Guest Author - Diana Pederson

I recently found a series of books on birds, animals, and plants of the Bible that were published in Israel. They seem best suited for young people but adults will enjoy them as well. I find that Bible study comes alive when I understand what certain words mean or find the actual name of birds, animals, and plants. These books will make the Bible come alive for your family.

Uzi Paz and Yossi Eshbol. Birds in the Land of the Bible. Palphot. Ltd. 2004.

Israel has five groups of birds: residents, summer visitors, winter visitors, migrants and vagrants. Vagrants are those birds that show up occasionally when they are not following their normal migration routes. The book is divided into sections for each of these groups.

This is a very colorful, useful book. It presents excellent information on each bird. The text is accompanied by photographs showing the bird in its habitat. I really enjoy learning where in Scripture the bird is mentioned. This isn’t your standard nature guide. You won’t find a detailed description of how to identify the bird but you’ll learn about its life style and where you are most likely to find it.

Dr. David Darom and Yossi Eshbol. Animals of the Bible. Palphot Ltd. 2004.

This book contains wonderful photographs of the various animals mentioned in scripture. It primarily consists of the pictures plus the scripture verse where that creature is mentioned. Unfortunately, many animals from the Bible times have disappeared from Israel.

There is minimal commentary but the author does talk about domesticating the wild cattle so they didn’t disappear forever. I was also surprised by some Biblical words that referred to animals. Therefore, this book shed new light on some verses.

Dr. David Darom. Beautiful Plants of the Bible. Palphot Ltd.

This book taught me some words that were actually plants. It definitely gave new meaning to some scriptures. Each plant illustration is accompanied by the appropriate scripture and a sentence or two about that plant.

Recommendation

I really enjoyed these books because they were written by Israeli experts. Therefore, I assume that they are the most accurate books available on their subject. Each book is nicely illustrated and easy to read. Every Bible student will enjoy these additions to your reference library.