FOWL

[Heb, ʽohph].

Although the English word “fowl” is mainly used today to refer to a large or edible bird, the Hebrew term (ʽohph), derived from the verb “to fly,” applied to all winged or flying creatures. (Gen. 1:20-22) G. R. Driver (Palestine Exploration Quarterly, April 1955, p. 5) suggests that ʽohph may actually represent the sound of “the rhythmical beating of wings on the air and its displacement thereby.” The term thus not only embraced all the birds (Gen. 9:10; Lev. 1:14; 7:26), including quails (Ps. 78:27; compare Exodus 16:13), and also carrion-eating birds (1 Sam. 17:44, 46; 2 Sam. 21:10), but could be applied as well to the winged insects, as among the “swarming [Heb., sheʹrets]” winged creatures.—Lev. 11:20-23; Deut. 14:19; see SWARMING THING.

The expression “fatted fowl” at 1 Kings 4:23 in AV and RS is considered under CUCKOO.