What does יוֹנָה (yonah) mean in the Bible?
The dove appears as a real bird and as a comparison whose force depends on the passage. Noah's dove returns with an olive leaf, giving him evidence that the floodwaters have receded.
Hebrew · H3123
יוֹנָה
The dove appears as a real bird and as a comparison whose force depends on the passage. Noah's dove returns with an olive leaf, giving him evidence that the floodwaters have receded.
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יוֹנָהH3123
Pronunciationyonah
What does יוֹנָה (yonah) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for יוֹנָה (H3123) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H3123?
The BSB source-word alignment has 31 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include pigeons (8), like a dove (3), like doves (3), are [like] doves (2), pigeon (2).
Where does יוֹנָה (yonah) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 8:8. Its strongest book concentrations include Leviticus (9), Song Of Solomon (6), Genesis (5), Isaiah (3).
What This Word Actually Means
The dove appears as a real bird and as a comparison whose force depends on the passage. Noah's dove returns with an olive leaf, giving him evidence that the floodwaters have receded. Leviticus includes young pigeons among offerings available when a person cannot afford a lamb. In Psalm 55, the speaker longs for a dove's wings so that he might fly away and find rest amid fear.
These settings do not attach one meaning of peace, purity, or divine presence to every dove. Hosea can even compare Ephraim's shifting appeals to a senseless dove, showing how different a prophetic comparison can be. The creature helps readers see an observable change, an accommodated offering, or a desire for escape. The text's own action and explanation must govern what the bird contributes.
How the Bible Uses It
Noah's returned dove, the affordable offering provision, and the lamenter's imagined wings retain separate narrative, legal and poetic functions. Positive associations do not exhaust the bird's use in Scripture.
- Gen.8.11
And behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
The dove brings a freshly plucked olive leaf, and the verse explicitly states that Noah thereby knows the waters have receded; that conclusion is the narrative's own interpretation.
- Lev.5.7
If, however, he cannot afford a lamb, he may bring to the Lord as restitution for his sin two turtledoves or two young pigeons—one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.
Two young pigeons or turtledoves are allowed when the person cannot afford a lamb, with their respective sin-offering and burnt-offering roles stated in the instruction.
- Ps.55.6
I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and find rest.
The speaker wishes for a dove's wings to flee and find rest after describing terror, giving poetic voice to the longing for safety rather than a universal command to abandon others.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itpigeons8×Leviticus 5:7, Leviticus 5:11, Leviticus 12:8, Leviticus 14:22
like a dove3×Psalms 55:6, Isaiah 38:14, Jeremiah 48:28
like doves3×Isaiah 59:11, Isaiah 60:8, Ezekiel 7:16
are [like] doves2×Song Of Solomon 1:15, Song Of Solomon 4:1
pigeon2×Leviticus 1:14, Leviticus 12:6
the dove2×Genesis 8:10, Genesis 8:11
a dove1×Genesis 8:8
and like doves1×Hosea 11:11
are like doves1×Song Of Solomon 5:12
but my dove1×Song Of Solomon 6:9
But the dove1×Genesis 8:9
dove1×Hosea 7:11
doves1×Nahum 2:7
my dove1×Song Of Solomon 5:2
O my dove1×Song Of Solomon 2:14
of the dove1×Psalms 68:13
the dove {again}1×Genesis 8:12
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 8:8הַיּוֹנָ֖הtoa doveArticle | Noun - feminine singularGenesis 8:9הַיּוֹנָ֨הtoBut the doveArticle | Noun - feminine singularGenesis 8:10הַיּוֹנָ֖הtothe doveArticle | Noun - feminine singularGenesis 8:11הַיּוֹנָה֙tothe doveArticle | Noun - feminine singularGenesis 8:12הַיּוֹנָ֔הtothe dove {again}Article | Noun - feminine singularLeviticus 1:14הַיּוֹנָ֖הtopigeonArticle | Noun - feminine singularLeviticus 5:7יוֹנָ֖הtopigeonsNoun - feminine singularLeviticus 5:11יוֹנָה֒topigeonsNoun - feminine singularLeviticus 12:6יוֹנָ֥הtopigeonNoun - feminine singularLeviticus 12:8יוֹנָ֔הtopigeonsNoun - feminine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 8:8
Aligned rows31
Books represented10
Genesis5Leviticus9Numbers1Psalms2Song Of Solomon6Isaiah3Jeremiah1Ezekiel1Hosea2Nahum1
Source forms
הַיּוֹנָ֖ה3xhay·yō·w·nāhGenesis 8:8, Genesis 8:10, Leviticus 1:14
יוֹנָ֑ה3xyō·w·nāhLeviticus 15:14, Leviticus 15:29, Numbers 6:10
וְכַיּוֹנִ֖ים2xwə·ḵay·yō·w·nîmIsaiah 59:11, Isaiah 60:8
יוֹנָ֔ה2xyō·w·nāhLeviticus 12:8, Leviticus 14:22
יוֹנִ֔ים2xyō·w·nîmSong Of Solomon 4:1, Nahum 2:7
יוֹנָתִ֣י2xyō·w·nā·ṯîSong Of Solomon 5:2, Song Of Solomon 6:9
הַיּוֹנָ֨ה1xhay·yō·w·nāhGenesis 8:9
הַיּוֹנָה֙1xhay·yō·w·nāhGenesis 8:11
Parsing patterns
Noun - feminine singular9xLeviticus 5:7, Leviticus 5:11, Leviticus 12:6, Leviticus 12:8
Article | Noun - feminine singular7xGenesis 8:8, Genesis 8:9, Genesis 8:10, Genesis 8:11
Noun - feminine plural3xSong Of Solomon 1:15, Song Of Solomon 4:1, Nahum 2:7
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular3xSong Of Solomon 2:14, Song Of Solomon 5:2, Song Of Solomon 6:9
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k, Article | Noun - feminine plural2xIsaiah 59:11, Isaiah 60:8
Preposition-k | Noun - feminine singular2xJeremiah 48:28, Hosea 7:11
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - feminine singular2xPsalms 55:6, Isaiah 38:14
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k | Noun - feminine singular1xHosea 11:11
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Hear the prayer for rest without pressuring a threatened person to remain in danger for the sake of appearing faithful.
- Explain the offering provision's attention to means without treating contemporary financial gifts as purchases of divine forgiveness.
Avoid claiming...
- The dove does not always represent the Holy Spirit or peace, because Hosea gives the bird an explicitly senseless comparison and other passages describe actual animals.
- The bird offering does not teach that people buy forgiveness with money; Leviticus specifies an accommodated ritual offering within its own covenant instructions.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Symbol of innocence and purity in covenant contexts; also represents vulnerability and gentleness
Source Gloss
a dove (apparently from the warmth of their mating)
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Symbol of innocence and purity in covenant contexts; also represents vulnerability and gentleness
a dove (apparently from the warmth of their mating) BDB: dove Usage: dove, pigeon.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
dove
Showing 1 selected witness from 33 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
יוֹנָה is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Represents naïve and unstable diplomacy.Hosea 7:8-16
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Genesis tells the reader exactly what Noah learns from the dove's return: the waters have receded. That stated conclusion should be heard before a teacher adds a larger symbolic system. Leviticus gives the bird a different task, accommodating an offering to a person's limited resources while specifying its ritual role. Psalm 55 places imagined wings within a frightened speaker's wish for escape and rest.
Hosea's senseless-dove comparison confirms that the same bird can express a failure of discernment rather than ideal innocence. These passages make contextual reading essential. Mark's account of the Spirit descending like a dove is therefore a particular comparison at Jesus' baptism, not a new dictionary definition that transforms every earlier pigeon into the Spirit.
Readers can attend to the creature's contribution without confusing its varied textual roles.
Anchor passage
Gen.8.11
Doctrinal connections
- Genesis 8:11 gives Noah an observable indication of receding waters through the dove's returned olive leaf.
- Leviticus 5:7 accommodates the specified offering when the person cannot afford a lamb.
- Psalm 55:4-8 allows terror and the longing to find rest to be expressed within prayer.
- Hosea 7:11 compares Ephraim's turn toward Egypt and Assyria with a dove lacking discernment.
- Mark 1:10-11 places the dove comparison within the Spirit's descent and the Father's declaration concerning Jesus.
- Matthew 10:16 joins dove-like innocence to serpent-like shrewdness in Jesus' instructions to sent disciples.
The Hebrew lexical witness supports dove or pigeon, while the text identifies what the bird or its young are doing. Turtledoves and young pigeons remain distinguishable in an offering list, and an etymological suggestion does not establish the theological role of every occurrence.
From Old to New Testament
At Jesus' baptism Mark says the Spirit descends like a dove; Matthew's commissioning speech separately calls for dove-like innocence. Both comparisons receive their force from the New Testament speaker and setting, while Noah's returned bird and Leviticus' offering animals retain their stated Old Testament functions.