138 SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY. 



passage, says Paxton, the wise man may allude to a species of raven 

 which prefers the valley for her habitation to the clefts of the rock ; 

 or he may, perhaps, refer to some sequestered valley in the land of 

 promise, much frequented by these birds, which derived its name 

 from that circumstance ; or, as the rocky precipice where the raven 

 loves to build her nest often overhangs the torrent (which the orig- 

 inal word also signifies), and the lofty tree, which is equally accept- 

 able, rises on its banks, the royal preacher might, by that phrase, 

 merely intend the ravens which prefer such situations. Bochart 

 conjectures, that the valley alluded to was Tophet, in the neighbor- 

 hood of Jerusalem, which the prophet Jeremiah calls the valley o 

 the dead bodies, because the dead bodies of criminals were cast in- 

 to it, where they remained without burial, till they were devoured 

 by flocks of ravens, which collected for that purpose from the cir- 

 cumjacent country. If this conjecture be right, the meaning of Sol- 

 omon will be this : He who is guilty of so great a crime, shall be 

 subjected to an infamous punishment; he shall be cast into the val- 

 Jey of dead bodies, and shall find no grave, but the devouring maw 

 of the impure arid voracious raven. The wise man insinuates, that 

 tfae raven makes his first and keenest attack on the eye ; which 

 perfectly corresponds with his habits, for he always begins his ban- 

 quet with that part of the body. 



The earliest notice which we have of the raven in scripture, is in 

 the account of the deluge, (Gen. viii. 7;) whence we learn, that on 

 the decrease of the waters, Noah sent out this bold and adventur- 

 ous bird, to ascertain the state of the surrounding country. 



The remarkable occurrence in the history of Elijah (1 Kings 

 xvii. 4 6,) has given rise to considerable discussion. 



Let us suppose, for a moment, that Elijah was concealed in some 

 rocky or mountainous spot, where passengers never strayed ; and 

 that here a number of voracious birds had built their nests on the 

 trees which grew around it, or on projections of rocks, &c.: these 

 flying every day to procure food for their young, the prophet avails 

 himself of a part of what they brought, and while they, obeying 

 the dictates of natnre, designed only to provide for their offspring, 

 Divine Providence directed them to provide, at the same time, for 

 the wants of Elijah; so that what he gathered, whether from their 

 nests, from wliat they dropped or brought to him, or occasionally 

 from both means, was enough for his daily support. ' And the 

 orebim furnished him bread, or flesh, in the morning, and bread, or 

 flesh, in the evening,' But there being a good many of them, Mr. 

 Taylor inclines to think that some of them might furnish bread, and 

 others flesh, at different times ; so that a little from each made up 

 his solitary but satisfactory meal. To such straits was the exiled 

 prophet driven, and such was the dependence of this zealous man 

 of God! 



The objection which has been urged against the raven being em- 

 ployed on this errand of mercy, from its very gross and impure dis- 

 position, may be in some measure removed by considering that the 



