What Does Deuteronomy 14:16 Mean in the King James?

The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan,

Deuteronomy 14:16 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The Hebrew word rendered “swan” belongs to a root for breathing and panting, leaving a hidden echo of breath beneath the bird’s English name.

THE MEANING

These names mark a boundary around what is eaten, while keeping the birds distinct rather than interchangeable. Beneath the English label “swan,” the Hebrew name carries an echo of breathing.

THE ROOT

תִּנְשָׁמֶת

tinshemeth

GROWS FROM

נשם

n-sh-m

To breathe hard or pant.

The bird’s exact species is uncertain, though the KJV renders its name “swan.” Its Hebrew name is likely related to ⁨נשם⁩ (n-sh-m), “to breathe hard, pant,” leaving an audible link between the named creature and its breathing.

ALSO GROWS

nasham: To breathe hard or pant.

נָשַׁם

This verb shares the bird-name’s root and makes its breath-like sound visible beneath the English species label.

neshamah: Breath; living breath.

נְשָׁמָה

This related word makes the root’s breath association explicit, giving the bird-name an echo of the living breath moving through a creature.

THE PATTERN

Scripture makes boundaries visible by naming what is separated or set within them.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:4 · KJVThe distinction between light and darkness becomes visible through an act of separation.

And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,

Leviticus 11:13 · KJVThe food boundary is made concrete by naming the birds that fall within it.

But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.

Acts 10:14 · KJVPeter names the boundary between what he regards as clean and unclean.

THE THREAD

And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle,

Leviticus 11:18 · KJV

The KJV repeats “swan” in this parallel list, translating the same Hebrew word, ⁨תִּנְשָׁמֶת⁩ (tinshemeth). Seeing the name recur makes its root connection to breathing easier to hear beneath the English label.

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