Difference between revisions of "Dove"

<p> [[Emblem]] of peace (Genesis 8:7-12). After God's wrath for sin had been executed upon the earth, the dove was thrice sent forth; at the first sending she found no rest for the sole of her foot until she put herself in Noah's (or "comforter") hand, and was drawn into the ark; on the second trip, she brought back the olive leaf, the earnest of the restored earth; on the third trip, she was able to roam at large, no longer needing the ark's shelter. As the raven messenger "going forth to and fro," alighting on but never entering into the ark, symbolizes the unbelieving that have "no peace," "like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest" (Isaiah 57:20-21): so the dove, in its threefold embassy, represents respectively the first return of the soul to its rest, the loving hand of Jesus; its subsequent reception of the dovelike spirit, the earnest of the final inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14); and its actual entrance finally on the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21), where there will be no need of the arklike church to separate between the world and God's people, between the saved and unsaved, where all shall be safe and blessed forever and the church shall be co-extensive with the world. </p> <p> As the lamb is the emblem of the Savior, so the dove of the [[Holy]] [[Spirit]] the Comforter, because of its gentleness, tenderness, innocence, and constant love (Matthew 3:16). He changes us into His own likeness. The liquid full soft eye is the emblem of the heavenly bride's eye, through which the soul beams out (Song of [[Solomon]] 1:15). Contrast the sinner's eye (Matthew 20:15; 2 Peter 2:14). The church's unsheltered innocence in the world calls forth the prayer: "Deliver not the soul of [[Thy]] turtle dove unto the multitude of the wicked" (Psalms 74:19; Psalms 55:11). Their plaintive note symbolizes the mourning penitent (Isaiah 59:11). </p> <p> The change from the [[Egyptian]] bondage amidst the face blackening potteries to the freedom and beauty of Israel's theocratic state is expressed in Psalms 68:13-14, "though ye have lien (lain) among the pots yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold," the dove's outspread wings reflecting a golden or silver splendor according to the direction in which the sunshine falls on them, typifying the dovelike spirit of joy and peace beaming forth from the believer, once darkness, but now light in the Lord. The dove's timidity answers to the believer fleeing from sin, self, and wrath, to the refuge in the cleft [[Rock]] of ages (Song of Solomon 2:14; Jeremiah 48:28; Isaiah 26:4, margin). Its gregariousness answers to the communion of saints, all having flocked together to [[Christ]] (Isaiah 60:8); the returning [[Israelites]] shall so flock to Jerusalem, as doves in a cloud to their cotes; and the converted [[Gentiles]] to Israel. </p> <p> [[Saints]] must imitate its harmless simplicity (Matthew 7:16), but not its silliness (Hosea 7:11). The Israelites under God's visitation of the enemy's invasion "shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys" (Ezekiel 7:16); as doves which usually frequent valleys mount up to the mountains when fearing the birdcatcher (Psalms 11:1), so Israel, once dwelling in the peaceful valleys, shall flee from the foe to the mountains, once the scene of their highplace idolatries, now retributively the scene of their abject flight. In Jeremiah 25:38, "because of the fierceness of the oppressor" (Hebrew: the dove), the allusion is to the Chaldaean standard, the dove, the symbol of Venus. [[Semiramis]] the queen was said to have been nourished by doves when exposed at birth, and at death to have been transformed into a dove. In 2 Kings 6:25 the "dove's dung" sold for food in the famine seems to have been a vegetable or poor grain or vetch pea, so named, that grew in the land not built upon and lying, as is common in the East, within the city. </p> <p> Linnaeus identified it with the Οrnithogalum umbellatum , with eatable bulbs, "the star of Bethlehem"; the color of the flowers, white mixed with green, originated the name "dove's dung," which is of like color. Keil thinks it to be a saltwort yielding alkali, Ηerba alkali . Josephus, however (B. J., 5:13, section 7), mentions literal dung having been eaten in terrible famine. The offering of a dove was the alternative permitted to those unable to afford a more costly one, an alternative adopted instead of the lamb by the [[Virgin]] mother at her purification, a proof of the poverty to which our Lord stooped at His incarnation. The sellers of doves profaned the temple court by selling doves to meet the wants of the poorer classes (John 2:13-17). </p>

<p> <b> DOVE </b> <b> ( </b> περιστερά).—Its gentle nature makes the dove a frequent simile in ancient literature. [[Christ]] bids His disciples to be harmless as doves, and to unite with such gentleness a wisdom like the serpent’s (Matthew 10:16). Meyer, <i> in loc. </i> , takes this to mean, ‘Be prudent in regard to dangers in which you are placed, quick to see and avoid dangers; and always be full of uprightness, never taking any questionable way of escape.’ As the serpent is the most cunning of the beasts of the field, so should the Lord’s disciples have wisdom to understand the subtleties of Satan; but no evil is to mix with such wisdom. [[Along]] with it there must be found a purity and simplicity of heart of which the harmless, gentle dove is the symbol. The truest wisdom for the [[Christian]] is to keep always the simplicity of the dove. A nature purified by the [[Spirit]] of Christ will have wise penetration enough to defeat all the wiles of Satan. </p> <p> The dove, the emblem of perfect innocence, is used (Matthew 3:16 and parallels) as a symbol of the [[Holy]] Spirit, who is the power and wisdom of God, acting on the spirits of men. When the dove appeared to sit on the Saviour’s head, it denoted the [[Divine]] recognition of His holiness (Matthew 3:17), and His official consecration to the Messianic ministry. As the author of the [[Epistle]] to the Hebrews says, ‘He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners’ (Matthew 7:26). </p> <p> It has been thought that the dove had a sacrosanct character among the Hebrews. [[Though]] it was a favourite food with some neighbouring peoples, it was not eaten in Palestine. [[Young]] pigeons and doves were offered in sacrifice, where no sacrificial meal was involved. So we find in the temple courts them that sold doves (Matthew 21:12, Mark 11:15, John 2:14; John 2:16),—no doubt for such sacrifices,—whom Christ drove out, along with the money-changers. In [[Palestine]] the dove was considered sacred by the Phœnicians and the Philistines, and the [[Samaritans]] were often accused of worshipping it. There were holy doves at Mecca; and, according to [[Lucian]] ( <i> Dea [[Syria]] </i> , 54), doves were taboo to the Syrians; he who touched them being unclean a whole day. </p> <p> In Christian [[Art]] in representations of the Lord’s Baptism, the presence of the Holy Spirit is indicated by the dove. In churches in early times the figure of a dove appeared in the baptisteries, a golden or silver dove being suspended above the font. Lamps, too, were sometimes made in the form of doves. In later times pyxes were sometimes made of gold and silver in the shape of a dove, and used for the reservation of the host. </p> <p> Exclusive of the turtle-dove, four species of dove are found in Palestine: <i> [[Columba]] palumbus </i> , the ring-dove, or wood-pigeon; <i> Columba aenas </i> , the stock-dove, found in [[Gilead]] and [[Bashan]] and the [[Jordan]] Valley; <i> Columba livia </i> , the rock-dove, abundant along the coast and in the uplands; <i> Columba schimperi </i> , closely allied to the preceding, and found in the interior. </p> <p> Literature.—Hasting's Dictionary of the [[Bible]] <i> , s.v. </i> ; Thomson, <i> Land and [[Book]] </i> (1878), p. 268 ff.; <i> Expositor </i> , 1st ser. ix. [1879] p. 81 ff. </p> <p> [[David]] M. W. Laird. </p>

<p> (1): </p> <p> of Dive </p> <p> (2): </p> <p> (n.) A pigeon of the genus [[Columba]] and various related genera. The species are numerous. </p> <p> (3): </p> <p> (n.) A word of endearment for one regarded as pure and gentle. </p>

<p> There are probably several species of doves or pigeons included in the [[Hebrew]] name joneh. It may contain all those that inhabit Palestine, exclusive of the turtle-doves properly so called. [[Thus]] generalized, the dove is, figuratively, next to man, the most exalted of animals, symbolizing the [[Holy]] Spirit, the meekness, purity, and splendor of righteousness. By the Hebrew law doves and turtle-doves were the only birds that could be offered in sacrifice, and they were usually selected for that purpose by the less wealthy ; and to supply the demand for them, dealers in these birds sat about the precincts of the [[Temple]] (, etc.). </p> <p> All pigeons in their true wild plumage have iridescent colors about the neck, and often reflected flashes of the same colors on the shoulders, which are the source of the silver and gold feathers ascribed to them in poetical diction; and thence the epithet of purple bestowed upon them all, though most applicable to the vinous and slaty-colored species. The coasts and territory of [[Syria]] are noted for the great number of doves frequenting them, though they are not so abundant there as in the Coh-i Suleiman chain near the Indus. Syria possesses several species of pigeon; the stock-dove, ring-dove, the common pigeon in several varieties, such as the Barbary, Turkish or [[Persian]] carrier, crisp, and shaker. These are still watched in their flight in the same manner as anciently their number, gyrations, and other maneuvers were observed by soothsayers. The wild species, as well as the turtle-doves, migrate from [[Palestine]] to the south; but stock and ring doves are not long absent. </p> <p> The figure we give is that of the more rare species of white and pink carrier, and the Phoenician sacred ensign of the dove. </p>