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,

Lamentations 4:19

ק (Qof)

4:19 Those who pursued us were swifter

than eagles ³  in the sky. ⁴ 

They chased us over the mountains;

they ambushed us in the wilderness.

Daniel 7:4

7:4 “The first one was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off and it was lifted up from the ground. It was made to stand on two feet like a human being, and a human mind ⁵  was given to it. ⁶ 

Hosea 8:1

God Will Raise Up the Assyrians to Attack Israel

8:1 Sound the alarm! ⁷ 

An eagle ⁸  looms over the temple of the Lord!

For they have broken their covenant with me, ⁹ 

and have rebelled against my law.

Habakkuk 1:8

1:8 Their horses are faster than leopards

and more alert ¹⁰  than wolves in the desert. ¹¹ 

Their horses ¹²  gallop, ¹³ 

their horses come a great distance;

like a vulture ¹⁴  they swoop down quickly to devour their prey. ¹⁵ 

[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.

[4:19]  ³ tn The bird referred to here could be one of several species of eagles, but more likely is the griffin-vulture (cf. NEB “vultures”). However, because eagles are more commonly associated with swiftness than vultures in contemporary English, “eagles” was used in the translation.

[4:19]  ⁴ tn Or “in the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[7:4]  ⁵ tn Aram “heart of a man.”

[7:4]  ⁶ sn The identity of the first animal, derived from v. 17 and the parallels in chap. 2, is Babylon. The reference to the plucking of its wings is probably a reference to the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s insanity (cf. chap. 4). The latter part of v. 4 then describes the restoration of Nebuchadnezzar. The other animals have traditionally been understood to represent respectively Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome, although most of modern scholarship identifies them as Media, Persia, and Greece. For a biblical parallel to the mention of lion, bear, and leopard together, see Hos 13:7-8.

[8:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “A horn unto your gums!”; NAB “A trumpet to your lips!”

[8:1]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “my covenant” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “the covenant I made with them.”

[1:8]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Or “horsemen,” “cavalry.”

[1:8]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.