Vulture

A large bird of prey with keen eyesight, often linked to death and ceremonially unclean to eat in the Bible.

WEB-0203_egyptian_vulture
Eagle, vulture

About Vulture

A large bird of prey that eats dead animals (carrion). Vultures in the Holy Land belong to the hawk family (Accipitridae), subfamily Aegypiinae. There are four species:

bearded vulture (also called the lammergeier),

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Habits, distribution, and how translators render the term across languages.

Key References

Leviticus 11:13

Additionally, you are to detest the following birds, and they must not be eaten because they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

Revelation 8:13

And as I observed, I heard an eagle flying overhead, calling in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the remaining three angels!”

Matthew 24:28

Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

All Scripture References (41)

Genesis (1)
Genesis 15:11

And the birds of prey descended on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

Exodus (1)
Exodus 19:4

‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.

Leviticus (2)
Leviticus 11:13

Additionally, you are to detest the following birds, and they must not be eaten because they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

Leviticus 11:18

the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey,

Deuteronomy (4)
Deuteronomy 14:12

but these you may not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

Deuteronomy 14:17

the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant,

Deuteronomy 28:49

The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eaglea nation whose language you will not understand,

Deuteronomy 32:11

As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions.

2 Samuel (1)
2 Samuel 1:23

Saul and Jonathan, beloved and delightful in life, were not divided in death. They were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions.

Job (3)
Job 9:26

They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

Job 28:7

No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.

Job 39:27

Does the eagle soar at your command and make his nest on high?

Psalms (1)
Psalm 103:5

who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Proverbs (3)
Proverbs 23:5

When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

Proverbs 30:17

As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.

Proverbs 30:19

the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship at sea, and the way of a man with a maiden.

Isaiah (3)
Isaiah 18:6

They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey, and to the beasts of the land. The birds will feed on them in summer, and all the wild animals in winter.

Isaiah 40:31

But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 46:11

I summon a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far-off land. Truly I have spoken, and truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, and I will surely do it.

Jeremiah (5)
Jeremiah 4:13

Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!

Jeremiah 12:9

Is not My inheritance to Me like a speckled bird of prey with other birds of prey circling against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; bring them to devour her.

Jeremiah 48:40

For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, an eagle swoops down and spreads his wings against Moab.

Jeremiah 49:16

The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks, O occupiers of the mountain summit. Though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 49:22

Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s mighty men will be like the heart of a woman in labor.

Lamentations (1)
Lamentations 4:19

Those who chased us were swifter than the eagles in the sky; they pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.

Ezekiel (5)
Ezekiel 1:10

The form of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and also the face of an eagle.

Ezekiel 10:14

Each of the cherubim had four faces: the first face was that of a cherub, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.

Ezekiel 17:3

and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers of many colors, came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.

Ezekiel 17:7

But there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers. And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him. It stretched out its branches to him from its planting bed, so that he might water it.

Ezekiel 39:4

On the mountains of Israel you will fall—you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to every kind of ravenous bird and wild beast.

Daniel (2)
Daniel 4:30

the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”

Daniel 7:4

The first beast was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man and given the mind of a man.

Hosea (1)
Hosea 8:1

Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.

Obadiah (1)
Obadiah 1:4

Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.

Micah (1)
Micah 1:16

Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.

Habakkuk (1)
Habakkuk 1:8

Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour.

Matthew (1)
Matthew 24:28

Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

Luke (1)
Luke 17:37

“Where, Lord?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”

Revelation (3)
Revelation 4:7

The first living creature was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.

Revelation 8:13

And as I observed, I heard an eagle flying overhead, calling in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the remaining three angels!”

Revelation 12:14

But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.