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Bible Dictionaries
Eagle (2)
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or (ἀετός, Revelation 4:7; Revelation 8:13; Revelation 12:14)
There can be but little doubt that the ‘eagle’ of the English Version ought in most cases rather to be rendered ‘vulture.’ Both the Hebrew word נָשָׁר (in the OT) and the Greek word ἀετός (in the NT) are used to designate ‘vulture’ as well as ‘eagle,’ and it is a bird of this species rather than an eagle that is generally referred to both in the OT and the NT, though in the above-mentioned passages it is just possible that ἀετός may denote an eagle.
Four kinds of vultures are known in Palestine (cf. Tristram, SWP [Note: WP Memoirs of Survey of Western Palestine.] : ‘The Fauna and Flora of Palestine,’ 1884, p. 94), viz. (1) Gypaetus barbatus; (2) Gyps fulvus, or ‘griffon’; (3) Neophron percnopterus, the ‘Egyptian vulture’; (4) Vultur monachus [cf. Post in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) i. 632). The Gyps fulvus or ‘griffon’ is supposed to be referred to in most of the passages in the OT and the NT.
There are said to be eight different kinds of eagle in Palestine: (1) Aquila chrysaetus, or ‘Golden Eagle.’ This is seen in winter all over Palestine, but in summer it is only to be found in the mountain ranges of Lebanon and Hermon. (2) Aquila heliaca, or ‘Imperial Eagle,’ which is more common than the Golden Eagle, and does not leave its winter haunts in summer time. The Imperial Eagle prefers to make its nest in trees rather than cliffs, and in this respect differs from the Golden Eagle. (3) Aquila clanga, or ‘Greater Spotted Eagle.’ (4) Aquila rapax, or ‘Tawny Eagle,’ which is found fairly frequently in the wooded districts of Palestine. This bird breeds in the cliffs, and plunders other birds of their prey. (5) Aquila pennata, or ‘Booted Eagle,’ which is found chiefly in the wooded parts of Galilee, the Lebanon and Phaenicia. (6) Aquila nipalensis, or ‘Steppe Eagle.’ (7) Aquila bonelli, or ‘Bonelli’s Eagle,’ which is not uncommon in the wâdîs and rocky districts of Central Palestine. This bird is more like a falcon than an eagle. (8) Circaetus gallicus, or ‘Short-toed Eagle.’ This is by far the commonest of all Palestinian eagles. They remain from early spring to the beginning of winter, when most of them migrate, probably to Arabia. This fearless and dignified bird is easily recognized by its large flat head, huge yellow eyes, and brightly spotted breast. Its short toes and tarsi are covered with scales which afford it protection against the serpents on which it preys. The abundance of this species is doubtless accounted for by the large number of lizards and serpents found in Palestine. It is found throughout Central Europe, but only rarely; on the other hand, it is seen fairly often in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. It breeds in trees and not on rocks.
In Revelation 4:7 the eagle plays a part in the vision of the throne in heaven: ‘And the first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face as of a man, and the fourth creature was like a dying eagle.’ These four forms, which suggest all that is strongest, noblest, wisest, and swiftest in animate nature, are the same as those in Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 1:10), but here the order is different, and each ‘living creature’ has six wings, while in Ezekiel each has only four wings. Nature, including man, is thus represented before the Throne as consciously or unconsciously taking its part in the fulfilment of the will of the Divine.
In Revelation 8:13; ‘And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are yet to sound,’ the eagle appears as the herald of calamity. The first series of four trumpet-blasts have gone forth, and the forces of Nature have done their work ruthlessly, but the worst is yet to come. The eagle-which, it will be noted, was heard as well as seen-is chosen on account of its swiftness as a fitting emblem of the judgment about to fall upon the pagan population of the world.
In Revelation 12:14 the eagle is the means whereby the woman-i.e. the Christian Church-is conveyed away from the dragon and his fury to a place of safety in the wilderness. The actual event alluded to was no doubt the escape of the Church of Jerusalem to Pella (cf. Mark 13:14 ‘then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains’), though the life of the Church and her members must always to some extent be a solitary life-i.e. in the world but not of it-and her vocation will, from one point of view, always be that of a ‘voice crying in the wilderness.’ Again, in the early days of Christianity persecution made secrecy necessary for the very existence of the Church. The figure in Revelation 12:14 is paralleled in the OT. Thus in Exodus 19:4 Jahweh is represented as saying, ‘Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself,’ while in Deuteronomy 32:11 He is likened unto an eagle: ‘As an eagle that stirreth up her nest, that fluttereth over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bare them on his pinions.’ Lastly, in Isaiah 40:31 the promise to those who shall ‘wait upon the Lord’ is that ‘they shall renew their strength,’ and ‘mount up with wings as eagles.’ In all the passages in Revelation, it is probable that ἀετός denotes ‘vulture’ as elsewhere.
Literature.-For the eagle in Palestine see H. B. Tristram, SWP [Note: WP Memoirs of Survey of Western Palestine.] , ‘The Fauna and Flora or Palestine,’ 1884, pp. 94-101, Natural History of the Bible10, 1911, p. 172ff.; W. M. Thomson, The Land and the Book, new ed., 1910, p. 150f.; E. W. G. Masterman, in Hastings’ Single-vol. Dictionary of the Bible , 200 G. E. Post, in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) i. 632; A. E. Shipley and S. A. Cook, in Encyclopaedia Biblica ii. 1145. On the texts see especially H. B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John2, 1907, ad loc.
P. S. P. Handcock.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Eagle (2)'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/e/eagle-2.html. 1906-1918.
