Vulture

Several Hebrew words of uncertain ornithological identification are translated "vulture" in different Bible versions, pointing to various large birds of prey and scavengers native to the ancient Near East. The Levitical food laws list the vulture among the unclean birds (Leviticus 11:14; Deuteronomy 14:13). The Hebrew da'ah and ra'ah likely refer to the black kite or related raptor; nesher, often translated "eagle," may sometimes indicate the griffon vulture, which was more commonly seen in the region. Job 28:7 speaks of a hidden path "that the falcon's eye has not seen," and the vulture's keen perception became a byword for sharpness of sight.

Vultures function in Scripture primarily as agents of judgment—the creatures that consume the unburied dead following military defeat, an ultimate disgrace in the ancient world. Isaiah 34:15 depicts the desolation of Edom as a place given over to wild creatures including the vulture. Jesus alludes to the proverbial gathering of vultures around a corpse in Matthew 24:28 ("Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather"), using it to warn against false messiahs and to illustrate the unmistakable, public nature of the true coming of the Son of Man. Some interpreters read "eagles" (KJV) in this passage, but "vultures" fits the imagery of carrion-feeding more naturally.