EAGLE (נֶ֫שֶׁר, H5979; ἀετός, G108; KJV EAGLE also RSV, except Prov 30:17; Lam 4:19; Hos 8:1; VULTURE RSV). Eagle occurs more than all other birds of prey and is uniformly tr. in KJV; also, with above three exceptions, in RSV. Its position at the head of the Levitical table suggests great size and this is implied in several contexts; e.g. Exodus 19:4, “I bore you on eagles’ wings.” Other attributes are swiftness and strength—Jeremiah 49:22, “Fly swiftly like an eagle.” It flies high in the heavens (Obad 4), “Though you soar aloft like the eagle.” The root represents a gleaming flash or rushing sound, a bird which streaks through the air (Driver). These facts would apply to either eagles or vultures, and Pal. is rich in these birds—golden, spotted, lesser spotted, Bonelli’s, booted, imperial, tawny, Verraux’s, short-toed and white-tailed eagles; black bearded, Griffon, and Egyptian vultures.

In a few contexts the vulture is clearly meant—e.g. Matthew 24:28, “There the eagles will be gathered together.” These scavengers hang high in the sky great distances apart, and can see when a neighboring bird drops down, so that vultures from a wide area soon collect. This is a habit of vultures generally. An ancient proverb quoted in the Talmud, says that a vulture in Babylon can see a carcase in Pal. The context in Micah 1:16, “Make yourselves as bald as the eagle” suggests the Griffon vulture, whose head is covered with short creamy down, giving the appearance, at a distance, of being bare.

Few people today, other than experienced naturalists, can distinguish between these birds, usually seen at great distances and heights, where color cannot be distinguished. Hebrew נֶ֫שֶׁר, H5979, can thus be taken as a name embracing them all. Several fig. passages reflect interesting beliefs (Deut 32:11), “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,” implies that a hen eagle deliberately disturbs the young, persuades them to take off, and then catches them on her wings if need be, but this has little basis in fact. Young birds spend long periods alone at the nest, esp. as they grow older. Between eight and twelve weeks, according to species, the juvenile becomes fully feathered and begins flapping and exercising its wings, finally becoming airborne. “Flying like an eagle toward heaven” (Prov 23:5), may be connected with an ancient belief that the eagle disappeared into the sun every ten years, to dive down into the sea, like the sun, and emerge refreshed. Pliny wrote of the eagle forcing her young to look straight against the sun’s beam.

The biology of eagles in Pal. is too varied to treat. About three species breed in tall trees or, more often, on cliffs. The others are passing migrants or winter visitors. They feed mostly on live prey, which ranges from young deer to reptiles and insects.

Bibliography G. R. Driver, “Birds in the OT; I, Birds in Law,” PEQ (1955), 5-20, See also Bibliography of Bird Migration.