Ostrich

The ostrich is described in one of the Bible's most remarkable zoological passages — God's answer to Job from the whirlwind (Job 39:13–18). The passage describes the ostrich leaving her eggs in the sand to be warmed by the earth, showing no concern for their vulnerability (she forgets that a foot may crush them), yet capable of extraordinary speed: she laughs at the horse and its rider. The apparent carelessness is attributed to God's withholding of wisdom from her, while her speed surpasses even the war horse.

The Hebrew word bat ya'anah (daughter of the desert) also appears in lament contexts: ostriches and jackals inhabiting desolate ruins symbolize total devastation (Isaiah 13:21; 34:13; Micah 1:8). The ostrich (Struthio camelus) formerly inhabited the desert regions of the Near East and is now extinct in the wild in the Middle East. Its disconsolate cry is alluded to in Lamentations 4:3.