NEST ( qçn ). Used literally of birds’ nests ( Deuteronomy 22:6; Deuteronomy 32:11 , Job 39:27 , Psalms 84:3; Psalms 104:17 , Proverbs 27:8 , Isaiah 16:2 ); metaphorically for a lofty fortress ( Numbers 24:21 , Jeremiah 49:16 , Obadiah 1:4 , Habakkuk 2:9 ); Job refers to his lost home as a nest ( Job 29:18 ); in Genesis 6:14 the ‘ rooms ’ of the ark are (see mg.) literally ‘nests’ ( qinnîm ). In Matthew 8:20 , Luke 9:58 our Lord contrasts His wandering, homeless life with that of the birds which have their ‘nests’ ( kataskçnôseis , RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘lodging-places’).

E. W. G. Masterman.