| This article is one in a series of studies on animals that are used as metaphors for Jesus Christ - you are currently on the topic that is in bold:
A Dove is a kosher bird. It does not eat carrion, and is known for its style of flight, the beating of its wings, its call, and its peaceful nature. A dove returned with an olive branch to Noah in the Ark after the flood (this is a common symbol of peace after judgement) and the dove was a sacrifice animal for the poor (and was offered by Joseph and Mary after the birth of Jesus). The Holy Spirit also took the form of a dove when it descended on Jesus at his baptism on the Jordan River.
Both the male and the female dove have an important place in the scriptures. A pair of doves was required to cleanse a house after a disease, and one bird was killed, its blood sprinkled on the other bird, and the living bird was released into an open field.
| O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever. (Psalms 74:19)
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Scriptures
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Text:
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| GENESIS 8:6-12
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And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.
| | GENESIS 15:9-10
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And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.
| | LEVITICUS 1:14
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And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the LORD be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.
| | LEVITICUS 5:7-11
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And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder: And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering. And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him. But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a sin offering.
| | LEVITICUS 12:6
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And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:
| | LEVITICUS 14:30
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And he shall offer the one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he can get;
| | LEVITICUS 14:49-53
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And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water: And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet: But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean.
| | LEVITICUS 15:15
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And the priest shall offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD for his issue.
| | PSALM 55:6
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And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
| | PSALM 68:13
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Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.
| | PSALM 74:19
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O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
| | SONG OF SOLOMON 2:14
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O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
| | SONG OF SOLOMON 5:2
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I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
| | SONG OF SOLOMON 6:9
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My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
| | ISAIAH 38:14
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Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
| | JEREMIAH 48:28
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O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.
| | MATTHEW 3:16
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And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
| | MARK 1:10
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And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
| | LUKE 3:22
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And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
| | JOHN 1:32
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And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
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