What Does Deuteronomy 14:17 Mean in the King James?

And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant,

Deuteronomy 14:17 · 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 name translated “gier eagle” echoes the root for compassion inside an otherwise opaque bird-name.

THE MEANING

The verse names the pelican, the gier eagle, and the cormorant as distinct creatures. The Hebrew name behind “gier eagle” is commonly linked to the root for compassion, so a word of tenderness remains audible within the list.

THE ROOT

רָחָמָה

raḥāmāh

GROWS FROM

רחם

r-ḥ-m

to show tender compassion; to have mercy

“gier eagle” in this verse is raḥāmāh. The bird-name is commonly connected with ⁨רחם⁩ (r-ḥ-m), “to show compassion.” The verse gives no explanation of the name, but the shared root lets tenderness echo inside a species-name that English leaves opaque.

ALSO GROWS

reḥem: womb

רֶחֶם

Isaiah 49:15 places this root’s womb-image beside a verb for compassion, making bodily tenderness part of its reach.

raḥamim: compassion, mercies

רַחֲמִים

This noun names compassion directly, exposing the relational sense echoed in the bird-name.

THE PATTERN

A single Hebrew root can place compassion inside a creature-name, a person’s name, and words for tenderness.

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Isaiah 49:15 · KJVThe same root names a mother’s compassion, bringing the tenderness echoed in the bird-name into an image of human attachment.

Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

Psalm 103:13 · KJVThe same root describes the LORD’s tenderness, extending the word’s relational sense beyond the creature-name.

Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ru-hamah.

Hosea 2:1 · KJVRuhamah (⁨רֻחָמָה⁩, ruḥāmāh), “shown compassion,” carries the same root within a person’s name.

THE THREAD

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Isaiah 49:15 · KJV

Isaiah uses this root for a mother’s tenderness toward her child, letting the compassion echoed in the bird-name emerge as a relationship. The connection gives the unfamiliar species-name a tenderness its English label does not show.

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