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Hebrew Word of the Day

עוֹרֵב

Meaning: Raven, crow

Translit: o•rev

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Another biblical bird that is also an unusual first name of a man is ‘orev,’ raven. You can hear how similar the sound ‘orev’ is to the English name ‘raven.’

This bird has a spooky connotation not only in Walt Disney fairy tales and in typical Hollywood horror movies, but also in the Isaiah’s prophecies. Look how well the raven fits in this description of doomed desolation:

“And its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone, and its land shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; its smoke shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall lie ruined; none shall pass through it forever and ever. But the wild birds of the night shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it; and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness”

Isaiah 34:9-11

The raven, however, also has a very positive use in the Bible, which we learn in the story of Elijah while in hiding:

“And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank of the brook”

I Kings 17:6

In regard to the other name of the raven, ‘crow,’ this too earned its name from the Bible—this time because of the sound it makes. The ‘crow cries’ comes from the Hebrew verb ‘kara’ (stay with the sounds of the verbs and ignore the letters). ‘Kara’ is ‘cry’ when it relates to a crow. This verb, as it appears in the Bible, leaves no room for mistake as to the source of the name crow:

“He gives to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry”

Psalms 147:9

Now read out loud the transliteration of this verse: ‘no•ten liv•he•ma lach•ma, liv•ney o•rev a•sher yi•crow.’ You see, ‘cry’ in Hebrew is: yi•crow. (will cry, future tense plural, as it is in this verse). You can also transliterate it as ‘yik•ra•oo,’ but as always with Hebrew phonetics or transliteration, the letters are not as important as the sound. And the sound here is identical to the English word ‘crow.’

The raven in the New Testament:

“Consider the ravens: they don’t sow, they don’t reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds!”

Luke 12:24

Another biblical bird that is also an unusual first name of a man is ‘orev,’ raven. You can hear how similar the sound ‘orev’ is to the English name ‘raven.’

This bird has a spooky connotation not only in Walt Disney fairy tales and in typical Hollywood horror movies, but also in the Isaiah’s prophecies. Look how well the raven fits in this description of doomed desolation:

“And its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone, and its land shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; its smoke shall go up forever; from generation to generation it shall lie ruined; none shall pass through it forever and ever. But the wild birds of the night shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it; and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness”

Isaiah 34:9-11

The raven, however, also has a very positive use in the Bible, which we learn in the story of Elijah while in hiding:

“And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank of the brook”

I Kings 17:6

In regard to the other name of the raven, ‘crow,’ this too earned its name from the Bible—this time because of the sound it makes. The ‘crow cries’ comes from the Hebrew verb ‘kara’ (stay with the sounds of the verbs and ignore the letters). ‘Kara’ is ‘cry’ when it relates to a crow. This verb, as it appears in the Bible, leaves no room for mistake as to the source of the name crow:

“He gives to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry”

Psalms 147:9

Now read out loud the transliteration of this verse: ‘no•ten liv•he•ma lach•ma, liv•ney o•rev a•sher yi•crow.’ You see, ‘cry’ in Hebrew is: yi•crow. (will cry, future tense plural, as it is in this verse). You can also transliterate it as ‘yik•ra•oo,’ but as always with Hebrew phonetics or transliteration, the letters are not as important as the sound. And the sound here is identical to the English word ‘crow.’

The raven in the New Testament:

“Consider the ravens: they don’t sow, they don’t reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds!”

Luke 12:24