Deuteronomy 32:11
in Deuteronomy 32As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:
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This verse in Deuteronomy 32
Commentary
4 notes on this verseFinally, listen to Moses saying: He spread his wings and took them, and carried them on his shoulders (Deuteronomy 32:11): just as an eagle carries its offspring, which it is accustomed to examine; in order to hold and nurture those who have the true nature of birth, and to observe the grace of incorruptible nature; or to reject those in whom it has detected the weakness of a degenerate origin at a tender age.
This site's exposition
He found him in a desert land
on Deuteronomy 32:10-12
The eagle stirring her nest is the second use of that image for the exodus, after Exodus 19:4, where God tells Israel he bare them on eagles' wings. Apple of his eye is the pupil, the part of a man that is guarded without any decision to guard it, and Psalm 17:8 and Zechariah 2:8 use the phrase the same way. Verse 12 shuts the door on any partner in the rescue, so sole authorship is settled before the song turns to the charge.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Her nest - Her young ones in the nest; which she by her cry and motion provoketh to fly. Her wings - As preparing herself to fly. On her wings - Or, as on her wings, that is, gently, and tenderly and safely too, as if she carried them not in her claws for fear of hurting them, but upon her wings.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
As an eagle stirreth up her nest - Flutters over her brood to excite them to fly; or, as some think, disturbs her nest to oblige the young ones to leave it; so God by his plagues in Egypt obliged the Israelites, otherwise very reluctant, to leave a place which he appeared by his judgments to have devoted to destruction. Fluttereth over her young - ירחף yeracheph, broodeth over them, communicating to them a portion of her own vital warmth: so did God, by the influences of his Spirit, enlighten, encourage, and strengthen their minds.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The expression [ He kept him ] as the apple of His eye. Verse. alludes to watchfulness, the verse stating that G-d watched over him as He would shield “His own eye.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
THE ETERNAL ALONE DID LEAD HIM — G-d dwells in Israel securely alone; 45 See further,:28. AND THERE WAS NOT WITH HIM — the pronoun referring either to G-d or Israel — ANY STRANGE GOD.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּנֶ֙שֶׁר֙ | kenesher | like an eagle | H5404 → | 26 times |
| יָעִ֣יר | yair | [which] it stirs up | H5782 → | |
| קִנּ֔וֹ | kino | nest its | H7064 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| גּוֹזָלָ֖יו | gozalav | young ones its | H1469 → | |
| יְרַחֵ֑ף | yerachef | it hovers | H7363 → | |
| יִפְרֹ֤שׂ | yifros | it spreads out | H6566 → | |
| כְּנָפָיו֙ | kenafav | wings its | H3671 → | 109 times |
| יִקָּחֵ֔הוּ | yikachehu | it takes it | H3947 → | 966 times |
| יִשָּׂאֵ֖הוּ | yisaehu | it carries it | H5375 → | 656 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֶבְרָתֽוֹ׃ | ʾevrato | pinion its | H84 → |
כְּנֶ֙שֶׁר֙like an eagle
kenesherH5404 →26 times
יָעִ֣יר[which] it stirs up
yairH5782 →
קִנּ֔וֹnest its
kinoH7064 →
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
גּוֹזָלָ֖יוyoung ones its
gozalavH1469 →
יְרַחֵ֑ףit hovers
yerachefH7363 →
יִפְרֹ֤שׂit spreads out
yifrosH6566 →
כְּנָפָיו֙wings its
kenafavH3671 →109 times
יִקָּחֵ֔הוּit takes it
yikachehuH3947 →966 times
יִשָּׂאֵ֖הוּit carries it
yisaehuH5375 →656 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אֶבְרָתֽוֹ׃pinion its
ʾevratoH84 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 40:31But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
it leads to
- Lamentations 3:25–26
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
- 2 Corinthians 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.
- Psalms 27:13–14
Still I am certain to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
- Psalms 103:5
who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9–10
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of…
- Lamentations 3:25–26
Through
Isaiah 46:4Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and…
it leads to
- Psalms 71:18
Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.
- Psalms 48:14
For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even till death.
- Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
- Psalms 71:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, Interrogation of Job and David, Chapter V; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.