10:14 My hand discovered the wealth of the nations, as if it were in a nest,
as one gathers up abandoned eggs,
I gathered up the whole earth.
There was no wing flapping,
or open mouth chirping.” 1
32:11 Like an eagle that stirs up 4 its nest,
that hovers over its young,
so the Lord 5 spread out his wings and took him, 6
he lifted him up on his pinions.
46:5 God lives within it, 7 it cannot be moved. 8
God rescues it 9 at the break of dawn. 10
91:4 He will shelter you 11 with his wings; 12
you will find safety under his wings.
His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. 13
1 sn The Assyrians’ conquests were relatively unopposed, like robbing a bird’s nest of its eggs when the mother bird is absent.
2 tn The figure compares the way a bird would teach its young to fly and leave the nest with the way Yahweh brought Israel out of Egypt. The bird referred to could be one of several species of eagles, but more likely is the griffin-vulture. The image is that of power and love.
3 sn The language here is the language of a bridegroom bringing the bride to the chamber. This may be a deliberate allusion to another metaphor for the covenant relationship.
4 tn The prefixed verbal form is an imperfect, indicating habitual or typical behavior. The parallel verb (cf. “hovers” in the next line) is used in the same manner.
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
6 tn The form of the suffix on this and the following verb forms (cf. “lifted him up”) indicates that the verbs are preterites, not imperfects. As such they simply state the action factually. The use of the preterite here suggests that the preceding verb (cf. “spread out”) is preterite as well.
7 tn Heb “God [is] within her.” The feminine singular pronoun refers to the city mentioned in v. 4.
8 tn Another option is to translate the imperfect verbal form as future, “it will not be upended.” Even if one chooses this option, the future tense must be understood in a generalizing sense. The verb מוֹט (mot), translated “upended” here, is used in v. 2 of the mountains “tumbling” into the seas and in v. 6 of nations being “upended.” By way of contrast, Jerusalem, God’s dwelling place, is secure and immune from such turmoil and destruction.
9 tn Or “helps her.” The imperfect draws attention to the generalizing character of the statement.
10 tn Heb “at the turning of morning.” (For other uses of the expression see Exod 14:27 and Judg 19:26).
11 tn Heb “put a cover over you” (see Ps 5:11).
12 tc The Hebrew text has the singular, but the plural should be read. The final yod (י) of the suffix, which indicates the plural, has dropped off by haplography (note the yod [י] at the beginning of the next word).
13 tn Traditionally the Hebrew term סֹחֵרָה (sokherah), which occurs only here in the OT, has been understood to refer to a buckler or small shield (see BDB 695 s.v.). But HALOT 750 s.v., on the basis of evidence from the cognate languages, proposes the meaning “wall.”