Egg

Eggs appear in Scripture primarily as symbols of fragility, abandonment, and common provision. The Hebrew beytsah (meaning "whiteness") refers to eggs in general; the text most commonly mentions bird eggs in metaphorical contexts. Isaiah 10:14 uses deserted eggs as a figure for how effortlessly the Assyrian king plundered the nations: "as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth." Deuteronomy 22:6–7 legislates that if a bird's nest with eggs is found, the mother bird must be let go even while the eggs are taken — a law that combines practical conservation with ethical concern for animal life.

Job 6:6 asks whether the tasteless egg can be eaten without salt, using the image to describe the flatness of his friends' counsel. Luke 11:12 places the egg in a series of contrasts: no loving father gives his child a scorpion when asked for an egg, illustrating the trustworthy goodness of God in answering prayer. The egg's simplicity and universality made it a ready image for ordinary provision and basic sustenance in the agrarian world of the Bible.