Psalms 104:12

104:12 The birds of the sky live beside them;

they chirp among the bushes. ¹ 

Jeremiah 22:23

22:23 You may feel as secure as a bird

nesting in the cedars of Lebanon.

But oh how you ²  will groan ³  when the pains of judgment come on you.

They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby. ⁴ 

Ezekiel 31:6

31:6 All the birds of the sky nested in its boughs;

under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth,

in its shade all the great ⁵  nations lived.

Daniel 4:21

4:21 whose foliage was attractive and its fruit plentiful, and from which there was food available for all, under whose branches wild animals ⁶  used to live, and in whose branches birds of the sky used to nest –

Obadiah 1:4

1:4 Even if you were to soar high like an eagle, ⁷ 

even if you ⁸  were to make your nest among the stars,

I can bring you down even from there!” says the Lord.

Matthew 13:32

13:32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, ⁹  so that the wild birds ¹⁰  come and nest in its branches.” ¹¹ 

[104:12]  ¹ tn Heb “among the thick foliage they give a sound.”

[22:23]  ² tn Heb “You who dwell in Lebanon, you who are nested in its cedars, how you….” The metaphor has been interpreted for the sake of clarity. The figure here has often been interpreted of the people of Jerusalem living in paneled houses or living in a city dominated by the temple and palace which were built from the cedars of Lebanon. Some even interpret this as a reference to the king who has been characterized as living in a cedar palace, in a veritable Lebanon (cf. vv. 6-7, 14 and see also the alternate interpretation of 21:13-14). However, the reference to “nesting in the cedars” and the earlier reference to “feeling secure” suggests that the figure is rather like that of Ezek 31:6 and Dan 4:12. See also Hab 2:9 where a related figure is used. The forms for “you who dwell” and “you who are nested” in the literal translation are feminine singular participles referring again to personified Jerusalem. (The written forms of these participles are to be explained as participles with a hireq campaginis according to GKC 253 §90.m. The use of the participle before the preposition is to be explained according to GKC 421 §130.a.)

[22:23]  ³ tn The verb here should be identified as a Niphal perfect of the verb אָנַח (’anakh) with the א (aleph) left out (so BDB 336 s.v. חָנַן Niph and GKC 80 §23.f, n. 1). The form is already translated that way by the Greek, Latin, and Syriac versions.

[22:23]  ⁴ sn This simile has already been used in Jer 4:31; 6:24 in conjunction with Zion/Jerusalem’s judgment.

[31:6]  ⁵ tn Or “many.”

[4:21]  ⁶ tn Aram “the beasts of the field” (also in vv. 23, 25, 32).

[1:4]  ⁷ sn The eagle was often used in the ancient Near East as a symbol of strength and swiftness.

[1:4]  ⁸ tc The present translation follows the reading תָּשִׂים (tasim; active) rather than שִׁים (sim; passive) of the MT (“and your nest be set among the stars,” NAB). Cf. LXX, Syriac, Vg.

[13:32]  ⁹ sn This is rhetorical hyperbole, since technically a mustard plant is not a tree. This could refer to one of two types of mustard plant popular in Palestine and would be either ten or twenty-five ft (3 or 7.5 m) tall.

[13:32]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[13:32]  ¹¹ sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.