Deuteronomy 28:49

28:49 The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth ¹  as the eagle flies, ²  a nation whose language you will not understand,

Isaiah 5:26-28

5:26 He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation, ³ 

he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth.

Look, they ⁴  come quickly and swiftly.

5:27 None tire or stumble,

they don’t stop to nap or sleep.

They don’t loosen their belts,

or unstrap their sandals to rest. ⁵ 

5:28 Their arrows are sharpened,

and all their bows are prepared. ⁶ 

The hooves of their horses are hard as flint, ⁷ 

and their chariot wheels are like a windstorm. ⁸ 

Isaiah 30:16-17

30:16 You say, ‘No, we will flee on horses,’

so you will indeed flee.

You say, ‘We will ride on fast horses,’

so your pursuers will be fast.

30:17 One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier; ⁹ 

at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away, ¹⁰ 

until the remaining few are as isolated ¹¹ 

as a flagpole on a mountaintop

or a signal flag on a hill.”

Jeremiah 4:13

4:13 Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds. ¹² 

The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind. ¹³ 

His horses move more swiftly than eagles.”

I cry out, ¹⁴  “We are doomed, ¹⁵  for we will be destroyed!”

Hosea 8:1

God Will Raise Up the Assyrians to Attack Israel

8:1 Sound the alarm! ¹⁶ 

An eagle ¹⁷  looms over the temple of the Lord!

For they have broken their covenant with me, ¹⁸ 

and have rebelled against my law.

Habakkuk 1:8

1:8 Their horses are faster than leopards

and more alert ¹⁹  than wolves in the desert. ²⁰ 

Their horses ²¹  gallop, ²² 

their horses come a great distance;

like a vulture ²³  they swoop down quickly to devour their prey. ²⁴ 

Matthew 24:27-28

24:27 For just like the lightning ²⁵  comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 24:28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures ²⁶  will gather. ²⁷ 

[28:49]  ¹ tn Heb “from the end of the earth.”

[28:49]  ² tn Some translations understand this to mean “like an eagle swoops down” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), comparing the swift attack of an eagle to the attack of the Israelites’ enemies.

[5:26]  ³ tc The Hebrew text has literally, “for nations from a distance.” The following verses use singular forms to describe this nation, so the final mem (ם) on לְגּוֹיִם (lÿgoyim) may be enclitic or dittographic. In the latter case one could read לְגוֹי מֵרָחוֹק (lÿgoy merakhoq, “for a nation from a distance”; see Deut 28:49; Joel 3:8). Another possibility is to emend the text from לַגּוֹיִם מֵרָחוֹק (laggoyim merakhoq) to לְגוֹי מִמֶּרְחָק (lÿgoy mimmerkhaq, “for a nation from a distant place”) a phrase which occurs in Jer 5:15. In this case an error of misdivision has occurred in MT, the mem of the prefixed preposition being accidentally taken as a plural ending on the preceding word.

[5:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “he.” Singular forms are used throughout vv. 26-30 to describe this nation, but for stylistic reasons the translation uses the plural for these collective singulars.

[5:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the belt on his waist is not opened, and the thong of his sandals is not torn in two.”

[5:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “bent” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “are strung.”

[5:28]  ⁷ tn Heb “regarded like flint.”

[5:28]  ⁸ sn They are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way they kick up dust.

[30:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “One thousand from before [or “because of”] one battle cry.” גְּעָרָה (gÿ’arah) is often defined as “threat,” but in war contexts it likely refers to a shout or battle cry. See Ps 76:6.

[30:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from before [or “because of”] the battle cry of five you will flee.

[30:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “until you are left” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[4:13]  ¹² tn Heb “he is coming up like clouds.” The words “The enemy” are supplied in the translation to identify the referent and the word “gathering” is supplied to try to convey the significance of the simile, i.e., that of quantity and of an approaching storm.

[4:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “his chariots [are] like a whirlwind.” The words “roar” and “sound” are supplied in the translation to clarify the significance of the simile.

[4:13]  ¹⁴ tn The words “I cry out” are not in the text, but the words that follow are obviously not the Lord’s. They are either those of the people or of Jeremiah. Taking them as Jeremiah’s parallels the interjection of Jeremiah’s response in 4:10 which is formally introduced.

[4:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Woe to us!” The words “woe to” are common in funeral laments and at the beginning of oracles of judgment. In many contexts they carry the connotation of hopelessness or apprehensiveness of inevitable doom.

[8:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “A horn unto your gums!”; NAB “A trumpet to your lips!”

[8:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or perhaps “A vulture.” Some identify the species indicated by the Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) as the griffon vulture (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[8:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “my covenant” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “the covenant I made with them.”

[1:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “sharper,” in the sense of “keener” or “more alert.” Some translate “quicker” on the basis of the parallelism with the first line (see HALOT 291 s.v. חדד).

[1:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “wolves of the evening,” that is, wolves that prowl at night. The present translation assumes an emendation to עֲרָבָה (’aravah, “desert”). On this phrase see also Zeph 3:3.

[1:8]  ²¹ tn Or “horsemen,” “cavalry.”

[1:8]  ²² tn The precise nuance of the rare verb פָּוַשׁ (parash) is unclear here. Elsewhere it is used of animals jumping or leaping (see Jer 50:11; Mal 4:2).

[1:8]  ²³ tn Or “eagle” (so NASB, NRSV). The term can refer to either eagles or vultures, but in this context of gruesome destruction and death “vulture” is preferred.

[1:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they fly like a vulture/an eagle quickly to devour.” The direct object “their prey” is not included in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:27]  ²⁵ sn The Son of Man’s coming in power will be sudden and obvious like lightning. No one will need to point it out.

[24:28]  ²⁶ tn The same Greek term can refer to “eagles” or “vultures” (L&N 4.42; BDAG 22 s.v. ἀετός), but in this context it must mean vultures because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed by scavengers.

[24:28]  ²⁷ tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.