Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 32:11
As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The passage records Yahweh describing His past guidance of Israel through a barren wilderness, immediately preceding the claim that He alone led them into the land.
The words — כְּנֶ֙שֶׁר֙ (ke./Ne.sher) means "like an eagle," and יְרַחֵ֑ף (ye.ra.Chef) translates to "it hovers." These terms introduce the avian metaphor that structures the verse's description of divine action.
The thread — The motif appears in Exodus 19:4 as a past deliverance claim, in Isaiah 46:4 as a future promise of aging sustenance, and in Isaiah 63:9 as a description of God's presence in affliction.
Why it lands — The text asserts that divine care requires both unsettling preparation and physical support, demanding the reader accept disruption as a necessary precursor to being carried.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:
Cross-references
- Exodus 19:4 ‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
- Isaiah 46:4 Even 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 deliver you.
- Isaiah 63:9 In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
- Isaiah 40:31 But 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.
- Isaiah 31:5 Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.”
- Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
- Revelation 12:4 His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, hurling them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth.