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  • From: Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 8:22
  • Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2006 16:07:38 -0500

Yitzhak Sapir wrote:

"Seasons" is obviously not an "obvious" meaning of the
passage, except maybe to you. Furthermore, "the swift
and the thrush" probably refers to a term that denoted one
bird. Unlike the "swift" and "stork", there are species of
doves that are found year round in Israel and so the dove
seems to be an odd choice for a verse that speaks of how
the birds properly observe their migration. In any case,
translating the word as "seasons" is not necessary in the
context of the verse. The other instances that speak of
"moed" as a counterpart to "new moons" would seem to
work against such a translation. This is why "appointed
times" is a better translation and that in this particular case
it may be a "seasonal appointed time" is irrelevant to the
meaning of the word.


HH: See the further material in a later post to Karl. As for the dove, they do have migration patterns. In fact, besides Jer 8:7, Song of Solomon seems to indicate as much when talking about the advent of spring:

Song 2:12 Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.

HH: Here is a statement verifying dove migration:
http://centralflyway.org/Webless_Intro.html

"In 1966, after mourning dove migration patterns and derivation of harvest from banding analyses indicated doves crossed Flyway boundaries, the mourning dove management units were established.

HH: Here is another statement:
http://www.qacps.k12.md.us/cms/sci/ecogp/doveinfo.HTM

Mourning Dove Migration starts around February depending on cold weather and snow.

HH: The only special name given to doves in the Bible is "turtledove," but doves are spoken of as giving a mourning sound:

Is. 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.

HH: The biblical name for a dove, "yonah," implies a moaning sound. By the way, here's a good site on birds in Israel today:
http://www.geocities.com/jelbaum/Biblebirds.html

HH: Apparently some mourning doves migrate, and others don't (you don't need to read all this):
http://www.savethedoves.org/migration.html

Many aspects of migratory behavior are known to be inherited, but only recently have researchers revealed some of the details. Experiments (Berthold 1996) point to strong genetic control over many of the key components of migratory behavior...if a population is made up of two types of individuals, migrants and non-migrants, the variation must be heritable and have a genetic basis.

The mourning dove's winter range has been gradually moving north year by year, shifting the dynamics of the overall population. It has been hypothesized by dove biologists (Armstrong and Noakes 1983) that successful resident populations could contribute substantially to local recruitment of wintering doves who avoid the hazards of migration and hunting. By remaining year round in the nesting area, resident doves are able to compete more successfully for mates and resources, increasing the length of the breeding season. Furthermore, being the earliest to pair, they are also more likely to select a mate who has also wintered over, genetically reinforcing that behavior in their offspring.

Our resident doves inherently vary from the migrant doves. Unnatural selection imposed by human hunting management schemes could ultimately affect the dynamics of natural selection on Michigan's dove population. The effects of shooting resident birds could, to a greater degree, remove large portions of wintering doves from the overall population. The Atlas of Breeding Birds of Michigan warns that "if the species were hunted here, we would probably lose a large segment of the wintering flock." And we would miss them!

HH: Somebody did a study on the turtledove that seems to resolve the question:
http://www.prophecycorner.com/agee/procon170.html

Over the weekend I went to the library to study more about the TURTLEDOVE. Here is a summary of what I found out. This is from about 7-8 different books and encyclopedias. An atlas on bird migration says the Turtledove migrates to the sub-saharan Africa in winter. It remains there until March, then begins the journey back north. It builds nests in May. This evidently is when the bird gets back to Europe ahd Central Asia. Fall migration -south--may begin in late July; but peaks in August and SEPTEMBER. There are three routes south--one of which is the EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN. This would put the southward migration right through Israel. Most books indicate that the bird migrates to either northern Africa or Mid-Africa. None indicate it actually stops in Israel.

The Encyl. Americana 1991 ed. says the birds"migrate in SEPTEMBER to winter in North Africa." Yet another book says the TD(turtledove) breeds in May -July, and migrates south in August and September. It then returns to the North in April/ May.

GRZIMEKS'S book on animal life says the TD breeds in MAY,JUNE, AND JULY in Northern /Europe and then "forms flocks in AUTUMN prior to Southern Migration.

Note that the Feast of Pentecost is usually at the end of May or early June. This means that the TD in returning North would already have gone back through Israel since it Migrates North in the Months of March and April --arriving in Europe to start nesting in May.The southern Migration is in AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER--THE MONTH OF ELUL. Finally, here is another piece of infor. from the 5 doves site:

"Turtledoves," (26 Aug)
---
The migratory birds of the Bible all arrive in the daylight except the turtledove which arrives at night. They are extremely noisy and attract much attention.

According to an atlas on bird migration. the turtledove arrives in late April and builds nest in May, Perhaps, the real question might be, when do they leave? "Fall" migration peaks in August and September

Yours,
Harold Holmyard






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