isaiah, Job, Leviticus, Song of Songs.

Where can I read every verse about Raven?

This page lists 6 of them. Protos carries all 6, and opens this entry on the verse you are reading rather than in a separate tab.

Read it in context

Read Deuteronomy with "Raven" explained on the verse.

Tap any name, place, or word you do not recognize and the background opens on the verse you are reading. No second tab, no search, no losing your place.

The Protos reader open on Genesis 1 with the How to Read Genesis background sheet raised over it

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