Pelican

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

The pelican is classed by Moses among the unclean fowls. ( Leviticus 11:18) Notwithstanding the Psalmist seems to have had much respect to the solitary pursuit of this bird, when describing his loneliness of soul under this figure—"I am like a pelican of the wilderness." And if this psalm be considered (as I confess I feel much inclined to believe) to have more of David's Lord in it than David, there is something very stalking in the similitude of the pelican. I refer the reader to my Poor Man's Commentary, on  Psalms 102:1-28, for my thoughts concerning Jesus as the glorious person to whom the principal characters in that psalm have respect. The Hebrews distinguished the pelican by the name Kaath. It hath been a generally-received opinion, and some of the early fathers have given countenance to it, such as St. Austin, and Isidore, that the pelican feeds her young with her blood, and by sprinkling it on her young also contributes to their life. Be the fact so or not, yet certain it is that our heavenly Pelican both feeds and sprinkles his young with his blood, and is their life and their portion for ever. He saith himself, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. And whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my: blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." ( John 6:53-54) These are sweet views of Jesus! Blessed are the souls who are daily living thus upon him. Surely the pelican in this point of view becomes no unapt resemblance of Christ.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Ka'Ath . Two species exist in the Levant, Ρelican Onocratalus and Ρelican Crispus . Often found on the upper Jordan. The Hebrew name is an imitation of its harsh donkey-like braying note, as Onocratalus expresses; or from a root "to throw up," from its bringing fish back to its mouth from its large pouch beneath the beak. The origin of the fable of its feeding its young with its blood sprang from its pressing its under mandible against its breast to help it to disgorge its pouch's contents for its young, and from the red nail on the end of the upper mandible coming in contact with the breast.

"Pelican of the wilderness" alludes to its seeking uninhabited places as breeding places. Being a water bird, it could not live in a place destitute of water. But Midbar means simply "an open unenclosed land", as distinguished from a settled agricultural region. Its posture with bill resting on its breast suggests the idea of melancholy solitude ( Psalms 102:6;  Isaiah 34:11, where Ka'Ath is "pelican" not "cormorant".) After filling its pouch with fish and mollusks, it retires miles away inland to consume the contents of its pouch.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

 Leviticus 11:18 , sometimes translated cormorant,  Isaiah 34:11   Zephaniah 2:14; a voracious waterfowl, somewhat gregarious and migratory, frequenting tropical climates, and still found on the waters of Egypt and Palestine. It fully equals the swan in size, and resembles it in shape and color. Its plumage is of a grayish white, except the long feathers, which are black. Its great peculiarity is its broad, flat bill, fifteen inches long; and the pouch of the female under the bill, used for the temporary storage of food, and said to be able to hold fifteen quarts. When empty, this pouch is not seen; but when full, it presents a very singular appearance. The pelican is a dull, indolent, and melancholy bird; and its voice is harsh and dissonant,  Psalm 102:6 . Its Hebrew name is probably derived from its habit of emptying its pouch of the food stored in it, by compressing it against its breast. The young then receive their food from their mother's bill; and the current tradition that she tears her own breast to feed them with her blood, may have this origin. The pelican's bill also, terminating in a strong, curved, crimson tip and resting on the white breast might seem to be tinged with blood.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

PELICAN ( qâ’ath , prob. from root ‘to vomit’). One of the ‘unclean’ birds (  Leviticus 11:18 ,   Deuteronomy 14:17 ) inhabiting the ruins of Nineveh (  Zephaniah 2:14 , where AV [Note: Authorized Version.] has ‘ cormorant ’), and desolate Idumæa (  Isaiah 34:11 ). ‘A pelican in the wilderness’ is referred to in   Psalms 102:3 . If in these two last gâ’ath is really ‘pelican,’ It is a poetical and conventional reference, for this bird’s habitat is always near pools of water or the sea; the creature’s attitude after a plentiful gorge, when he sits with his head sunk on his breast, is supposed to suggest melancholy. In Palestine two species are known, of which the white pelican ( Pelicanus onocrotalus ) is plentiful in the more retired parts of the Jordan lakes, especially in the Huleh. It is nearly 6 feet from heak to end of tail, and is remarkable chiefly for its pouch, in which it collects fish for feeding itself and its young. The other species is P. crispus , the Dalmatian pelican.

E. W. G. Masterman.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Pelican. (Hebrew, kaath ). Pelican, sometimes translated, "cormorant," as  Isaiah 34:11;  Zephaniah 2:14, though in the margin correctly rendered, "pelican". A voracious waterbird, found most abundantly in tropical regions. It is equal to the swan in size. (It has a flat bill fifteen inches long, and the female has under the bill, a pouch capable of great distension. It is capacious enough to hold fish sufficient for the dinner of half a dozen men. The young are fed from this pouch, which is emptied of the food by pressing the pouch against the breast.

The pelican's bill has a crimson tip, and the contrast of this red tip against the white breast, probably, gave rise to the tradition that the bird tore her own breast, to feed her young with her blood. The flesh of the pelican was forbidden to the Jews.  Leviticus 11:18 - Editor). The psalmist, in comparing his pitiable condition to the pelican,  Psalms 102:6, probably, has reference to its general aspect, as it sits in apparent melancholy mood, with its bill resting on its breast.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

The Hebrew word is qaath, and this is said to be derived from a verb signifying 'to vomit.' The pelican has a peculiar habit in feeding its young that seems to have suggested this name. It goes into the sea and catches a number of fishes which it stows away in its lower beak, the under side of which is capable of being distended like a large pouch. Then it flies away inland with its burden, for which purpose it is provided with enormous wings. On the land it presses its beak against its breast, and the fish are thrown out for the young birds.

The Psalmist said, "I am like a pelican of the wilderness," which refers to the bird sitting solitary for hours as it digests its stock of fish. It was an unclean bird.  Leviticus 11:18;  Deuteronomy 14:17;  Psalm 102:6 . In two other passages the same Hebrew word is in the A.V. translated 'CORMORANT,' where it should be 'pelican.'  Isaiah 34:11;  Zephaniah 2:14 . The Pelicanus graculus and the P. crispus are known in Palestine.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

קאת ,  Leviticus 11:18;  Deuteronomy 14:17;  Psalms 102:7;  Isaiah 34:11;  Zephaniah 2:14; a very remarkable aquatic bird, of the size of a large goose. Its colour is a grayish white, except that the neck looks a little yellowish, and the middle of the back feathers are blackish. The bill is long, and hooked at the end, and has under it a lax membrane, extended to the throat, which makes a bag or sack, capable of holding a very large quantity. Feeding her young from this bag has so much the appearance of feeding them with her own blood, that it caused this fabulous opinion to be propagated, and made the pelican an emblem of paternal, as the stork had been before chosen, more justly, of filial affection. The voice of this bird is harsh and dissonant, which some say resembles that of a man grievously complaining. David compares his groaning to it,  Psalms 102:7 .

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Pelican. Heb. The Vomiter. A voracious water-bird, unclean by the Levitical law.  Leviticus 11:18, of singular construction and habits, resembling the goose, though nearly twice as large. Its bill is 15 inches long. The female has a large pouch or bag capable of containing two or three gallons of water, and food enough for six common men. Out of this pouch she feeds herself and her young, and from this habit and the red nail at the end of her bill came the notion that she fed her offspring on her own blood. The pelican was formerly more abundant than now in the East. Having gorged itself with fish, this bird flies miles into the wilderness, where it sits in some lonely place "for hours, or even days, with. Its bill resting on its breast, a picture of melancholy."  Psalms 102:6. The R. V. and the margin of the A. V. read "pelican" for "cormorant" in  Isaiah 34:11;  Zephaniah 2:14.

King James Dictionary

PEL'ICAN, n. Low L. pelicanus.

1. A fowl of the genus Pelicanus. It is larger than the swan, and remarkable for its enormous bill, to the lower edges of the under chop of which is attached a pouch or bag, capable of being distended so as to hold many quarts of water. In this bag the fowl deposits the fish is takes for food. 2. A chimical glass vessel or alembic with a tubulated capital, from which two opposite and crooked beaks pass out and enter again at the belly of the cucurbit. It is designed for continued distillation and cohobation the volatile parts of the substance distilling, rising into the capital and returning through the beaks into the cucurbit.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) A retort or still having a curved tube or tubes leading back from the head to the body for continuous condensation and redistillation.

(2): ( n.) Any large webfooted bird of the genus Pelecanus, of which about a dozen species are known. They have an enormous bill, to the lower edge of which is attached a pouch in which captured fishes are temporarily stored.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Psalm 102:6 (a) This is a type of Christ in His loneliness. He was a stranger in a strange land, and among enemies. The pelican obtained its food from the sea, not in the wilderness. In the wilderness it could find no food and no companionship. It was away from its customary haunts. So CHRIST was away from Heaven, His element, and was among strangers where there was nothing upon which His soul could feed.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Leviticus 11:18 Deuteronomy 14:17 Psalm 102:6 Isaiah 34:11 Zephaniah 2:14

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pel´i - kan ( קאת , ḳā'ath  ; Latin Pelecanus onocrotalus Septuagint reads πελεκάν , pelekán , in Leviticus and Psalms, but has 3 other readings, that are rather confusing, in the other places)): Any bird of the genus Pelecanus . The Hebrew ḳı̄' means "to vomit." The name was applied to the bird because it swallowed large quantities of fish and then disgorged them to its nestlings. In the performance of this act it pressed the large beak, in the white species, tipped with red, against the crop and slightly lifted the wings. In ancient times, people, seeing this, believed that the bird was puncturing its breast and feeding its young with its blood. From this idea arose the custom of using a pelican with lifted wings in heraldry or as a symbol of Christ and of charity. (See Fictitious Creatures in Art , 182-86, London, Chapman and Hall, 1906.) Palestine knew a white and a brownish-gray bird, both close to 6 ft. long and having over a 12 ft. sweep of wing. They lived around the Dead Sea, fished beside the Jordan and abounded in greatest numbers in the wildernesses of the Mediterranean shore. The brown pelicans were larger than the white. Each of them had a long beak, peculiar throat pouch and webbed feet. They built large nests, 5,6 ft. across, from dead twigs of bushes, and laid two or three eggs. The brown birds deposited a creamy-white egg with a rosy flush; the white, a white egg with bluish tints. The young were naked at first, then covered with down, and remained in the nest until full feathered and able to fly. This compelled the parent birds to feed them for a long time, and they carried such quantities of fish to a nest that the young could not consume all of them and many were dropped on the ground. The tropical sun soon made the location unbearable to mortals. Perching pelicans were the ugliest birds imaginable, but when their immense brown or white bodies swept in a 12 ft. spread across the land and over sea, they made an impressive picture. They are included, with good reason, in the list of abominations (see   Leviticus 11:18;  Deuteronomy 14:17 ). They are next mentioned in  Psalm 102:6 :

"I am like a pelican of the wilderness;

I am become as an owl of the waste places."

Here David from the depths of affliction likened himself to a pelican as it appears when it perches in the wilderness. See  Isaiah 34:11 : "But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness." Here the bird is used to complete the picture of desolation that was to prevail after the destruction of Edom. The other reference concerns the destruction of Nineveh and is found in   Zephaniah 2:14 : "And herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the pelican and the porcupine shall lodge in the capitals thereof; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he hath laid bare the cedar-work."

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A bird, the effigy of which was used in the Middle Ages to symbolise charity; generally represented as wounding its breast to feed its young with its own blood, and which became the image of the Christ who shed His blood for His people.