עורב ויונה

מאת: אבנר רמו

In the Book of Isaiah we find the expression: כצפרים עפות - “As birds flying” (Is 31:5; see also: Deu 4:17; Hab 1:8; Pro 26:2). In the Book of Genesis we read: ועוף יעופף על-הארץ - “and let fowl fly above the earth” (Gen 1:20). We also read in the Book of Genesis about two types of birds that flew out of Noah’s ark: ערב (o’rev) - “raven” (Gen 8:7) and יונה (yonah) - “dove” (Gen 8:8).

Now we read in the Book of Isaiah: מי-אלה כעב תעופינה; וכיונים, אל-ארבתיהם - “Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their cotes?” (Is 60:8).

If the English translation is correct then this is the only biblical verse that describes the movement of clouds as “flying.” Furthermore, we would then expect that the movement of cloud would be compared to that of birds in general and not to the particular flight of doves. The association between the raven and the dove in the narrative about Noah’s ark suggests that in verse Is 60:8 עב (u’v) is a letter-deletion error of ערב (o’rev) - “raven.”