Psalms Book 2: An Earth Bible Commentary by Arthur Walker-Jones;

Author:Arthur Walker-Jones;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK

The Wings of a Dove

The psalmist identifies with a dove in Ps. 55:7[6]; by wishing to have wings like a dove. But why a dove? Why not a songbird or an eagle? If the psalmist wants to escape, does it matter what wings they fly away with? Part of the answer to this question has to do with the choice most translators make in translating into English. Dove could have been translated as pigeon, because the same word in Hebrew (yonah) is used for both. In English translations, pigeon tends to be used for sacrifices, often prefixed with “young”, and dove tends to be used for all literal and figurative uses.19 There is, however, no zoological distinction between them, and the two words are sometimes used interchangeably in English. Pigeon used to refer to young birds, especially young doves. Currently, pigeon has come to be “the term that is usually applied to the larger species, and dove to the smaller ones, but they are of the same family, the family Columbidae.”20 Domestic pigeons are a subspecies of the wild rock pigeon (Columbia livia), and the white doves used by magicians and sometimes released at ceremonies are albino domestic pigeons. (Turtledove translates a different Hebrew word, and, although similar looking, they are from a different genus, Streptopelia turtur.) Translators may choose dove rather than pigeon in Psalm 52 because dove has come to have positive connotations and pigeon negative connotations. Woody Allen calls pigeons “rats with wings” in Stardust Memories (1980). “In 2000 London’s Mayor, Ken Livingstone, described pigeons as ‘rats with wings’ and declared war on the world-famous Trafalgar Square pigeons.”21

Yet the negative connotations associated with pigeons are relatively recent. In England, the pigeon was considered a culinary delicacy among the landed gentry, and having a dovecote and raising pigeons was an indicator of class. Laws were passed allowing only landed gentry to raise pigeons.22 Until the invention of the telegraph and the telephone, homing pigeons were the fastest way to send messages and, until very recently, continued to be valued when other methods were not available or failed, especially at sea or during war. Barbara Allen tells the story of one such pigeon during the First World War.

One of the most remarkable pigeons was named Cher Ami (“Dear Friend”), a blue chequered cock, who saved the members of the “Lost Battalion” of New York’s 77th Division of the US Army. On 27 October 1918 at Grand Pré, the soldiers were under heavy attack, and there was only one bird left to be released, the others having perished due to enemy gunfire. Cher Ami was released, and then was hit by enemy fire. But he managed to reach his loft at Rampont, a distance of 40 miles in 25 minutes close to death. The message cylinder was still attached to his wounded leg, which was hanging together by a few strips of sinew. Thanks to his bravery, the battalion was quickly rescued. Cher Ami was awarded the French Croix de Guerre.

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