What is the Great Speckled Bird in the old Roy Acuff gospel song?

the great speckled bird is the bible.

This is an apt description, Biblically - and Lyrically for the song, of the Word of God (referring to the meaning in the original manuscripts), and those who know that it is the work of The Holy Spirit to guide the believers in that which Christ has provided through the Cross and His Resurrection, into becoming a consecrated people known as The Church. The two become One as The Living Word becomes alive in applying scriptures to daily living circumstances and that is the work of The Holy Spirit.And this is the Christian's work of living the Christian life, ie., believing and applyhing the Gospel of Jesus Christ rather than a gospel of tradition or written by man and depending upon The Holy Spirit to accomplish this goal within himself/herself,the believer, who also knows that he/she cannot be righteous in and of themselves. The Bible is explicit in explaining that Holy Men of God have written the words that the Holy Spirit has given them to record; thus the canonizing of that which is known as The Holy Bible and the truest recording of those olden scriptures are given by the Authorized Kings James Version (in my opinion). So to answer the question: it seems correct to think that this Speckled Bird reference is supposed to represent both The Holy Bible and those who follow the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - those who can be considered "True Christians" or true followers of The Lord Jesus Christ.
Another Biblical prophetic description of a true Christian comes to my mind: "Straight is the gate and narrow is the way which ledeth unto life and few there be who find it" (compared to the greater number whose gate is opened as wide as their way to whom Christ will someday say, "Go your way for I never knew you".

SUMMARY:
The bird is a metaphor for being true to the beliefs you know are righteous, no matter what difficulties you may encounter as you try to do so.

In Jeremiah's day, the kingdom of Israel was destroyed. God delivered the people of Israel into the hands of their enemies, because they did not believe the message of the prophets and repent of their sins. (--http://injil.org/TWOR/56.html)

DETAILS:
"Great Speckled Bird"... can be found in Biblical reference of Jeremiah chapter 12--

"Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about
are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come
to devour."

I think the Great Speckled Bird represents righteousness, and the verse tells how hard it is to remain righteous when faced with the temptations of the daily life.

The song continues the thought, in that the singer is granted a place in heaven for remaining righteous:

"I'll be joyfully carried to meet Him
On the wings of that great speckled bird."

Another source quotes this from Jeremiah:
"Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 12, verses 8 and 9:
“My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest
She roars at me, therefore I hate her.
Has not my inheritance become to me like a speckled bird of prey that other birds of prey surround and attack?”

Again, the "inheritance" means the obligation to avoid temptations and remain righteous -- a very hard thing to do.

A third source says:
"And the great speckled bird in the Bible
Represents you, the great church of God."

I'm not sure which church is considered THE great church of God. In this third source, it's the church itself that is the entity that is encouraged to be true to what it knows is right (i.e., remain righteous). In reality, in Jeremiah's day there were no churches. So I think the use of the word "church" here makes the verse more meaningful to Christians. In Jeremiah's day, the events that made Christians come into existence had not happened yet.


WHAT TYPE OF BIRD IS IT?
It's described as a "bird of prey." One source calls it a "brightly colored bird."

If you look at the painting at
nature-discovery.com/ home/nd1/page/37/35
you'll see that the spotted birds of prey are kites, hawks, harriers, etc. Most of the birds in the painting could be considered spotted.

And finally, according to the online Catholic Encyclopedia:
"BIRD, SPECKLED, Hebrew çãbhûá' (Jer., xii, 9). A much discussed translation. The interpretation of the English versions, however meaningless it may seem to some, is supported by the Targum, the Syriac, and St. Jerome. In spite of these authorities many modern scholars prefer to use the word hyena, given by the Septuagint and confirmed by Ecclesiasticus, xiii, 22 as well as by the Arabic (dábúh) and rabbinical Hebrew (çebhôá'), names of the hyena."

Based on Jeremiah 12:9, God said that his people are a great speckled bird. Taken in the Old Testament sense, that would mean the Jews. For Christians, the idea is the church. The song assumes the Christian point of view, because it talks about other Christian beliefs as well.

Old Roy actually misinterpreted Jeremiah 12:9 when he sees the great speckled bird as a positive symbol. Jeremiah was calling out the Israelites for mingling their beliefs with those of the neighboring cultures (hence the bird is speckled and not pure). He calls upon the surrounding peoples to attack Israel.
To Roy, the Bird represents his religion/Faith. Everyone attacks him for it but they can find no fault in it.

The Great Spectled Bird is mentioned in the Old Testament, book of Jeremiah. In the mid 1930s Roscoe Reed and Ben Powers of Wise County, VA wrote the song which was made famous by Roy Acuff.

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