[Heb., derohrʹ].

The Hebrew word derohrʹ is identical in form with a Hebrew word translated “liberty” (Le 25:10; Isa 61:1), and some commentators feel the name describes the graceful free-flying swallow with its uninhibited movement.

Swallows frequently build their cuplike nests (formed of mud pellets) on houses or other buildings, often under the eaves. They at one time nested in the temple structure in Jerusalem, as they do today in similar buildings throughout Israel. Later, sharp golden spikes protruded from the summit of Herod’s temple in order to prevent birds from settling on the building.​—The Jewish War, by F. Josephus, V, 224 (v, 6).

The psalmist, in proclaiming his yearning for the courtyards of Jehovah’s house, makes reference to the swallow’s finding a nest for herself in which to place her young​—yes, right in the temple, evidently somewhere around Jehovah’s “grand altar.” (Ps 84:1-3) As a nonpriestly Levite, the psalmist served at the temple only one week every six months, but he knew that the swallow had a more permanent dwelling there. Thus he expressed his longing to be in the courtyards of Jehovah’s tabernacle as much as possible.

The other reference to the swallow occurs at Proverbs 26:2, where it states that even “as a bird has cause for fleeing and just as a swallow for flying, so a malediction itself does not come without real cause.” (NW) Some translations render the Hebrew instead as a “curse that is causeless [and]  does not alight” (RS; see also AS, Ro) and so consider the text to mean that such a causeless curse does not come to fulfillment or “alight” but, rather, is like the restless flight of the swallow as it continues almost tirelessly on the wing in pursuit of its insect prey. In the surrounding verses the writer is discussing the fool and his ways, and thus in the rendering first cited (NW) the sense may be instead that, even as the flying of the birds when fleeing from danger or searching for food has a real cause, so, too, if a fool’s course brings a malediction upon him, it was not without there being real cause; his foolish course was responsible.​—Compare Pr 26:3; also 1:22-32.

The common or barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is abundant in Palestine. One variety spends the year there, whereas others arrive from southern Africa in March and depart at the approach of winter. Many pass through during migration in the spring and fall. Small, with long powerful wings and, usually, a forked tail, the swallow is a bird of unusually graceful and speedy flight, able to cover long distances in migration. The plumage often has a rich iridescent hue; its song is a pleasant combination of soft twittering and warbling.