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Summary
- Most modern English Bibles, including the English Standard Version and the New International Version, mention the falcon; the King James Version never does.
- The falcon appears among the unclean birds of Leviticus 11:13–19 and Deuteronomy 14:12–18 and in Job 28:7, where even “the falcon’s eye” has not seen the path to wisdom.
- The Hebrew word usually translated “falcon,” ayyah, is defined by the Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon as “hawk, falcon, kite,” and the King James Version renders it “kite” or “vulture.”
- Translators’ notes say the identity of many of the birds in these lists is uncertain.
- Christian art gave the falcon two meanings: the wild falcon stood for evil, the domestic falcon for the holy man or the converted Gentile.
- Scripture forbids interpreting omens (Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:10–12), and the Catechism of the Catholic Church rejects all divination (2116).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version (Leviticus 11:14, 44; 19:26; Deuteronomy 14:13; 18:10–12; Job 28:7, 12, 23; 39:26), with the King James Version, New International Version, New American Standard Bible, New Living Translation, Christian Standard Bible and New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition for Leviticus 11:13–19, Deuteronomy 14:12–18, Job 28:7 and Isaiah 34:15, and the translation notes of the ESV, NIV and NRSVUE. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+11%3A13-19&version=ESV
- Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew lexicon and Strong’s concordance, ayyah (H344), da’ah (H1676), dayyah (H1772) and nets (H5322), via Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h344/kjv/wlc/0-1/ ; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1676/kjv/wlc/0-1/ ; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1772/kjv/wlc/0-1/ ; https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h5322/kjv/wlc/0-1/
- George Ferguson, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art (New York: Oxford University Press, 1954), “Falcon.” https://archive.org/details/george-ferguson-signs-and-symbols-in-christian-art-1954
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2116. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7E.HTM
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