The Biblical Importance of the Dove
The Biblical Importance of the Dove.
“First this: God created the heavens and the earth – all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.” (Genesis 1:1-2, MSG).
Since the fifth day of creation in Genesis 1:20, birds have held a deep fascination among us humans. “And God said, ‘Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds soar high above the earth across the expanse of the heavens!’ So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was beautiful and excellent. And God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth!” And ever since, mankind has been saying ‘Amen!’ to God’s words of blessing over these birds of His.
Wings of a Dove – Hal Ketchum LIVE! (youtube.com)
The Dove. In biblical terms, the dove wins the prize for the most-mentioned bird in Scripture, over 50 times. The term for the common turtledove (“tor”) is apparently interchangeable with the term for pigeon (“yonah”). Sometimes when we see the word ‘dove’ in one translation, we can easily see the term ‘pigeon’ in another translation. The most common “yonah” in the Middle East is the rock pigeon, also known as the rock dove. These doves are still called carrier pigeons and homing pigeons, because they are able to fly very fast over large areas, and can find their way home from virtually anywhere. These rock pigeons have been easily trained for thousands of years to carry messages over long distances. Both versions of doves in the middle east mate for life, with the male and female establishing themselves as life partners, and thus became a symbol of faithfulness. Doves were renowned for being innocent creatures, harmless, without a hint of aggressiveness. Many thought, then, of the dove as being particularly vulnerable to anything that would wish it harm.
Israel. Time and again in the Hebrew Bible, the beautiful and harmless dove, the Chosen People’s most beloved bird, was a symbol of the nation of Israel. In Psalm 68:13, Israel was told they would be “like the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with shimmering gold.” And then in Psalm 74:19, the Lord was encouraging His people not to surrender to their enemies. “Don’t deliver the life of your turtledove to the beast.” The prophet Hosea particularly likened Israel to a dove: pleading with the people not to be “like an innocent dove, too easily seduced.” (Hos. 7:11). And in Hosea 11:11, the Lord predicted His people would come “fluttering in like a dove” upon returning from exile.
Turtledoves have that particular name because of the beautiful cooing noise they make when they swarm together after migrating in the spring. In ancient times their soft, haunting coo sounds like the word ‘turtle’ with their “turr, turr,” and have been called turtledoves ever since. Their soft murmurs have long been associated with the new life of spring and their welcome beauty after a long winter. “Arise my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.” (Song of Songs 2:10-12). Turtledoves have been a symbol of purity as well ever since the Law of Moses accepted them as one of the “clean” birds pure enough to sacrifice as a sin offering for atonement. The turtledove was declared to be an acceptable substitute for a lamb with those who were poor and couldn’t afford a lamb sacrifice. (Lev. 1:14 and 12:8). With that in mind, the turtledove became a symbol for humility too, and we even see that humility reflected in Jesus’ family as Mary and Joseph were only able to offer two doves at Christ’s dedication at the Temple (Luke 2:22-24).
Rock Doves are so named because they are somehow able to build their little stick nests in tiny rock crevices on a cliffside. The prophet Jeremiah even mentions this in his passage referring to the dove as a symbol for Israel, that they should “Be like the dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave.” (48:28). They were and still are abundant throughout the Middle East, and were undoubtedly the species of dove released by Noah from the ark when the flood stopped (Genesis 8:8-12). Once again, the dove became a symbol of something important… restoration and peace.
Symbols. Keeping count so far, doves are a biblical symbol of the nation of Israel, purity, humility, beauty, new life, gentleness, faithfulness, peace and restoration. But we’re not done yet with the symbolisms of the innocent little dove. Ever since the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, the dove has been a symbol of the Holy Spirit:
“One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy!” (Mark 1:9-11; also refer to Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 3:21-22; and John 1:29-34).
The Holy Spirit descended from the Father in heaven to rest and remain on His Son for His coming ministry. All the qualities that the dove has represented down through biblical history are reminders of the Person and work of God’s Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God in the form of a dove sums up all the symbols of the dove in Scripture. The Spirit was seen to descend from heaven through an opening ripped apart in the sky. The Greek word used for torn apart is “schizo,” which is not at all a gentle little opening made in the sky. That word suggests a dramatic ripping apart of cloth, a violent tearing apart of the fabric of the sky. In Luke’s account, the dove flew to Jesus in a physical form, while in the other gospel accounts the Spirit descended “like a dove.” So whether or not the dove literally came in bodily form to light on the Lord is beside the point. The dove participated in the spiritual anointing by Father God for His Son’s mission as Messiah, the “Anointed One.” Just as the Spirit hovered over the waters like a bird at the first creation, the Spirit once again hovered over the waters of Jesus’ baptism, this time for the new creation as brought about by the life and ministry of Jesus. And what other creature on earth could be more appropriate in this setting, what creature could be more suited for carrying a message of love from the Father to the Son all the way from heaven than a well-trained carrier pigeon, a homing dove?