Eagles and vultures

Big birds in the Bible.

"‘On Eagles’ Wings’: Comfort and Translation,The bird is most probably not cited in the Bible."  WSJ Opinion (1/6/25)

A dilemma.

Rosemary Roberts, of Waterbury Connecticut, writes:

Eli Federman’s op-ed “The Bald Eagle Is Heaven-Sent” (Dec. 31) brings to mind the beautiful hymn “On Eagles’ Wings,” which is often sung both at Roman Catholic funeral Masses and at many protestant church services. While most of the hymn is based on Psalm 91 from the Old Testament, the refrain is based on Exodus 19:4, when God told the Israelites, after their flight from Egypt, that He had carried them “on eagles’ wings” through their times of trial. The refrain reads:

And He will raise you up on eagles’ wings,

Leon Sutton responds:

Mr. Federman states that the Bible mentions the eagle at least 30 times. The Bible, however, uses the term “nesher.” There is serious scholarship that connects that word with the griffon vulture, the largest bird in that part of the world and a cognate of the Arabic nesra (or nasr), which definitively refers to the griffon vulture.

In ancient times, the vulture wasn’t despised as it is today and was worshiped as a god in several places, including by the Arabians and the Assyrians. It was a symbol of royalty in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.

The bald eagle is a wonderful and fitting symbol for our country, but the eagle is most probably not referred to in the Bible.

Some translators would hold that cultural context counts as much as lexical precision.

 

Selected readings

• "Lexical orientation" (10/12/18)
• "Lexico-Cultural Decay" (10/9/18)

[Thanks to Mark Metcalf]