Pelican
A Bird of the Wilderness
The pelican appears several times in the Old Testament, always in contexts of ritual prohibition or desolate imagery. While the exact identification of the Hebrew word sometimes translated as "pelican" is debated among scholars, the bird's association with wilderness, loneliness, and uncleanness gives it a distinctive role in biblical literature.
In the Dietary Laws
The pelican is included in the list of birds that Israelites were forbidden to eat. Leviticus 11:18 and Deuteronomy 14:17 name it among the unclean birds alongside the vulture, cormorant, and stork. The prohibition likely stems from the pelican's diet of fish, which it catches by plunging its massive bill into the water and storing fish in its throat pouch. As a fish-eating bird, its flesh would have carried the strong odor and flavor of its diet, making it unsuitable by the standards of the Mosaic food laws.
Two species of pelican were known in the biblical world: the white pelican and the larger brownish-gray pelican, known as the Dalmatian pelican. Both are large birds, approaching six feet in length with wingspans exceeding twelve feet. They frequented the shores of the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, and the Mediterranean coast.
The Pelican of the Wilderness
The most memorable biblical reference to the pelican comes from Psalm 102:6: "I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the waste places." The psalmist, in deep distress, compares himself to a bird associated with desolate, uninhabited places. The pelican perched in a barren landscape, far from human society, became an image of profound isolation and suffering.
This verse has resonated with readers across centuries because it captures the feeling of being utterly alone in one's grief. The psalmist is not merely sad; he feels he has become a creature of the wasteland, cut off from normal life.
Prophetic Symbol of Desolation
The prophets used the pelican to picture the devastating aftermath of divine judgment. Isaiah 34:11 prophesies that after God's judgment falls on Edom, "the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; the owl and the raven shall dwell therein." The presence of these unclean birds in the ruins of once-great cities signals the complete reversal of civilization.
Zephaniah 2:14 offers a similar image in his prophecy against Nineveh: "Herds shall lie down in her midst, all kinds of beasts; even the pelican and the hedgehog shall lodge on her capitals; a voice shall hoot in the window." The great Assyrian capital, once the terror of the ancient world, would become home to the birds of the wasteland.
The Pelican as Christian Symbol
Though not derived directly from Scripture, one of the most enduring symbols in Christian art is the "Pelican in her Piety," a pelican piercing her own breast to feed her young with her blood. This image arose from ancient observation of the pelican's feeding behavior: the bird presses its large, red-tipped bill against its breast and throat pouch to regurgitate fish for its nestlings. Observers who did not understand the mechanism believed the bird was drawing its own blood.
This misunderstanding produced a powerful symbol. Early Christians saw in the pelican an image of Christ, who shed His own blood to give life to His people. The pelican became a common motif in medieval church art, heraldry, and hymnody. Thomas Aquinas wrote of Christ as the "loving Pelican" in his eucharistic hymn. While the natural history behind the symbol is mistaken, the theological application captured something genuinely biblical about sacrificial love.
Identification Questions
Some scholars have questioned whether the Hebrew word traditionally translated as "pelican" might refer to a different bird, perhaps a type of owl or bittern. The uncertainty arises because the Hebrew term is related to a root meaning "to vomit," which could describe the pelican's regurgitation of fish or the owl's ejection of pellets. Most modern translations retain "pelican" in at least some of these passages, though alternatives appear in footnotes.
Biblical Context
The pelican appears in the dietary laws (Leviticus 11:18; Deuteronomy 14:17) among the unclean birds. It serves as a metaphor for loneliness and desolation in Psalm 102:6. The prophets use it as a symbol of ruined cities in Isaiah 34:11 and Zephaniah 2:14. In each context, the pelican is associated with wilderness, isolation, and the absence of human habitation.
Theological Significance
The pelican's biblical appearances teach that God's judgment transforms human strongholds into uninhabitable wastelands. The psalmist's comparison of himself to a pelican of the wilderness validates the expression of deep loneliness before God. In Christian tradition, the pelican became a symbol of Christ's sacrificial death, illustrating how the natural world, even through misunderstanding, can point toward spiritual truth. The unclean status of the pelican in the dietary laws reinforced Israel's practice of distinguishing between the holy and the common.
Historical Background
Both white pelicans and Dalmatian pelicans were native to the eastern Mediterranean region in biblical times. They inhabited coastal areas, inland lakes, and river systems. The white pelican's bill has a distinctive reddish tip, which contributed to the legend of self-wounding. Pliny the Elder and other Roman naturalists wrote about pelicans, and the bird appears in Egyptian art. The Christian symbol of the pelican feeding its young with its blood became widespread in medieval Europe, appearing in church carvings, stained glass, and manuscripts from the twelfth century onward.