Love Birds

The annual "wedding season" is upon us, and even if you aren't invited to any nuptials this year, you're probably aware that dove images (and sometimes live doves) are very much connected with weddings. Doves are among the few bird species that mate for life, which is why they have long been associated with matrimony. They are also the most mentioned birds in the Bible and are connected with some pivotal events in the Scriptures. See how much you know about these loving—and highly symbolic—birds.

1. How many times did Noah send out a dove from the ark?
   
2. Why do Christians use the dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit?
   
3. What book refers several times to a man's true love as "my dove"?
   
4. What other birds besides doves could the Israelites offer as sacrifices?
   
5. Which Gospel mentions Jesus' mother Mary offering a sacrifice of doves in the temple?
   
6. Jesus told his followers to be as innocent as doves but as wise as ______.
   
7. What prophet lamented, "We moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none"?
   
8. When Noah's dove returned to the ark a second time, what was in its beak?
   
9. According to the Song of Solomon, the cooing of doves is a sign of what season?
   
10. What Old Testament prophet's name actually means "dove"? (Hint: he was "flighty.")
    

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Word Connections

Novelist Henry James's classic The Wings of the Dove takes its name from what Old Testament book?

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J. Stephen Lang is the author of 15 books about the Bible, including the recently published What the Good Book Didn't Say (Citadel Press) and Talking Donkeys & Wheels of Fire: Bible Stories That Are Truly Bizarre! (Warner).

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