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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadMcClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: Cage
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( ëְּìåּá , kelub', öõëáêή ). Bird-cages are named in Jer_5:27;Rev_18:2; and are perhaps implied in Job_41:5, where “playing with a bird' is mentioned. SEE BIRD. In the first of these passages the Sept. renders it by ðáãßò , a snare, implying that it was used for holding decoys with which to entrap other birds until the cage was full— an idea which the derivation of the Hebrews word confirms (from ëָּìִá , to clasp together by the shutting of the valves or trap). This interpretation is therefore better than that of the margin, “coop,” or that of the Talmud, “a place of fattening,” implying that it was used for holding wild or tame fowls until they became fit for the table. The same article is referred to in Sir_11:30, under the term êÜñôáëëïò , which is elsewhere used of a tapering basket. SEE FOWLING. In Rev_18:2, the Greek term is öõëáêή , meaning a prison or restricted habitation rather than a cage. This just suffices to show that the ancient Israelites kept birds in cages; but we have no farther information on the subject, nor any allusions to the singing of birds so kept. The cages were probably of the same forms which we still observe in the East, and which are shown in the annexed engraving. It is remarkable that there is no appearance of bird-cages in any of the domestic scenes which are portrayed on the mural tablets of the Egyptians. In Amo_8:12, the same word kelub' denotes a fruit-basket, so called, doubtless, from its resemblance toa cage. SEE BASKET.