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Anonymous (Investigator 98, 2004
September)
INTRODUCTION A previous
discussion
focussed on whether
eagles hunt by sight or by smell. (Investigator 34 & 35) In this
article
we'll consider additional Bible statements about eagles.
CATCHES ITS YOUNG The Bible
likened God's
protective care of
Israel to an adult eagle catching its young on its back:
Like an eagle
that stirs
up its nest, that
flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them,
bearing
them on its pinions, the Lord alone did lead them. (Deuteronomy
32:11-12)
I bore you on eagles' wings. (Exodus 19:4) Many commentators denied that such behavior in eagles occurs:It would be no
wise
difficult for an observer
to fancy, in their evolutions, that the old birds actually bore
up the younger ones in the air, as well as fluttered over them. (Hastings et al 1898) …a thing wholly incompatible with flight in any bird. (Orr et al 1930) …naturalists
agree that
this is not confirmed
by observation. (Cansdale 1970)
Palestine has about
ten
species of eagles and
vultures. The Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaetos, has been seen to catch
and
support its young:
…the female of
this
eagle has been seen,
even though only on a few occasions, to catch her falling young and
carry it off on her back... (Grant & Rowley 1963)
…the
female...has been
known to catch her
young on her wings as described in Ex 19:4; Dt 32:11-12. (Fauna and
Flora
of the Bible 1972)
The Grant &
Rowley
reference says "a few
occasions" without specifying any. I've come across the following:
In 1902 S R
Driver quoted
an earlier source:
W. L.
Alexander quotes
from Davy, Salmonia,
p. 87, the following pertinent illustration: "Two parent eagles on Ben
Weevis were teaching their offspring, two young birds, the manoeuvres
of
flight." Rising from the top of a mountain, they "at first made small
circles
and the young imitated them; they paused
on their wings waiting till they had made their first flight, holding them on their expanded wings when they appeared exhausted, and then took a second and larger gyration, always rising towards the sun, and enlarging their circle of flight, so as to make a gradually ascending spiral. The Bible dictionary titled Insight on the Scriptures, sold by the Watchtower Society, quotes two references: …the parent
birds, after
urging, and sometimes
shoving the youngster into the air, will swoop underneath and rest the
struggler for a moment on their wings and back.
(Thomas, W B 1934 The Yeoman's England, London, p135) The Mother
started from
the nest in the crags
and, roughly, handling the young, she allowed him to drop, I should
say,
about ninety feet; then she would swoop down under him, wings spread,
and
he would alight on her back. She would soar to the top of the range
with
him and repeat the process.
(Bulletin of the Smithsonian Institution 1937, No. 167, p302) The Bible therefore appears correct. The problem was that the event is rarely observed. Some skeptics
have
wondered about Psalm 103:5
(God)
satisfies you with
good as long as
you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. (Compare
Isaiah
40:31)
The phrase "youth
is renewed"
is often interpreted
as the molting process whereby the eagle gradually grows new feathers
during
which time the bird is less active. Afterwards the bird is as active
and
vigorous as before. The offer of renewed youth "like the eagle's" could
also imply that eagles have long life spans compared to other birds.
Similarly,
humans who live God's way can anticipate longer than average life.
The book Bird
Life
points out that
small birds such as swallows and robins seldom reach an age of ten
years.
It adds:
…the greatest
ages known
are found amongst
sea birds and large birds of prey which may reach an
age of 30 years. (Perrins 1984) Eagles are "large birds of prey" and a few may have lived to 80 years. (Nicholson nd; Cansdale 1970) In Psalm 103 the
renewed
youth of followers
of God refers to psychological and physical benefits of knowing God and
obeying his commands. A news report in America titled "Studies show
that
people with faith are healthier" started off:
NEW YORK (AP)
–The links
between health
and faith keep accumulating. Two new studies add to evidence that
religious
belief and practice somehow contribute to physical vigor.
While past
research has
found that connection
in religious groups with special dietary and anti-smoking rules, it now
has turned up in large, mainline denominations without the special
disciplines.
Religious
commitment
itself was found to
make the bodily difference…
(The Holland Sentinel, Friday, December 18, 1992; Investigator No. 41, March 1995)
Another debate
arose
because Jesus stated:
This statement is
metaphorical. The "body" refers
to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the eagles refer to the
Roman
armies whose symbol was the eagle.
Jesus' analogy
has been
criticised on grounds
that eagles do not gather around carcases but catch prey individually
and
carry it off. For example:
Incidentally,
he does
not live off carrion
but attacks only living animals. (Zeffer 1866)
One distinction
always
holds good. Eagles
never flock. (Orr 1930)
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The ancient world
did not
always distinguish
vultures from eagles. The two kinds of bird look alike but the vulture
has smaller, softer feathers on the head and neck, and smaller weaker
claws.
Eagles usually carry their prey off, whereas vultures eat on the spot
and
later regurgitate it to their young.
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The Hebrew word "nesher", usually translated "eagle" can therefore sometimes refer to vultures. In Micah 1:16, for example, the phrase "bald as an eagle" could be better rendered "bald as a vulture" since the griffon-vulture has a bare neck and head and is, therefore, "bald". Eagles, in contrast, have neck and head covered with feathers. The Greek "aetos" used in the New Testament may, likewise, apply to both vultures and eagles. Therefore Jesus can be translated as having said, "Wherever the body is, there the vultures will be gathered together." Modern naturalists of course distinguish vultures from eagles. They see eagles as solitary hunters whereas vultures often scavenge in packs. A second response, therefore, is to assume that Jesus did mean "eagle" by our modern classification and show that eagles sometimes scavenge on carcases. Referring to
eagles,
condors, vultures and
other birds of prey the book Bird Life says:
Not all these
birds kill
their prey and
most are not above scavenging from carcasses if they get the
opportunity.
(Perrins, 1984)
Regarding the Imperial Eagle another authority states: "...it often eats carrion." (Felix 1983)
Craighead (1967)
found the
remains of lambs
in nests of golden eagles but suggests, "…these could have been
carrion.
None of our researchers ever saw eagles attacking sheep."
Sometimes,
rarely, eagles
prey in flocks.
Insight
On The Scriptures quotes a 1954 reference:
…a number of
them
launched a mass attack
upon a prong-horned antelope. (Drimmer, F. Editor in
chief, 1954 The Animal Kingdom, Volume 2, p965) Many skeptics
call the
Bible "pre-scientific"
and claim it is full of errors. Further research, however, often proves
the Bible accurate and its critics wrong. Subsequent science corrects
previous
science and proves the Bible true.
REFERENCES Cansdale, G S 1970 Animals
of Bible Lands,
Paternoster, Britain.
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