E

• 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 (Deuteronomy 28:49; 2 Samuel 1:23), its mounting high in the air
  (Job 39:27), its strength (Psalm 103:5), its setting its nest in high places
  (Jeremiah 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 (Matthew 24:28; Isaiah 46:11; Ezekiel 39:4;
Deuteronomy 28:49; Jeremiah 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 Psalm 103:5 and Isaiah
40:31. God’s care over his people is likened to that of the eagle in training
its young to fly (Exodus 19:4; Deuteronomy 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 Isaiah 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 (Leviticus 11:13; Deuteronomy 14:12).