the “unclean” birds; of the same family group as the pelican. It is a
“plunging” bird, and is common on the coasts and the island seas of
Palestine. Some think the Hebrew word should be rendered “gannet” (Sula
bassana, “the solan goose”); others that it is the “tern” or “sea swallow,”
which also frequents the coasts of Palestine as well as the Sea of Galilee
and the Jordan valley during several months of the year. But there is no
reason to depart from the ordinary rendering.
In Isaiah 34:11, Zephaniah 2:14 (but in R.V., “pelican”) the Hebrew word
rendered by this name is ka’ath. It is translated “pelican” (q.v.) in Psalm
102:6. The word literally means the “vomiter,” and the pelican is so called
from its vomiting the shells and other things which it has voraciously
swallowed. (See PELICAN.)
- CORN The word so rendered (dagan) in Genesis 27:28, 37, Numbers
18:27, Deuteronomy 28:51, Lamentations 2:12, is a general term
representing all the commodities we usually describe by the words corn,
grain, seeds, peas, beans. With this corresponds the use of the word in
John 12:24.
In Genesis 41:35, 49, Proverbs 11:26, Joel 2:24 (“wheat”), the word thus
translated (bar; i.e., “winnowed”) means corn purified from chaff. With
this corresponds the use of the word in the New Testament (Matthew
3:12; Luke 3:17; Acts 7:12). In Psalm 65:13 it means “growing corn.”
In Genesis 42:1, 2, 19, Joshua 9:14, Nehemiah 10:31 (“victuals”), the word
(sheber; i.e., “broken,” i.e., grist) denotes generally victuals, provisions,
and corn as a principal article of food.
From the time of Solomon, corn began to be exported from Palestine
(Ezekiel 27:17; Amos 8:5). “Plenty of corn” was a part of Issac’s blessing
conferred upon Jacob (Genesis 27:28; comp. Psalm 65:13).