Dove, The
- Clean and used as food.
Deuteronomy 14:11 Of all clean birds ye shall eat.
- Offered in sacrifice.
Genesis 15:9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
Leviticus 1:14 And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.
- Impiously sold in the court of the temple.
Matthew 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
John 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
- CHARACTERIZED BY
- Simplicity.
Matthew 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
- Comeliness of countenance.
Song of Solomon 2:14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
- Softness of eyes.
Song of Solomon 1:15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.
- Sweetness of voice.
Song of Solomon 2:14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
- Richness of plumage.
Psalm 68:13 Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.
- Mournful tabering of, alluded to.
Nahum 2:7 And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead her as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts.
- Dwells in rocks.
Song of Solomon 2:14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
Jeremiah 48:28 O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.
- Frequents streams and rivers.
Song of Solomon 5:12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.
- Sent from the ark by Noah.
Genesis 8:8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
Genesis 8:10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
Genesis 8:12 And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.
- Why considered the emblem of peace.
Genesis 8:11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
- The harbinger of spring.
Song of Solomon 2:12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
- ILLUSTRATIVE
- Of the Holy Ghost.
Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
John 1:32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
- Of the meekness of Christ.
Song of Solomon 5:12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.
- Of the church.
Song of Solomon 2:14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
Song of Solomon 5:2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
- Of mourners.
Isaiah 38:14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
Isaiah 59:11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.
- Of converts to the church.
Isaiah 60:8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?
- (In its flight,) of the return of Israel from captivity.
Hosea 11:11 They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD.
⇒See DOVE in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
⇒See Dove in McClintock and Strong.
