Verse 19
The stork - חסידה chasidah , from חסד chasad , which signifies to be abundant in kindness, or exuberant in acts of beneficence; hence applied to the stork, because of its affection to its young, and its kindness in tending and feeding its parents when old; facts attested by the best informed and most judicious of the Greek and Latin natural historians. See Bochart, Scheuchzer, and Parkhurst, under the word חסד chasad . It is remarkable for destroying and eating serpents, and on this account might be reckoned by Moses among unclean birds.
The heron - אנפה anaphah . This word has been variously understood: some have rendered it the kite, others the woodcock, others the curlew, some the peacock, others the parrot, and others the crane. The root אנף anaph , signifies to breathe short through the nostrils, to snuff, as in anger; hence to be angry: and it is supposed that the word is sufficiently descriptive of the heron, from its very irritable disposition. It will attack even a man in defense of its nest; and I have known a case where a man was in danger of losing his life by the stroke of a heron's bill, near the eye, who had climbed up into a high tree to take its nest. Bochart supposes a species of the eagle to be meant, vol. iii., col. 335.
The lapwing - דוכיפת duchiphath , the upupa, hoopoe, or hoop, a crested bird, with beautiful plumage, but very unclean. See Bochart, and Scheuchzer. Concerning the genuine meaning of the original, there is little agreement among interpreters.
The bat - עטלף atalleph , so called, according to Parkhurst, from עט at , to fly, and עלף alaph , darkness or obscurity, because it flies about in the dusk of the evening, and in the night: so the Septuagint νυκτερις , from νυξ , the night; and the Vulgate vespertilio , from vesper, the evening. This being a sort of monster partaking of the nature of both a bird and beast, it might well be classed among unclean animals, or animals the use of which in food should be avoided.
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