Lapwing

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Dukiphath , related to the Coptic Kukusha . Rather the hoopoe ( Leviticus 11:19;  Deuteronomy 14:18). Its cry or whoop gives its name. The Arabs superstitiously reverence it, and call it "the doctor" as if possessing therapeutic qualities. Its head is used in magical spells. The Bedouins believe it to be inhabited by departed spirits. The Hebrew perhaps means double-crested; the hoopoe has two parallel rows of elevated feathers arranged laterally. Its imposing crest and beak, and its curious way of bending until the beak touches the ground, while it raises and depresses the crest, led to the Arab supposition of its power to point out hidden wells beneath; from whence arose its Greek name Epops) , "the inspector." Its unclean habits, searching for worms and insects in dunghills, and the superstition with which the pagan regarded it, led to the Mosaic ranking of it among unclean birds.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

דוביפת ,  Leviticus 11:19;  Deuteronomy 14:18 . The bird intended by the Hebrew name in these places is undoubtedly the hoopoe; a very beautiful, but most unclean and filthy, species of birds. The Septuagint renders it εποπα ; and the Vulgate, upupa; which is the same with the Arabian interpreters. The Egyptian name of the bird is kukuphah; and the Syrian, kikuphah, which approach the Hebrew dukiphath, it may have its name from the noise or cry it makes, which is very remarkable, and may be heard a great way.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Lapwing. (Hebrew, duciphath ) occurs only in  Leviticus 11:19, and in the parallel passage of  Deuteronomy 14:18, amongst the list of those birds which were forbidden by the law of Moses to be eaten by the Israelites. Commentators generally agree that the Hoopoe is the bird intended. The hoopoe is an occasional visitor to England, arriving for the most part in the autumn. Its crest is very elegant; each of the long feathers forming it is tipped with black.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

dukiphath. This is generally supposed to refer to the Hoopoe, which rendering the R.V. has adopted. It is judged to be the Upupa epops. It feeds upon all sorts of insects, and its nest has a very unpleasant smell, either of which facts would be a sufficient reason for its being classed among the unclean birds.  Leviticus 11:19;  Deuteronomy 14:18 . It has a conspicuous crest on its head, which it seems proud of displaying.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Supposed to mean the hoopoe, a beautiful migratory bird of filthy habits and a loud, hoarse voice; pronounced unclean by Moses,  Leviticus 11:19 . It is about the size of a thrush; its beak is long, black, thin and a little hooked; its legs gray and short. On its head is a tuft of feathers of different colors, which it raises or lowers as it pleases. Its neck and breast are somewhat reddish, and its wings and tail black, with white streaks.

Webster's Dictionary

(n.) A small European bird of the Plover family (Vanellus cristatus, or V. vanellus). It has long and broad wings, and is noted for its rapid, irregular fight, upwards, downwards, and in circles. Its back is coppery or greenish bronze. Its eggs are the "plover's eggs" of the London market, esteemed a delicacy. It is called also peewit, dastard plover, and wype. The gray lapwing is the Squatarola cinerea.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Lapwing. Occurs only in A. V. of  Leviticus 11:19, R. V. Hoopoe, and in the parallel passage of  Deuteronomy 14:18, amongst the list of those birds which were forbidden by the law of Moses to be eaten by the Israelites. Probably the hoopoe is intended, a bird about the size of a pigeon.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Leviticus 11:19  Deuteronomy 14:18 Dukiphath

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Leviticus 11:19 Deuteronomy 14:18

King James Dictionary

LAP'WING, n. A bird of the genus Tringa the tewit.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Lapwing . See Hoopoe.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Fig. 240—Hoopee

The original word thus rendered in our version has been surmised to mean 'double-crest;' and is supposed on good grounds to mean the hoopoe, rather than the lapwing.

The hoopoe is not uncommon in Palestine at this day, and was from remote ages a bird of mystery. The summit of the augural rod is said to have been carved in the form of a hoopoe's head; and one of the kind is still used by Indian gosseins, and even Armenian bishops, attention being no doubt drawn to the bird by its peculiarly arranged black and white bars upon a delicate vinous fawn-color, and further embellished with a beautiful fan-shaped crest of the same color, tipped with white and black. Its appellations in all languages appear to be either imitations of the bird's voice or indications of its filthy habits; which, however, modern ornithologists deny, or do not notice. In Egypt these birds are numerous; forming, probably, two species, the one permanently resident about human habitations, the other migratory, and the same that visits Europe. The latter wades in the mud when the Nile has subsided, and seeks for worms and insects; and the former is known to rear its young so much immersed in the shards and fragments of beetles, etc. as to cause a disagreeable smell about its nest, which is always in holes or in hollow trees. Though an unclean bird in the Hebrew law, the common migratory hoopoe is eaten in Egypt, and sometimes also in Italy; but the stationary species is considered inedible. It is unnecessary to give further description of a bird so well known as the hoopoe, which, though not common, is nevertheless an annual visitant of England, arriving soon after the cuckoo.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

lap´wing ( דּוּכיפת , dūkhı̄phath  ; ἔποψ , épops ): A translation used in early Vss , now universally admitted to be incorrect. The lapwing had a crest, and resembled in size and color the hoopoe ( Upupa epops ). It appears in the lists of abominations only (  Leviticus 11:19 the King James Version and   Deuteronomy 14:18 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) Hoopoe , which see). The lapwing is a plover, and its flesh and eggs are delicious food.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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