Cormorant

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

שלכּ? ,  Leviticus 11:17;  Deuteronomy 14:17; a large sea bird. It is about three feet four inches in length, and four feet two inches in breadth from the tips of the extended wings. The bill is about five inches long, and of a dusky colour; the base of the lower mandible is covered with a naked yellowish skin, which extends under the throat and forms a kind of pouch. It has a most voracious appetite, and lives chiefly upon fish, which it devours with unceasing gluttony. It darts down very rapidly upon its prey; and the Hebrew, and the Greek name, καταρακτης , [a cataract,] are expressive of its impetuosity. The word קאת , which in our version of  Isaiah 34:11 , is rendered cormorant, is the pelican.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

The Ρelicanus Bassanus , of the family Colymbidoe , order Νatatores . Hebrew Shalak , i.e. "the diver", from a root "to cast down" itself, or plunge after its prey. Unclean ( Leviticus 11:17;  Deuteronomy 14:17). Septuagint Katarraktes , which Speaker's Commentary makes the "cormorant," Ρhalacrocorax Crabo , often seen in Syria, and occasionally at the sea of Galilee; this the Appendix to Smith's Dict. contradicts. But for "cormorant" in  Isaiah 34:11;  Zephaniah 2:14, translated "pelican," Hebrew Qa'Ath .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Cormorant. The representative, in the Authorized Version, of the Hebrew words, kaath and shalac . As to the former, See Pelican , Shalac occurs only as the name of an unclean bird in  Leviticus 11:17;  Deuteronomy 14:17. The word has been variously rendered. The etymology points to some plunging bird. The common cormorant, ( phalacrocorax carbo ), which some writers have identified with the shalac , is unknown in the eastern Mediterranean; another species is found south of the Red Sea, but none on the west coast of Palestine.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Leviticus 11:17 Deuteronomy 14:17

In  Isaiah 34:11 ,  Zephaniah 2:14 (but in RSV, "pelican") the Hebrew word rendered by this name is Ka'ath . It is translated "pelican" (q.v.) in   Psalm 102:6 . The word literally means the "vomiter," and the pelican is so called from its vomiting the shells and other things which it has voraciously swallowed. (See Pelican .)

King James Dictionary

CORMORANT, n. Cormorant is supposed to be corrupted from corvus marinus, sea raven. The Welsh also call the fowl morvran, sea crow.

1. The water raven, a large fowl of the pelican kind the head and neck are black the coverts of the wings, the scapulars and the back are of a deep green, edged with black and glossed with blue. The base of the lower mandible is covered with a naked yellow skin, which extends under the chin and forms a sort of pouch. This fowl occupies the cliffs by the sea, feeds on fish, and is extremely voracious. 2. A glutton.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

CORMORANT (  Leviticus 11:17 ,   Deuteronomy 14:17 , shâlâk ). The shâlâk , as the meaning of the word implies, was some kind of plunging bird. Two varieties of cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo and P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] . pygmÅ“us , occur in Palestine both on the sea coasts and on inland waters, e.g. the Dead Sea. It was an ‘unclean’ bird. See also Pelican.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

In  Isaiah 34:11 and   Zephaniah 2:14 the Hebrew is qaath, and signifies PELICAN, q.v. In  Leviticus 11:17 and   Deuteronomy 14:17 the Hebrew word is shalak, and is rightly translated Cormorant, a large bird that lives upon fish. It dashes down upon its prey, and can follow it in the water or dive after it if it descends. It is only mentioned in scripture as an unclean bird.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Cormorant, The Plunger,  Leviticus 11:17;  Deuteronomy 14:17, an unclean bird, like the cormorant—which is a water-bird about the size of a goose. Another Hebrew word, translated "cormorant" in  Isaiah 34:11;  Zephaniah 2:14, A. V., should rather be translated as it is in the R. V., and in other passages of the A. V., "pelican."

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A water bird about the size of a goose. It lives on fish, which it catches with great dexterity; and is so voracious and greedy, that its name has passed into a kind of proverbial use. The Hebrew word translated "cormorant" in  Isaiah 34:11   Zephaniah 2:14 , should rather be translated, as it is in other passages, "pelican,"  Leviticus 11:17 .

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) Any species of Phalacrocorax, a genus of sea birds having a sac under the beak; the shag. Cormorants devour fish voraciously, and have become the emblem of gluttony. They are generally black, and hence are called sea ravens, and coalgeese.

(2): (n.) A voracious eater; a glutton, or gluttonous servant.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Leviticus 11:17 Deuteronomy 14:17Birds

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Fig. 136—Caspian Tern

Cormorant (Hebrew Salach) occurs; . The name is considered to have reference to darting, rushing, or stooping like a falcon. Nothing is known of it but that it was an unclean bird. Cuvier considers Gesner to be right in considering it to denote a gull, and it might certainly be applied with propriety to the black-backed gull; but although birds of such powerful wing and marine habitat are spread over a great part of the world, it does not appear that, if known at the extremity of the Mediterranean, they were sufficiently common to have been clearly indicated by either the Hebrew or Greek names, or to have merited being noticed in the Mosaic prohibition. Both the above are in general northern residents, being rarely seen even so low as the Bay of Biscay. With regard to the cormorant, birds of that genus are no doubt found on the coasts of Palestine, where high cliffs extend to the sea-shore; but all the species dive, and none of them rush flying upon their prey. We therefore conclude the salach to have been a species of 'tern,' considered to be identical with the 'Sterna Caspica,' so called because it is found about the Caspian Sea; but it is equally common to the Polar, Baltic, and Black Seas, and if truly the same, is not only abundant for several months in the year on the coast of Palestine, but frequents the lakes and pools far inland; flying across the deserts to the Euphrates, and to the Persian and Red Seas, and proceeding up the Nile. It is the largest of the tern or sea-swallow genus, being about the weight of a pigeon, and near two feet in length, having a large black naped head; powerful, pointed crimson bill; a white and grey body, with forked tail, and wings greatly exceeding the tips of the tail: the feet are very small, weak, and but slightly webbed, so that it swims perhaps only accidentally, but with sufficient power on land to spring up and to rise from level ground. It flies with immense velocity, darting along the surface of the sea to snap at mollusca or small fishes, or wheeling through the air in pursuit of insects; and in calm weather, after rising to a great height, it drops perpendicularly down to near the surface of the water, but never alights except on land; and it is at all times disposed to utter a kind of laughing scream. This tern nestles in high cliffs, sometimes at a very considerable distance from the sea. We figure one that was shot among a flight of these birds, some distance up the river Orontes.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kôr´mō̇ - rant ( שׁלך , shālākh  ; καταράκτης , kataráktēs  ; Latin Corvus marinus ): A large sea-fowl belonging to the genus Phalacrocorax and well described by the Hebrew word used to designate it - which means a "plunging bird." The bird appears as large as a goose when in full feather, but plucked, the body is much smaller. The adult birds are glossy black with bronze tints, touched with white on the cheeks and sides as a festal dress at mating season, and adorned with filamentary feathers on the head, and bright yellow gape. These birds if taken young and carefully trained can be sent into the water from boats and bring to their masters large quantities of good-sized fish: commonly so used in China. The flesh is dark, tough and quite unfit to eat in the elders on account of their diet of fish. The nest is built mostly of seaweed. The eggs are small for the size of the birds, having a rough, thick, but rather soft shell of a bluish white which soon becomes soiled, as well as the nest and its immediate surroundings, from the habits of the birds. The young are leathery black, then covered with soft down of brownish black above and white beneath and taking on the full black of the grown bird at about three years. If taken in the squab state the young are said to be delicious food, resembling baked hare in flavor. The old birds are mentioned among the abominations for food (  Leviticus 11:13-19;  Deuteronomy 14:12-18 ).

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Cormorant'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/c/cormorant.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.