call upon examples of pre-Christian times in urging that women seek the beauty of “the secret person of the heart in the incorruptible apparel of the quiet and mild spirit, which is of great value in the eyes of God,” pointing to women such as Sarah who so adorned themselves, “subjecting themselves to their own husbands.” (1 Pet. 3:1-6) Thus, if followed, the Scriptures provide the guide to a proper evaluation of ornamentation and jewelry and good balance in its use.

Both men and women wore ornaments in ancient times, and this was true among the Hebrews. Early mention is made of jewelry in the form of a gold nose ring and also bracelets given to Rebekah by Abraham’s servant. (Gen. 24:22, 30, 47, 53) Joseph, upon becoming Pharaoh’s prime minister, received a gold necklace and the monarch’s own signet ring. (Gen. 41:41-43) Such signet rings or seal rings were common in all the Bible lands, frequently being worn on a cord around the neck. (Compare Genesis 38:18.) They served to affix the signature or official seal of the individual to documents and hence, if granted to another person to carry, identified him as a bona fide and authorized representative of the ring’s owner.

At the Exodus the Israelites obtained many silver and gold articles from the Egyptians, and doubtless from these came many of the brooches, earrings, rings and other items they contributed for the preparation of the tabernacle, even as they had wrongly contributed gold earrings for the forming of an idolatrous calf. (Ex. 12:35, 36; 32:1-4; 35:20-24) The tabernacle and its equipment saw much work by artisans skilled in woodworking and working with precious metals and gems as well as weaving and embroidering. (Ex. 35:25-35) The later temple by Solomon was even more gloriously adorned; its cedarwood panels, doors of oil-tree and juniper wood were carved with such figures as gourd-shaped ornaments, garlands of blossoms, cherubs and palm-tree figures and overlaid with gold, while the two copper pillars in front of the structure had network, chainwork, pomegranates, and lily work adorning their capitals. (1 Ki. 6:18, 29, 35; 7:15-22) Solomon showed great appreciation for artistic beauty and his great gold-overlaid ivory throne, with lion figures alongside each arm and twelve more on the six steps before it, was unique in the ancient world.—1 Ki. 10:16-21.

ORNAMENTATION IN PROPHECY

Because of his blessing upon Jerusalem, Jehovah likened this capital of Judah to a woman clothed with costly garments, richly ornamented and bejeweled. Her loss of spirituality and her spiritual prostitution with the nations led to her being stripped of her adornments and left as if naked. (Ezek. 16:2, 10-39) Such stripping came, not only in a spiritual way, but also literally as her greedy conquerors took the city’s wealth, including the bangles, headbands, moon-shaped ornaments, eardrops, bracelets, veils, headdresses, step chains, breastbands, “houses of the soul” (perhaps referring to perfume receptacles), ornamental humming shells, finger and nose rings that “the daughters of Zion” had worn. (Isa. 3:16-26) It would be a time of mourning, for in mourning ornaments were customarily removed.—Ex. 33:4-6.

However, when Jehovah repurchased Zion from Babylonian captivity, he would figuratively build her with a sapphire foundation, with battlements of rubies and gates of fiery glowing stones, this because of the peace and righteousness he would bring (Isa. 54:7, 8, 11-14) and she would be clothed with bridelike attire and ornaments. (Isa. 49:14-18; compare 61:10.) This latter picture resembles somewhat the description of the New Jerusalem with its pearl gates and gemlike foundations, and its being prepared as “a bride adorned for her husband.” (Rev. 21:2, 9-21) Again, it is evident that the ornaments and adornment relate to spiritual qualities and blessings that result from God’s approval and favor.

By contrast, Babylon the Great, the symbolic woman committing fornication with the kings of the earth, decks herself with royal garb and ornaments and lives in shameless luxury, but is to be stripped of all her gorgeous finery, made naked and destroyed. Her beauty is false, and she ‘glorifies herself’; hence her ornamentation does not represent divine blessing and favor but, rather, her own pretenses and the benefits her harlotrous course pays her in the way of power and wealth.—Rev. 17:3-5, 16; 18:7-20; see ANKLET; BEADS; BRACELET; BROOCH; EARRING, JEWELS AND PRECIOUS STONES; NECKLACE; NOSE RING; RING.

ORNAN

(Orʹnan).

A Jebusite from whom David bought the threshing floor that later became the site for the temple. (1 Chron. 21:18-28; 2 Chron. 3:1) Ornan is also called Araunah.—See ARAUNAH.

ORPAH

(Orʹpah) [possibly, (stiff-)necked, rain cloud, or, gazelle].

The Moabite wife of Chilion, and, like Ruth, a daughter-in-law of Naomi. (Compare Ruth 1:3-5 with 4:10.) After the husbands of all three died, the childless widows, Naomi, Orpah and Ruth, began the journey from Moab to Bethlehem. At a certain point Naomi urged her two daughters-in-law to go back to their mothers’ homes and marry in Moab, but they both kept saying to Naomi, “No, but with you we shall return to your people.” Orpah had dealt kindly with her mother-in-law, for whom she evidently felt considerable affection. (Ruth 1:8-10) Her inclination to continue on with Naomi may have been in part the result of having enjoyed life in an Israelite family. But Naomi now stressed the strong probability that for these two Moabite widows to continue with her might mean a life of widowhood in Judah, inasmuch as Naomi had little hope of remarrying so as to bring forth sons and, even should this happen, she was sure that Orpah and Ruth would not want to wait until such sons matured so that they might perform levirate marriage toward these Moabite widows. Orpah’s affection and appreciation were not enough to keep her going along in the face of such a possible future, and, after much weeping, she bade farewell to Naomi and Ruth, and returned “to her people and her gods.”—Ruth 1:3-15.

ORPHAN

See FATHERLESS BOY.

OSPREY

[Heb., peʹres].

One of the “flying creatures” decreed as unclean and not to be eaten, according to the Law covenant. (Lev. 11:13; Deut. 14:12) Its Hebrew name (peʹres) literally means “the breaker.” Understanding this to refer to the breaking of bones by a bird of prey, the Authorized Version renders peʹres as “ossifrage,” a name deriving from Latin and meaning “bone-breaker.” However, ossifrage in English is rather indefinite, since the name has been variously applied to three distinct birds: the lammergeier or bearded vulture, the giant petrel, and the osprey. The English name osprey, in fact, comes from ossifrage via the Old French osfrai. Others understand the Hebrew name to indicate a bird “tearing its prey” apart, and hence not necessarily denoting a breaker of bones.

The osprey, often called the “fish hawk,” appears to be related to the falcons and hawks but with certain distinct features, including feet with some similarity to those of the owl. The osprey’s head and beak resemble those of the hawk, the body and wings are dark brown above and the underparts are white with streaks of brown. Measuring about two and a half feet (.8 meter) in length, it has a wingspan of nearly six feet (1.8 meters). The osprey is found throughout the world, living near large bodies of water, where it feeds on fish that swim near the surface. The bird glides almost effortlessly above the water, wheeling gracefully and hovering until it locates its prey. Then it plunges swiftly downward, striking the water forcefully feet first, at times disappearing beneath the surface. It is admirably equipped for this type of attack, having dense compact plumage on its underparts to withstand some of the impact of hitting the water, and long, curved, very sharp claws that extend out from rough toes, enabling the bird to get a firm grip on its slippery prey. Observers say that, in flying with the fish to shore to devour it, the osprey always grips the fish so that its head faces forward, thereby reducing air resistance. In Palestine the osprey appears particularly along the Mediterranean coast.

Other suggestions for the bird designated by the Hebrew peʹres include the sea eagle (distinct from the osprey), and the lammergeier, a vulture known to carry bones and tortoises to some height and then drop them on rocks in order to break them open.

[Picture on page 1257]

The osprey, a bird not permitted for use as food under the Mosaic Law

OSTRICH

[Heb., bath hay-ya·ʽanahʹ; r^ena·nimʹ (plural)].

The first of these Hebrew names is understood to mean either “daughter of the greedy one” or “daughter of the barren ground,” terms which may aptly apply to the ostrich. The second name, considered as indicating a “bird of piercing cries,” also fits the ostrich, whose cry is described as a “hoarse, mournful cry which has been likened to the roaring of a lion.”—The Smithsonian Series, Vol. IX, p. 105; compare Micah 1:8.

The ostrich is the largest living bird known, at times standing over seven feet (2 meters) high at the crown of the head and weighing as much as three hundred pounds (136 kilograms). The head is rather small and flat with very large eyes, the flexible neck is three feet (1 meter) long, and, like the powerful legs, both head and neck are bare of feathers. The body plumage, however, is luxuriant, the long soft wing and tail plumes being much prized in ancient and modern times. The sleek black and white plumage of the male contrasts with the dull grayish-brown color of the female. The ostrich is unique among all birds in having but two toes on each foot, one of them equipped with a clawlike hoof that becomes a dangerous weapon when the bird is forced to defend itself. Its height and keen vision, however, usually enable it to spot its enemies from afar and the huge bird then warily moves away.

While the ostrich feeds mainly on vegetation, it is also carnivorous, including snakes, lizards and even small birds in its indiscriminate diet. It is found among the list of ‘unclean’ birds prohibited by the Mosaic law. (Lev. 11:13, 16; Deut. 14:12, 15) Anciently known as the “camel bird,” the ostrich is able to endure for long periods without water and hence thrives in solitary wastelands. It is used in the Bible, along with jackals and similar creatures, as representative of desert life (Isa. 43:20) and to depict the ruinous desolation that became the fate of Edom and Babylon. (Isa. 13:21; 34:13; Jer. 50:39) Job, rejected and detested, sitting among ashes, and mournfully crying out, considered himself like a “brother to jackals” and a “companion to the daughters of the ostrich.”—Job 30:29.

CONTRASTED WITH STORK

Jehovah God later drew Job’s attention to the ostrich, and the things he pointed out strikingly illustrate some of the unusual features of that bird. (Job 39:13-18) In great contrast to the high-flying, majestically soaring storks with their broad powerful wings, the ostrich is flightless, its wings incapable of sustaining the bird’s weight and its flat breastbone lacking the “keel” that supports the flying muscles of birds of flight. The ostrich’s plumes, though lovely, lack even the tiny hooklike filaments that cling together and give the feathers of flying birds the resistance to air that makes flight possible.—Vs. 13.

Again in contrast to the stork, which builds its big nest firmly in the tops of trees (Ps. 104:17), buildings or tall rocks, the ostrich merely scoops out a shallow depression in the ground surrounded by a low embankment. Here the female lays the eggs, weighing some three pounds (1.4 kilograms) each, and, since the ostrich is often polygamous (unlike the stork that is renowned for its fidelity to one mate), there may be a good number of eggs laid in the nest by the two or three hens. The male ostrich warms the nest eggs during the night and the hen incubates them by day, but she is known to leave the nest for periods during the day when the sun is hot. At such times the eggs, though very thick-shelled, are, nevertheless, vulnerable to damage or despoiling by animals or man.—Job 39:14, 15.

‘TREATS SONS ROUGHLY’

The statement that the ostrich “does treat her sons roughly, as if not hers” (Job 39:16) and reference to the ostriches as being “cruel” with respect to their offspring (Lam. 4:3) have been objected to by some who claim that parent ostriches are quite solicitous in caring for their young. While it is true that the Hebrew term (rena·nimʹ) used at Job 39:13 may grammatically apply to either male or female ostriches, some lexicographers understand it to refer to the female birds. This would seem to be the case in view of the connection with the eggs laid, obviously, by the hen bird. Understanding the text to apply thus, then there is certainly good basis for this poetic expression concerning the ‘cruelty’ of the females in the fact that, once the young are hatched, the male “assumes all their care while the hens generally go off together.” (All the Birds of the Bible, Alice Parmelee, p. 207) It is also true that these powerful birds, both male and female, quickly abandon the nest and their young when sensing danger, and even though they may use diversionary tactics to draw enemies away from the nest, this is still ‘rough’ treatment for the unprotected young. The protective coloration given by the Creator alone is what may save the undefended and abandoned chicks, causing the enemy beasts to overlook them and chase after the fleeing parents. The ostrich may properly be termed “cruel,” then, as compared with many other birds and particularly in contrast with the stork, whose affectionate attention and constant concern for its young is proverbial.

‘FORGETS WISDOM’

The ostrich is said to “forget wisdom” and ‘not share in understanding.’ (Job 39:17) Modern observers acknowledge this. “Its greatest weakness is a lack of good sense.” (The World Book Encyclopedia, 1966, Vol. 14, p. 660) The Arabs have a saying “more foolish than an ostrich.” The ostrich tends to run in a large curve, which permits its pursuers, if sufficient in number, to surround it. But on a straight course the ostrich’s powerful legs enable it to ‘laugh at the horse and at its rider.’ (Vs. 18) At full speed its strides lengthen out to cover as much as twenty-five feet (7.6 meters) at a time, and its pace may reach as high as forty miles (64 kilometers) per hour. The