The Jewish Animal Why a Ferret? 1 | 2 | 3 |HOME The 30 ag and 40 ag stamps (#956 and 957) depicted an eagle owl and a Bruce's scops owl, respectively. Both stamps cited Isaish 13:21, with the 30 ag stamp quoting the second line of the verse, while the 40 ag cites the fourth. When I consulted the copy of the Bible I own (the Jewish Publication Society translation), Isaiah 13:21, which refers to the doom that will befall Babylon, read: "But wild-cats shall lie there; And their houses shall be full of ferrets; And ostriches shall dwell there; And satyrs shall dance there." Why would a passage referring to ferrets, a weasel-like animal, be used for an owl stamp? Other translations of the bible helped solve the puzzle. For instance, the Soncino translation of this passage noted that the Hebrew word ochim refers to "animals with a howling cry." Gesenius's dictionary of biblical Hebrew said the singular form of the word (oach) was an onomatopoetic word (meaning it imitates the sound) and refers to owls. The Cambridge translation used "doleful creatures" but a footnote said it probably meant "howlers," even though whether the reference was to owls or animals was "altogether uncertain." Another source, Alice Parmelee's All the Birds of the Bible, pointed out that the cry of the eagle owl "is a loud, prolonged, powerful hoot which sounds like a cry of desolation or ... mourning." All of this made the transition from "ferret" to "eagle owl" plausible. What could explain the linkage of satyrs (or he-goats) in the Biblical text with an illustration of a scops owl? A 1962 book by Dr. Yehuda Feliks, The Animal World of the Bible, provided a feasible explanation (made even more likely by the fact the book was published in Tel Aviv and used the same birds to illustrate the Biblical passages used on the stamps). Dr. Feliks noted that the scops owl has some features that resemble a goat (sair in Hebrew), e.g. "two homed-shaped crests of hair-like feathers on its head, its hopping dance-like gait." The 50 ag stamp (#958) also reflects the problems of Biblical translation. The stamp depicted a barn owl and cites Deuteronomy 14:16. That passage refers to the "kos," "yanshuph," and "tinshemmet" as unclean birds. The Jewish Publication Society translation rendered the names of these birds as the little owl, the great owl, and the horned owl. The UAHC translation substituted "white owl" for "horned owl"; other translations for the latter even included the swan or ibis. Dr. Feliks to the rescue: He suggested the barn owl got its Hebrew name of "tinshemmet" because of the snoring sound it makes when breathing (nashom 'in Hebrew). The final stamp in the set, the 80 ag value (#959), depicted a Hume's tawny owl and the tab quoted Isaiah 34:14, which tells about the fate to befall Edom and refers to the lilit. The Jewish Publication Society and Soncino bibles translated this as "night monster. The Soncino edition also noted that the lilit (or Lilith) also represents the name of the female demon married to Adam before Eve, according to Talmudic and Kabbalistic literature. Dr. Feliks traced the linkage to the bird's human-like features -- a large head with wide and large eyes -- and its use of wailing sounds; but he also says lilit is used as a generic name for all nocturnal birds of prey. Hopefully this brief (and admittedly incomplete) survey of Jewish flora and fauna has convinced you to join the ranks of Judaica philately collectors, exhibitors and researchers -- or at least will prompt you to fly back to this home page for next month's column! HOME 1 | 2 | 3 | HOME © 2002, J-Stamps/Murray Frost. All Rights Reserved. froststamps@yahoo.com