Night-Hawk

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NIGHT-HAWK (tachmâs).—An unclean bird (Lev_11:16, Deu_14:16). What the tackmâs really was is merely a matter of speculation. A species of owl, the ostrich, and even the cuckoo, have all been suggested, but without any convincing reasons. ‘Night-hawk’ is merely another name for the familiar night-jar or goat-sucker (Caprimulgus), of which three species are known in Palestine.
E. W. G. Masterman.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


Night-hawk. The Hebrew word so translated, Lev_11:10; Lev_14:15, probably, denotes some kind of owl.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863


תהמס , Lev_11:16; Deu_14:15. That this is a voracious bird seems clear from the import of its name; and interpreters are generally agreed to describe it as flying by night. On the whole, it should seem to be the strix orientalis, which Hasselquist thus describes: It is of the size of the common owl, and lodges in the large buildings or ruins of Egypt and Syria, and sometimes even in the dwelling houses. The Arabs settled in Egypt call it “massasa,” and the Syrians “banu.” It is extremely voracious in Syria; to such a degree, that if care is not taken to shut the windows at the coming on of night, he enters the houses and kills the children: the women, therefore, are very much afraid of him.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.


nı̄t?hôk (תּחמס, taḥmāṣ, ?tachmas?; γλαύξ, glaúx, but sometimes strouthós, and seirḗnos; Latin camprimulgus): The Hebrew taḥmāṣ means ?to tear and scratch the face,? so that it is very difficult to select the bird intended by its use. Any member of the eagle, vulture, owl or hawk families driven to desperation would ?tear and scratch? with the claws and bite in self-defence. The bird is mentioned only in the lists of abominations (see Lev_11:16; Deu_14:15). There are three good reasons why the night-hawk or night-jar, more properly, was intended. The lists were sweeping and included almost every common bird unfit for food. Because of its peculiar characteristics it had been made the object of fable and superstition. It fed on wing at night and constantly uttered weird cries. Lastly, it was a fierce fighter when disturbed in brooding or raising its young. Its habit was to lie on its back and fight with beak and claw with such ferocity that it seemed very possible that it would ?tear and scratch the face.? Some commentators insist that the bird intended was an owl, but for the above reasons the night-jar seems most probable; also several members of the owl family were clearly indicated in the list. See HAWK.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.


Night-Hawk (Lev_11:16; Deu_14:15) is mentioned as one of the unclean birds in the Pentateuch, but so little characterized that no decided opinion can be expressed as to what species is really intended. Commentators incline to the belief that the name imports voracity, and therefore indicates a species of owl, which, however, we take to be not this bird, but the lilith; and as the night-hawk of Europe, or a species very nearly allied to it, is an inhabitant of Syria, there is no reason for absolutely rejecting it in this place, since it belongs to a genus highly connected with superstitions in all countries; and though a voracious bird among moths, and other insects that are abroad during darkness, it is absolutely harmless to all other animals, and as wrongfully accused of sucking the udders of goats, as of being an indicator of misfortune and death to those who happen to see it fly past them after evening twilight; yet, beside the name of 'goat sucker,' it is denominated 'night-hawk' and 'night-raven,' as if it were a bulky species, with similar powers of mischief as those day birds possess. The night-hawk is a migratory bird, inferior in size to a thrush, and has very weak talons and bill; but the gape or mouth is wide; it makes now and then a plaintive cry, and preys on the wing; it flies with the velocity and action of a swallow, the two genera being nearly allied. Like those of most night birds the eyes are large and remarkable, and the plumage a mixture of colors and dots, with a prevailing gray effect; it is finely webbed, and entirely noiseless in its passage through the air. Thus the bright eyes, wide mouth, sudden and inaudible flight in the dusk, are the original causes of the superstitious fear these birds have excited; and as there are in southern climates other species of this genus, much larger in size, with peculiarly contrasted colors, strangely disposed feathers on the head, or paddle-shaped single plumes, one at each shoulder, projecting in the form of two additional wings, and with plaintive loud voices often uttered in the night, all the species contribute to the general awe they have inspired in every country and in all ages.




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.


Night-hawk
is the rendering in the Auth. Vers. of תִּחְמָס, tachmas' (apparently from חָמִס, to act violently), the name of one of the unclean birds mentioned in the Pentateuch (only Lev_11:16; Deu_14:15; Sept. λγαύξ, Vulg. noctua). Bochart (Hieroz. 2:830) has endeavored to prove that the Hebrew word denotes the “male ostrich,” the preceding term (בִּתאּיִעֲנָה), bath yaanah (A. V. “owl”), signifying the female of that bird. The etymology of the word points to some bird of prey, though there is great uncertainty as to the particular species indicated. The Sept., Vulg., and perhaps Onkelos, understand some kind of “owl;” most of the Jewish doctors indefinitely render the word “a rapacious bird;” Gesenius (Thesaur. s.v.) and Rosenmüller (Schol. ad Lev_11:16) follow Bochart. Bochart's explanation is grounded on an overstrained interpretation of the etymology of the verb chamas, the root of tachmds; he restricts the meaning of the root to the idea of acting “unjustly” or “deceitfully,” and thus comes to the conclusion that the “unjust bird” is the male ostrich. But it is not at all probable that Moses should have specified both the male and female ostrich in a list which was no doubt intended to be as comprehensive as possible. SEE OSTRICH.
The not unfrequent occurrence of the expression “after their kind” is an argument in favor of this assertion. Michaelis believes some kind of swallow (Hiaundo) is intended: the word used by the Targum of Jonathan is by itto (Pict. Bib. Lev_11:16) and by Oedmann (Vermnisch. Samnm. i,p. 3, c. iv) referred to the swallow, though the last-named authority says, “it is uncertain, however, what Jonathan really meant.” Buxtorf (Lex. Rabbin.v. חִטְפַיתָא) translates the word used by Jonathan, “a name of a rapacious bird, harpyja.” It is not easy to see what claim the swallow can have to represent the tachmas, nor is it at all probable that so small a bird should have been noticed in the Levitical law.
The rendering of the A.V. rests on no special authority, though from the absurd properties which, from the time of Aristotle, have been ascribed to the night-hawk or goatsucker, and the superstitions connected with this bird, its claim is not entirely destitute of every kind of evidence. As the nighthawk of Europe (Caprimulgus Europceus), or a species very nearly allied to it, is an inhabitant of Syria, there is no reason for absolutely rejecting it in this place, since it belongs to a genus highly connected with superstitions in all countries; and though a voracious bird among moths (Phalene) and other insects that are abroad during darkness, it is absolutely harmless to all other animals, and as wrongfully accused of sucking the udders of goats, as of being an indicator of misfortune and death to those who happen to see it fly past them after evening twilight; yet, besides the name of goatsucker, it is denominated night-raven, as if it were a bulky species, with similar powers of mischief to those which day birds possess.
Other provincial names for this bird are moth-hawk, night- jar, churn-owl, fern-owl, etc. The night-hawk is a migratory bird, inferior in size to a thrush, and has very weak talons and bill; but the gape or mouth'is wide; it makes now and then a plaintive cry, and preys on the wing; it flies with the velocity and action of a swallow, the two genera being nearly allied. Like those of most night-birds, the eyes are large and remarkable, and the plumage a mixture of colors and dots, with a prevailing gray effect; it is finely webbed, and entirely noiseless in its passage through the air. Thus the bright eyes, wide mouth, sudden and inaudible flight in the dusk, are the original causes of the superstitious fear these birds have excited; and as there are in southern climates other species of this genus, much larger in size, with peculiarly contrasted colors, strangely disposed feathers on the head, or paddleshaped single plumes, one at each shoulder, projecting in the form of two additional wings, and with plaintive loud voices often uttered in the night, all the species contribute to the general awe they have inspired in every country and in all ages. We see here that it is not the bulk of a species, nor the exact extent of injury it may inflict, that determines the importance attached to the name, but the opinions, true or false, which the public may have held or still entertain concerning it. The night-hawk is abundant in Western Asia; and from its peculiar jarring note, and its strange manners, appearing only in the twilight, and wheeling like the bats round and round a tree, or continually passing and repassing before the eye at short intervals, it is generally viewed with superstitious awe by the uneducated. These movements, however, are prompted by the instinct to capture large insects, which are either attracted round the blossom of the tree, or are playing to and fro in a circumscribed space. As the Sept. and Vulg. are agreed that tachmas denotes some kind of owl, it is probably safer to follow these versions than the modern commentators.
The Greek γλαύξ is used by Aristotle for some common species of owl, in all probability for the Strix fammea (white owl) or the Syrnium stridula (tawny owl); the Veneto-Greek reads νυκτικόραξ, a synonyme of ῶτος, Aristot., i.e. the Otus vulgaris, Flem. (long-eared owl): this is the species which Oedmann (see above) identifies with tachmas. “The name,” he says, “indicates a bird which exercises power, but the force of the power is in the Arabic root chamash, ‘to tear a face with claws.' Now it is well known in the East that there is a species of owl of which people believe that it glides into chambers by night and tears the flesh off the faces of sleeping children.” Hasselquist (Trav. p. 196; Lond. 1766) alludes to this nightly terror, but he calls it the “Oriental owl” (Strix Orientalis), and clearly distinguishes it from the Strix otus, Lin. The Arabs in Egypt call this infant- killing owl massasa, the Syrians bana. It is believed to be identical with the Syn nium stridula, but what foundation there may be for the belief in its child-killing propensities we know not. It is probable that some common species of owl is denoted by tachmas, perhaps the Strix flammea or the Athene meridionalis, which is extremely common in Palestine and Egypt. The goatsucker is thus confounded with owls by the Arabian peasantry, and the name masasas more particularly belongs to it. But that the confusion with the לַילַית, or lilith, is not confined to Arabia and Egypt is sufficiently evident from the Sclavonic names of the bird, being in Russian, lilok, lelek; Polish, lelek; Lithuanian, lehlis; and Hungarian, egeli; all clearly allied to the Shemitic denomination of the owl. SEE NIGHT- MONSTER.
If γλαύξ is the true equivalent of tachmas, we can be at no loss for the species; for the Greeks applied that term to an owl with eyes of a gleaming blue color. This is true only of the white or barn owl (Strix fammea), all the other European owls having eyes of a brilliant yellow or fiery orange. The white owl is abundant in Palestine and in the regions surrounding the Levant; it is indeed spread over the whole of Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America; for, though specimens from the remoter regions have been considered distinct, their differences are too slight to build upon them with certainty a specific diversity. SEE OWL.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





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