SPARROW (צִפּﯴר֒, H7606; tr. bird RSV, 41 times, KJV, 33; tr. sparrow RSV, 2 times, KJV, 2; tr. fowl RSV, 1 time KJV, 9; στρουθίον, G5141; young sparrow; tr. sparrow all Eng. VSS). It is generally agreed that Heb. tṩippōr is another example of a word having both a general and a more specific meaning as with raven or dove. At this distance it is hard to apportion the uses precisely but it could well be that the narrower tr. sparrow could be used more often. KJV and RSV agree only in Psalm 84:3, “Even the sparrow finds a home...at thy altars”; but in Psalm 102:7, “a sparrow alone on the house top” (KJV), becomes “a lonely bird” (RSV). In the former it could well be the house sparrow, a bird often associated with human habitations, but the latter is more likely to be the blue rock thrush, a solitary bird of rocks and old buildings, and some authorities claim that this is indeed the “sparrow.” There is good evidence for the general use of the word in Genesis 15:10, where it refers explicitly to the turtle dove and young pigeon of the previous verse. The same word is used for (edible) fowls in Nehemiah 5:18; also for the sacrifices of Leviticus 14, and in several other contexts where it is implied that the birds would be eaten. Its general meaning could therefore be any fairly small clean bird, but it stands quite alone and, even more, where it is in contrast with some other named bird it has its specific meaning; e.g. Psalm 84:3: “the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest.”

Στρουθίον is also a general word which needs a qualifying adjective or phrase to denote a particular kind. The Lord’s words in Matthew 10:29 were prob. spoken as He pointed to something that is still common in Arab countries, where small children trap and pluck small birds of all kinds, but esp. larks and finches, and tie them in bundles for sale.

Bibliography G. R. Driver, “Birds in the OT: II, Birds in Life” PEQ (1955), 130. See also Bird Migration.