Text: Deuteronomy 32:10-11
OT Text Referred to: Exodus 19:4
Subject: eagle imagery for divine care
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): Analogy
Significance: Exodus 19:4 uses eagle imagery to describe the exodus deliverance: "I carried you on eagles' wings (כַּנְפֵי נְשָׁרִים, kanfey nesharim) and brought you to Myself." Deuteronomy 32:10-11 expands this image in the Song of Moses: "Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He spread His wings, He caught them, He carried them on His pinions." The Deuteronomic passage develops the simple metaphor of Exodus 19 into an elaborate depiction of maternal eagle behavior—stirring the nest, hovering, catching, and carrying—presenting God's care during the wilderness wandering as intimate, protective, and pedagogical. Both texts use the rare and vivid נֶשֶׁר (nesher) imagery to portray divine deliverance as tender strength.