Egg(s)

EGG(S). In OT בֵּיצִ֑ים, eggs; Deuteronomy 22:6, an injunction not to take a mother bird with her eggs, but the eggs only; Job 39:14 speaks of the ostrich leaving her eggs on the ground to be warmed by the sun; Isaiah 10:14 reports the boast of the king of Assyria that he will gather the wealth of the earth as one gathers eggs forsaken in a nest; 59:5 refers to reptiles’ eggs.

In the NT ὠ̂ον, egg; Luke 11:12 refers to the absurdity of thinking that a father would give a scorpion to a son who asked for an egg. Wild birds’ eggs were first gathered for food (Deut 22:6), then eggs of domesticated fowl (possibly, Isa 10:14). By NT times eggs of domesticated fowl were a staple of diet (Luke 11:12). A bird’s egg consists of the yolk, in which is the germ of life, surrounded by the white, an albuminous substance, and a calcareous shell which protects the contents yet can be broken by the chick when it is ready to emerge.

In Job 6:6 KJV, ASV, Moffatt tr. Heb. חַלָּמֽוּת, a plant with thick, slimy juice; purslane, as “white of an egg,” but ASVmg, RSV correct this. LXX guessed “empty words.” The word has always troubled interpreters.