Reference: Eagle
American
Job 39:27-30, a large and very powerful bird of prey, hence called the King of birds. There are several species of eagle described by naturalists, and it is probable that this word in the Bible comprehends more than one of these. The noble eastern species, called by Mr. Bruce "the golden eagle," measures eight feet four inches from wing to wing; and from the tip of his tail to the point of his beak, when dead, four feet seven inches. Of all known birds, the eagle flies not only the highest, Pr 23:5; Jer 49:16; Ob 1:4, but also with the greatest rapidity. To this circumstance there are several striking allusions in the sacred volume, 2Sa 1:23; Job 9:26; La 4:19. Among the evils threatened to the Israelites in case of their disobedience, the prophet names one in the following terms: "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth," De 28:49. The march of Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem, is predicted in similar terms: "Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles," Jer 4:13; 48:40; 49:22; Ho 8:1. This bird was a national emblem on Persian and Roman standards, as it now is on United States' coins.
The eagle, it is said, lives to a great age; and like other birds of prey, sheds his feathers in the beginning of spring, after which his old age assumes the appearance of youth. To this David alludes, when gratefully reviewing the mercies of Jehovah: "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like eagle's," Ps 103:5; Isa 40:31. The careful pains of the eagle in teaching its young to fly, beautifully illustrate God's providential care over Israel, Ex 19:4; De 32:11-12.
The eagle is remarkable for its keen sight and scent. Its flesh, like that of all birds of prey, was unclean to the Jews; and is never eaten by any body, unless in cases of necessity, Mt 24:28; Lu 17:37.
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'Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I took you up upon Eagles' wings, and have brought you unto myself.
"And the LORD shall bring a nation upon thee from afar, even from the end of the world, as swift as an eagle flyeth: a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
As an eagle that stirreth up her nest and fluttereth over her young, he stretched out his wings and took him up and bare him on his shoulders. The LORD alone was his guide - and there was no strange god with him.
Saul and Jonathan lovely and pleasant in their lives, were in their deaths not divided; men swifter than Eagles and stronger than Lions.
They are passed away, as the ships that be good under sail, and as the Eagle that hasteth to the prey.
Doth the Eagle mount up, and make his nest on high, at thy commandment? He abideth in the stony rocks, and upon the high tops of hard mountains, where no man can come. read more. From thence may he behold his pray, and look far about with his eyes. His young ones are fed with blood, and where any dead body lieth, there is he immediately."
Who satisfieth thy desire with good things, making thee young and lusty as an Eagle?
Why wilt thou set thine eye upon the thing, which suddenly vanisheth away? For riches make themselves wings, and take their flight like an Eagle into the air.
But unto them that have the LORD before their eyes, shall strength be increased, Eagles wings shall grow upon them; When they run, they shall not fall; and when they go, they shall not be weary."
For lo, he cometh down like as a cloud, and his chariots are like a stormy wind: his horsemen are swifter than the Eagle. Woe unto us, for we are destroyed.
For thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, the enemy shall come flying as an Eagle, and spread his wings upon Moab.
Thy high stomach and the pride of thy heart have deceived thee; Because thou wilt dwell in the holes of stony rocks, and have the high mountains in possession. Nevertheless, though thy nest were as high as the Eagles, yet will I cast thee down, sayeth the LORD.
Behold, the enemy shall come and flee up hither, like as it were an Eagle and spread his wings upon Bozrah. Then shall the hearts of the worthies in Edom be as the heart of a woman travailing of child."
{Kuf} Our persecutors are swifter than the Eagles of the air, they followed upon us over the mountains, and laid wait for us in the wilderness.
Set the horn to thy mouth, and blow: get thee swiftly as an Eagle into the house of the LORD: for they have broken my covenant, and transgressed my law.
But though thou wentest up as high as the Eagle, and madest thy nest above among the stars: yet would I pluck thee down from thence.
For wheresoever a dead carcass is, even thither will the eagles resort.
"Wheresoever the body shall be, thither will the eagles resort."
Easton
(Heb. nesher; properly the griffon vulture or great vulture, so called from its tearing its prey with its beak), referred to for its swiftness of flight (De 28:49; 2Sa 1:23), its mounting high in the air (Job 39:27), its strength (Ps 103:5), its setting its nest in high places (Jer 49:16), and its power of vision (Job 39:27-30).
Illustration: Griffon Vulture
This "ravenous bird" is a symbol of those nations whom God employs and sends forth to do a work of destruction, sweeping away whatever is decaying and putrescent (Mt 24:28; Isa 46:11; Eze 39:4; De 28:49; Jer 4:13; 48:40). It is said that the eagle sheds his feathers in the beginning of spring, and with fresh plumage assumes the appearance of youth. To this, allusion is made in Ps 103:5; Isa 40:31. God's care over his people is likened to that of the eagle in training its young to fly (Ex 19:4; De 32:11-12). An interesting illustration is thus recorded by Sir Humphry Davy:, "I once saw a very interesting sight above the crags of Ben Nevis. Two parent eagles were teaching their offspring, two young birds, the maneuvers of flight. They began by rising from the top of the mountain in the eye of the sun. It was about mid-day, and bright for the climate. They at first made small circles, and the young birds imitated them. They paused on their wings, waiting till they had made their flight, and then took a second and larger gyration, always rising toward the sun, and enlarging their circle of flight so as to make a gradually ascending spiral. The young ones still and slowly followed, apparently flying better as they mounted; and they continued this sublime exercise, always rising till they became mere points in the air, and the young ones were lost, and afterwards their parents, to our aching sight." (See Isa 40:31.)
There have been observed in Palestine four distinct species of eagles, (1) the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos); (2) the spotted eagle (Aquila naevia); (3) the common species, the imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca); and (4) the Circaetos gallicus, which preys on reptiles. The eagle was unclean by the Levitical law (Le 11:13; De 14:12).
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'Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I took you up upon Eagles' wings, and have brought you unto myself.
These are the fowls which ye shall abhor and which shall not be eaten, for they are an abomination: The eagle, the goshawk, the cormorant, the kite,
but these are they of which ye may not eat: the eagle, the goshawk, the cormorant,
"And the LORD shall bring a nation upon thee from afar, even from the end of the world, as swift as an eagle flyeth: a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
"And the LORD shall bring a nation upon thee from afar, even from the end of the world, as swift as an eagle flyeth: a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
As an eagle that stirreth up her nest and fluttereth over her young, he stretched out his wings and took him up and bare him on his shoulders. The LORD alone was his guide - and there was no strange god with him.
Doth the Eagle mount up, and make his nest on high, at thy commandment?
Doth the Eagle mount up, and make his nest on high, at thy commandment? He abideth in the stony rocks, and upon the high tops of hard mountains, where no man can come. read more. From thence may he behold his pray, and look far about with his eyes. His young ones are fed with blood, and where any dead body lieth, there is he immediately."
Who satisfieth thy desire with good things, making thee young and lusty as an Eagle?
Who satisfieth thy desire with good things, making thee young and lusty as an Eagle?
But unto them that have the LORD before their eyes, shall strength be increased, Eagles wings shall grow upon them; When they run, they shall not fall; and when they go, they shall not be weary."
But unto them that have the LORD before their eyes, shall strength be increased, Eagles wings shall grow upon them; When they run, they shall not fall; and when they go, they shall not be weary."
I call a bird out of the East, and all that I take in hand, out of far countries, as soon as I command, I bring it hither: as soon as I think to devise a thing, I do it.
For lo, he cometh down like as a cloud, and his chariots are like a stormy wind: his horsemen are swifter than the Eagle. Woe unto us, for we are destroyed.
For thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, the enemy shall come flying as an Eagle, and spread his wings upon Moab.
Thy high stomach and the pride of thy heart have deceived thee; Because thou wilt dwell in the holes of stony rocks, and have the high mountains in possession. Nevertheless, though thy nest were as high as the Eagles, yet will I cast thee down, sayeth the LORD.
Thou with all thine heap, and all the people that is with thee, must fall upon the mountains of Israel. Then will I give thee unto the fouls and wild beasts of the field, to be devoured.
For wheresoever a dead carcass is, even thither will the eagles resort.
Fausets
Nesher. Le 11:13. The golden eagle (W. Drake). The griffon vulture; the Arab nisr is plainly the Hebrew nesher. In Mic 1:16, "make thee bald (shaving the head betokening mourning) ... enlarge thy baldness as the nesher," the griffon vulture must be meant; for it is "bald," which the eagle is not. "A majestic and royal bird, the largest and most powerful seen in Palestine, far surpassing the eagle in size and power" (Tristram). The Egyptians ranked it as first among birds. The da'ah (Le 11:14) is not "the vulture" but the black kite. The Hebrew qaarach is to make bald the back of the head, very applicable to the griffon vulture's head and neck, which are destitute of true feathers. The golden eagle; the spotted, common in the rocky regions; the imperial; and the Circaeros gallicus (short-toed eagle), living on reptiles only: Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, October, 1876), are all found in Palestine.
Its swift flight is alluded to, and rapacious cruelty, representing prophetically (Hab 1:8; Jer 4:13) the Chaldean, and ultimately, the Roman, invaders of Israel (De 28:49; Eze 17:3-7). Compare Josephus, B. J., 6. Its soaring high and making its nest in the inaccessible rock, also its wonderful far-sightedness and strength (Job 39:27-30). Ps 103:5 says: "thy youth is renewed like the eagle's"; not as if the eagle renewed its youth in old age, but by the Lord's goodness "thy youth is renewed" so as to be as vigorous as the eagle. The eagle's vigor and longevity are illustrated by the Greek proverb, "the eagle's old age is as good as the lark's youth." Its preying on decomposing carcass symbolizes the divine retributive principle that, where corruption is, there vengeance shall follow. "Wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together," quoted by our Lord from Job 39:30; Mt 24:28 - the vulture chiefly feeds on carcass.
The eagle's forcibly training its young to fly pictures the Lord's power, combined with parental tenderness, in training and tending His people (De 32:11; Ex 19:4). In the law the fostering mother is the eagle, God manifesting His power and sternness mingled with tenderness in bringing His people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; in the gospel the fostering mother is the hen (Mt 23:37), Christ coming in grace, humility, and obedience unto death (Bochart). Subsequently, Christ rescues His people "from the face of the serpent" by giving His church the "two wings of a great eagle" (Re 12:14).
The eagle "hovers over her young" in teaching them their first flight, ready in a moment to save them when in danger of falling on the rocks below. Compare Isa 31:5. God stirred up Israel from the foul nest of Egypt, which of their own accord they would have never left, so satisfied were they with its fleshpots in spite of its corruptions. The "stirring up the nest" spiritually corresponds to the first awakening of the soul; the "fluttering over her young" to the brooding of the Holy Spirit over the awakened soul; the "taking and bearing on her wings" to His continuous teaching and guardian care. The eagle assists the young one's first effort by flying under to sustain it for a moment and encourage its efforts.
So the Spirit cooperates with us, after He has first given us the good will (Php 2:12-13). The eagle rouses from the nest, the hen gathers to herself; so the law and the gospel respectively. The Persians under Cyrus had a golden eagle on a spear as their standard (Isa 46:11). The eagle is represented in Assyrian sculptures as accompanying their armies; Nisroch, their god, had an eagle's head. The Romans had the eagle standard, hence, the appropriateness of their being compared to an eagle (De 28:49).
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'Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I took you up upon Eagles' wings, and have brought you unto myself.
These are the fowls which ye shall abhor and which shall not be eaten, for they are an abomination: The eagle, the goshawk, the cormorant, the kite, the vulture and all his kind,
"And the LORD shall bring a nation upon thee from afar, even from the end of the world, as swift as an eagle flyeth: a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
"And the LORD shall bring a nation upon thee from afar, even from the end of the world, as swift as an eagle flyeth: a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
As an eagle that stirreth up her nest and fluttereth over her young, he stretched out his wings and took him up and bare him on his shoulders.
Doth the Eagle mount up, and make his nest on high, at thy commandment? He abideth in the stony rocks, and upon the high tops of hard mountains, where no man can come. read more. From thence may he behold his pray, and look far about with his eyes. His young ones are fed with blood, and where any dead body lieth, there is he immediately."
His young ones are fed with blood, and where any dead body lieth, there is he immediately."
Who satisfieth thy desire with good things, making thee young and lusty as an Eagle?
Like as birds flutter about their nests, so shall the LORD of Hosts keep, save, defend and deliver Jerusalem.
I call a bird out of the East, and all that I take in hand, out of far countries, as soon as I command, I bring it hither: as soon as I think to devise a thing, I do it.
For lo, he cometh down like as a cloud, and his chariots are like a stormy wind: his horsemen are swifter than the Eagle. Woe unto us, for we are destroyed.
and say, 'Thus sayeth the LORD God: There came a great Eagle with great wings; yea, with mighty long wings, full of feathers of divers colours; upon the mount of Lebanon, and took a branch from a Cedar tree, and brake off the top of his twig, and carried it into the land of Canaan, and set it in a city of merchants. read more. He took also a branch of the land, and planted it in a fruitful ground, he brought it unto great waters, and set it as a willow tree thereby. Then did it grow, and was a great vine stock, but low by the ground: thus there came of it a vine, and it brought forth blossoms, and spread out branches. But there was another Eagle, a great one, which had great wings and many feathers: and behold, the roots of this vine had a hunger after him, and spread out his branches toward him, to water his fruits.
Make thee bald, and shave thee, because of thy tender children: Make thee clean bald as an Eagle, for they shall be carried away captive from thee.
Their horses are swifter than the cats of the mountain, and bite sorer than the wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come by great heaps from far, they flee hastily to devour as the Eagle.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest prophets, and stonest them which are sent to thee: how often would I have gathered thy children together, as the hen gathereth her chicks under her wings? But ye would not.
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, as ye have always obeyed - not when I was present only, but now much more in mine absence - even so work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both the will and also the deed, even of good will.
And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, times, and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
Hastings
(1) nesher, De 32:11 etc., Le 11:13 Revised Version margin 'great vulture.' (2) r
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These are the fowls which ye shall abhor and which shall not be eaten, for they are an abomination: The eagle, the goshawk, the cormorant, the kite,
"And the LORD shall bring a nation upon thee from afar, even from the end of the world, as swift as an eagle flyeth: a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
As an eagle that stirreth up her nest and fluttereth over her young, he stretched out his wings and took him up and bare him on his shoulders.
Doth the Eagle mount up, and make his nest on high, at thy commandment?
His young ones are fed with blood, and where any dead body lieth, there is he immediately."
But unto them that have the LORD before their eyes, shall strength be increased, Eagles wings shall grow upon them; When they run, they shall not fall; and when they go, they shall not be weary."
Thy high stomach and the pride of thy heart have deceived thee; Because thou wilt dwell in the holes of stony rocks, and have the high mountains in possession. Nevertheless, though thy nest were as high as the Eagles, yet will I cast thee down, sayeth the LORD.
Make thee bald, and shave thee, because of thy tender children: Make thee clean bald as an Eagle, for they shall be carried away captive from thee.
Their horses are swifter than the cats of the mountain, and bite sorer than the wolves in the evening. Their horsemen come by great heaps from far, they flee hastily to devour as the Eagle.
For wheresoever a dead carcass is, even thither will the eagles resort.
"Wheresoever the body shall be, thither will the eagles resort."
And the first beast was like a lion, the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, times, and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
Morish
nesher, ?????. This is supposed to be the bird known as the Griffon Vulture or Great Vulture
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'Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I took you up upon Eagles' wings, and have brought you unto myself.
As an eagle that stirreth up her nest and fluttereth over her young, he stretched out his wings and took him up and bare him on his shoulders.
They are passed away, as the ships that be good under sail, and as the Eagle that hasteth to the prey.
Doth the Eagle mount up, and make his nest on high, at thy commandment?
Thy high stomach and the pride of thy heart have deceived thee; Because thou wilt dwell in the holes of stony rocks, and have the high mountains in possession. Nevertheless, though thy nest were as high as the Eagles, yet will I cast thee down, sayeth the LORD.
{Kuf} Our persecutors are swifter than the Eagles of the air, they followed upon us over the mountains, and laid wait for us in the wilderness.
Upon the right side of these four, their faces were like the face of a man, and the face of a Lion: But upon the left side, they had the face of an ox and the face of an eagle.
Every one of them had four faces: so that the one face was the face of a Cherub, the second of a man, the third of a lion, the fourth of an Eagle,
Make thee bald, and shave thee, because of thy tender children: Make thee clean bald as an Eagle, for they shall be carried away captive from thee.
For wheresoever a dead carcass is, even thither will the eagles resort.
And the first beast was like a lion, the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
Smith
(Heb. nesher, i.e. a tearer with the beak). At least four distinct kinds of eagles have been observed in Palestine, viz., the golden eagle, Aquila chrysaetos, the spotted eagle, Aquila naevia, the imperial eagle, Aquila heliaca, and the very common Circaetos gallicus. The Hebrew nesher may stand for any of these different species, though perhaps more particular reference to the golden and imperial eagles and the griffon vulture may be intended. The passage in Micah,
enlarge thy baldness as the eagle, may refer to the griffon vulture, Vultur fulvus, in which case the simile is peculiarly appropriate, for the whole head and neck of this bird are destitute of true feathers. The "eagles" of
Mt 24:28; Lu 17:37
may include the Vultur fulvus and Neophron percnopterus; though, as eagles frequently prey upon dead bodies, there is no necessity to restrict the Greek word to the Vulturidae. The figure of an eagle is now and has long been a favorite military ensign. The Persians so employed it; a fact which illustrates the passage in
The same bird was similarly employed by the Assyrians and the Romans.
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I call a bird out of the East, and all that I take in hand, out of far countries, as soon as I command, I bring it hither: as soon as I think to devise a thing, I do it.
Make thee bald, and shave thee, because of thy tender children: Make thee clean bald as an Eagle, for they shall be carried away captive from thee.
"Wheresoever the body shall be, thither will the eagles resort."
Watsons
EAGLE, ???, Ex 19:4; Le 11:13. The name is derived from a verb which signifies to lacerate, or tear in pieces. The eagle has always been considered as the king of birds, on account of its great strength, rapidity and elevation of flight, natural ferocity, and the terror it inspires into its fellows of the air. Its voracity is so great that a large extent of territory is requisite for the supply of proper sustenance; and Providence has therefore constituted it a solitary animal: two pair of eagles are never found in the same neighbourhood, though the genus is dispersed through every quarter of the world. Its sight is quick, strong, and piercing, to a proverb. In Job 39:27, the natural history of the eagle is finely drawn up:
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'Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I took you up upon Eagles' wings, and have brought you unto myself.
'Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I took you up upon Eagles' wings, and have brought you unto myself.
These are the fowls which ye shall abhor and which shall not be eaten, for they are an abomination: The eagle, the goshawk, the cormorant, the kite,
And he looked on the Kenites, and took his parable, and said, "Strong is thy dwelling place, and put thy nest upon a rock.
"And the LORD shall bring a nation upon thee from afar, even from the end of the world, as swift as an eagle flyeth: a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
Saul and Jonathan lovely and pleasant in their lives, were in their deaths not divided; men swifter than Eagles and stronger than Lions.
They are passed away, as the ships that be good under sail, and as the Eagle that hasteth to the prey.
Doth the Eagle mount up, and make his nest on high, at thy commandment?
Who satisfieth thy desire with good things, making thee young and lusty as an Eagle?
Why wilt thou set thine eye upon the thing, which suddenly vanisheth away? For riches make themselves wings, and take their flight like an Eagle into the air.
And shall break in upon Judah, increasing in power, till he get him by the throat. He shall fill also the wideness of thy land with his broad wings, O Immanuel."
But unto them that have the LORD before their eyes, shall strength be increased, Eagles wings shall grow upon them; When they run, they shall not fall; and when they go, they shall not be weary."
I call a bird out of the East, and all that I take in hand, out of far countries, as soon as I command, I bring it hither: as soon as I think to devise a thing, I do it.
For lo, he cometh down like as a cloud, and his chariots are like a stormy wind: his horsemen are swifter than the Eagle. Woe unto us, for we are destroyed.
For thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, the enemy shall come flying as an Eagle, and spread his wings upon Moab.
For thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, the enemy shall come flying as an Eagle, and spread his wings upon Moab.
Thy high stomach and the pride of thy heart have deceived thee; Because thou wilt dwell in the holes of stony rocks, and have the high mountains in possession. Nevertheless, though thy nest were as high as the Eagles, yet will I cast thee down, sayeth the LORD.
{Kuf} Our persecutors are swifter than the Eagles of the air, they followed upon us over the mountains, and laid wait for us in the wilderness.
Set the horn to thy mouth, and blow: get thee swiftly as an Eagle into the house of the LORD: for they have broken my covenant, and transgressed my law.
But though thou wentest up as high as the Eagle, and madest thy nest above among the stars: yet would I pluck thee down from thence.
But though thou wentest up as high as the Eagle, and madest thy nest above among the stars: yet would I pluck thee down from thence.
Woe unto him, that covetously gathereth evil gotten goods into his house: that he may set his nest on high, to escape from the power of misfortune.
For wheresoever a dead carcass is, even thither will the eagles resort.
"Wheresoever the body shall be, thither will the eagles resort."