EAGLE

Did you ever see an eagle? There were once a great many among the rocks and mountains of our own country, but they will not stay where there are many people; so they are seldom seen here now. They like to make their nests in high and rocky places, where nobody can find them; as a verse in the Bible says, "Though thou shouldest make thy nest on high as the eagle, yet will I bring thee down from thence." Their nests are not usually made in trees like those of many other birds, neither are they shaped in the same way: they are nothing but a layer of sticks spread flat upon the rock, and covered with some hay or straw. The care of the eagle for her young is spoken of in De 32:11. "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord alone did lead him." This beautifully describes God's care over the children of Israel while they were passing through the wilderness; does it not also well express his kindness to us? These birds fly very swiftly, and you will find verses in the Bible that speak of this. One is De 28:49 . "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, as swift as the eagle flieth." In another place it is said, "His horses are swifter than eagles." Job says, "My days are swifter than a post, (or post-rider;) they are passed away as the swift ships, as an eagle that hasteth to the prey." The eye of the eagle is very curious. It has something like an inner eyelid, only it is very thin; and the eagle can draw this over its eye, like a curtain, whenever there is too much light. You have heard perhaps that it can look directly at the bright sun; and this is the reason. It can see a great deal farther than we can; and when it is very high in the air, so that it would look to you but little larger than a speck, it often sees some small animal on the ground and flies down to catch it. See how well this bird was described a great many years ago: these are the last verses of the thirty-ninth chapter of Job Job 39: "Doth the eagle mount up at thy command and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth upon the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. Her young ones also suck up blood; and where the slain are, there is she." The eagle lives a great many years; sometimes more than seventy, I believe. It sheds its feathers every spring, and new ones come out; then it looks like a young bird. This is why David says in the Psalms, " Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed, (or comes again,) like the eagle's." There is this beautiful verse in Isaiah, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." How blessed and happy a thing it is to be a christian indeed! to "wait upon the Lord" every day for the strength we need; and to be always preparing for that world where the inhabitants are for ever young, for ever active, for ever holy, for ever happy.

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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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Eagle. Eagle
(Herb. 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 (Deut. 28:49; 2 Sam. 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).

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 (Matt. 24:28; Isa. 46:11; Ezek. 39:4; Deut. 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 and 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; Deut. 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 (Lev. 11:13; Deut. 14:12).

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EAGLE. → Forbidden as food Le 11:13; De 14:12 → The swift flight of De 28:49; Job 9:26; Pr 30:19; Jer 4:13; 49:22; La 4:19 → The nest of De 32:11; Job 39:27-30; Jer 49:16 → Carries her young upon her wings Ex 19:4; De 32:11 → The long life of Ps 103:5 → The molting of Mic 1:16 → Gier-eagle Le 11:18 → FIGURATIVE Ex 19:4; De 32:11; Jer 48:40; Ho 8:1 → SYMBOLICAL Eze 1:10; 10:14; 17:3; Da 7:4; Re 4:7; 12:14

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eagle. Eagle, n. a large and furious bird of prey

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Ea″gle (?), n. [[OE. egle, F. aigle, fr. L. aquila; prob. named from its color, fr. aquilus dark-colored, brown; cf. Lith. aklas blind. Cf. Aquiline.]] 1. 1. (Zoöl.) Any large, rapacious bird of the Falcon family, esp. of the genera Aquila and Haliæetus. The eagle is remarkable for strength, size, graceful figure, keenness of vision, and extraordinary flight. The most noted species are the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaëtus); the imperial eagle of Europe (A. mogilnik or imperialis); the American bald eagle (Haliæetus leucocephalus); the European sea eagle (H. albicilla); and the great harpy eagle (Thrasaetus harpyia). The figure of the eagle, as the king of birds, is commonly used as an heraldic emblem, and also for standards and emblematic devices. See Bald eagle, Harpy, and Golden eagle.
2. 2. A gold coin of the United States, of the value of ten dollars.
3. 3. (Astron.) A northern constellation, containing Altair, a star of the first magnitude. See Aquila.
4. 4. The figure of an eagle borne as an emblem on the standard of the ancient Romans, or so used upon the seal or standard of any people.
Though the Roman eagle shadow thee. Tennyson. ☞ Some modern nations, as the United States, and France under the Bonapartes, have adopted the eagle as their national emblem. Russia, Austria, and Prussia have for an emblem a double-headed eagle. Bald eagle. See Bald eagle. — Bold eagle. See under Bold. — Double eagle, a gold coin of the United States worth twenty dollars. — Eagle hawk (Zoöl.), a large, crested, South American hawk of the genus Morphnus. — Eagle owl (Zoöl.), any large owl of the genus Bubo, and allied genera; as the American great horned owl (Bubo Virginianus), and the allied European species (B. maximus). See Horned owl. — Eagle ray (Zoöl.), any large species of ray of the genus Myliobatis (esp. M. aquila). — Eagle vulture (Zoöl.), a large West African bid (Gypohierax Angolensis), intermediate, in several respects, between the eagles and vultures.