What Does the Bible Say About Ravens?

1. Genesis 8:7 — The Flood Raven

[lore] The first biblical raven appears in the flood narrative. After the rains cease, Noah opens the ark window and releases a raven:

"And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth."

The Hebrew word is עֹרֵב (orev). The raven does not return; Noah then sends a dove instead. The text gives no reason for the raven's non-return. Later interpretive traditions (see: Noah and the Raven) added negative or positive readings, but these are not in the text.

2. 1 Kings 17:4–6 — Ravens Feed Elijah

[lore] This is the most striking raven passage in the Bible. God commands Elijah to hide at the brook Cherith and promises divine provision through ravens:

"And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith… And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook."

Ravens are here portrayed as obedient instruments of divine care — agents of provision, not omens of death. This passage is notably at odds with any reading of ravens as universally negative in biblical literature. The fact that God chose an "unclean" bird (per Leviticus 11:15) for this role has been noted by several biblical commentators as theologically significant.²

3. Leviticus 11:15 and Deuteronomy 14:14 — Unclean Birds

[lore] Both Leviticus and Deuteronomy list ravens among the birds Israelites were prohibited from eating:

"Every raven after his kind."

The prohibition is dietary — a food law, not a moral characterisation. Ravens are listed among eagles, ossifrage, osprey, vultures, kites, owls, nighthawks, cormorants, herons, and lapwings. All are birds that eat carrion or prey on other animals. The unclean designation relates to what the bird eats, not to its symbolic status.²

4. Job 38:41 — God Provides for the Raven

[lore] In God's speech from the whirlwind, the raven's young are cited as an example of divine provision over all creation:

"Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat."

Psalm 147:9 echoes the same motif: "He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry." These passages present ravens as creatures under divine care — the same rhetorical frame Jesus uses in Luke 12:24.

5. Luke 12:24 — Jesus and the Ravens

[lore] In the New Testament, Jesus uses ravens in a teaching about anxiety:

"Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?"

The parallel passage in Matthew 6:26 uses "fowls of the air" rather than ravens specifically. Luke's use of κόρακας (korakas — the Greek for ravens/crows) is more specific. The rhetorical function is positive: ravens are an example of creatures God provides for, used to reassure the disciples.

Summary: Are Ravens Positive or Negative in the Bible?

The biblical passages do not give a single uniform verdict:

• Neutral: Genesis 8:7 (the raven simply does not return)
• Negative — dietary law: Leviticus 11:15 and Deuteronomy 14:14 (unclean; not to be eaten)
• Positive — agents of provision: 1 Kings 17:4–6 (feed Elijah by divine command)
• Positive — objects of divine care: Job 38:41, Psalm 147:9, Luke 12:24

The strongly negative "raven as bad omen" reading in Christian tradition is largely a later interpretive development — particularly patristic allegorical reading of Genesis 8:7 — not a simple reading of the texts themselves.²

Related Pages

• Noah and the Raven — Genesis 8:7 examined
• Are Ravens Bad Luck? — the myth examined
• Why are ravens associated with death?