RAVEN; RAVIN

rav'-n, rav'-in: "Raven" (verb) is from "rapine," "violent plundering, used for Taraph, in Genesis 49:27; Psalms 22:13; Ezekiel 22:25,27, while "ravin" (noun) is the object ravened, in Nahum 2:12 the torn carcasses (Terephah). So "ravenous bird" (Isaiah 46:11; Ezekiel 39:4) is a bird of prey (not a "hungry bird"), `ayiT, literally, "a screecher." "Ravenous beast" in Isaiah 35:9 is for parits, "violent one." In the New Testament harpax, "rapacious," is translated "ravening" in Matthew 7:15, while for the cognate harpage (Luke 11:39), the King James Version gives "ravening," the Revised Version (British and American) "extortion."

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.