As an eagle stirs up its nestThis phrase draws a vivid picture of an eagle preparing its young for flight. In the biblical context, the eagle is often a symbol of strength and protection. The imagery suggests God's active role in preparing and guiding His people, Israel, much like an eagle ensures its offspring are ready to leave the nest. This preparation can be seen in God's guidance of Israel through the wilderness, teaching them reliance and trust in Him.
and hovers over its young
The hovering of the eagle over its young signifies a protective and nurturing presence. This reflects God's constant watchfulness and care over Israel. The Hebrew word used here can also imply a gentle movement, indicating God's tender care. This is reminiscent ofGenesis 1:2, where the Spirit of God hovers over the waters, suggesting a creative and life-giving presence.
He spread His wings to catch them
This phrase illustrates God's readiness to support and rescue His people. Just as an eagle spreads its wings to catch its young if they fall, God is depicted as a savior who intervenes in times of trouble. This can be connected to the many instances in the Old Testament where God delivers Israel from danger, such as the Exodus from Egypt. It also foreshadows the ultimate salvation through Jesus Christ, who offers redemption and support to believers.
and carried them on His pinions
The carrying on pinions emphasizes God's strength and the security He provides. In ancient Near Eastern culture, the eagle was a powerful symbol of protection and deliverance. This imagery is echoed inExodus 19:4, where God tells Israel, "I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself." It signifies the divine care and guidance that leads to safety and fulfillment of God's promises. This can also be seen as a type of Christ, who carries the burdens of humanity and offers rest and salvation to those who trust in Him.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
MosesThe author of Deuteronomy, delivering his final messages to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land.
2.
IsraelitesThe chosen people of God, whom Moses is addressing in this passage.
3.
EagleA metaphor used to describe God's care and protection over Israel.
4.
WildernessThe setting where the Israelites have been wandering for 40 years, experiencing God's provision and guidance.
5.
Promised LandThe destination that the Israelites are about to enter, representing God's fulfillment of His promises.
Teaching Points
God's Protective NatureJust as an eagle cares for its young, God is deeply involved in the protection and nurturing of His people. We can trust in His care and provision.
Divine GuidanceThe imagery of the eagle stirring its nest suggests that God sometimes disrupts our comfort to teach us to rely on Him and grow in faith.
Strength in GodLike the eagle carrying its young, God provides strength and support in times of need. We are called to depend on His power rather than our own.
Faith in TransitionAs the Israelites were on the brink of entering the Promised Land, we too face transitions in life. Trusting in God's guidance is crucial during these times.
God's FaithfulnessThe consistent imagery of the eagle throughout Scripture reminds us of God's unwavering faithfulness to His promises and His people.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Deuteronomy 32:11?
2.How does Deuteronomy 32:11 illustrate God's care and guidance for His people?
3.In what ways can we emulate God's nurturing nature in our daily lives?
4.How does the imagery of an eagle relate to God's protection in Scripture?
5.What practical steps can we take to trust God's guidance like Israel?
6.How does Deuteronomy 32:11 deepen our understanding of God's covenant relationship with us?
7.How does Deuteronomy 32:11 illustrate God's care and guidance for His people?
8.What is the significance of the eagle metaphor in Deuteronomy 32:11?
9.How does Deuteronomy 32:11 relate to God's protection throughout the Bible?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Deuteronomy 32?
11.What is the biblical perspective on eagles?
12.Is the concept of a heavenly mother biblical?
13.What does Psalm 103:5 mean about youth renewal?
14.How can one find refuge under His wings?What Does Deuteronomy 32:11 Mean
As an eagle stirs up its nestPicture the mother eagle rustling the comfortable nest so her eaglets feel a sudden instability. She is not being cruel; she is urging them toward maturity.
• In the wilderness Israel enjoyed manna, water from the rock, and a visible pillar (Deuteronomy 1:31). Yet God sometimes “stirred” their comfort—think of the Red Sea crisis (Exodus 14) or the lack of water at Rephidim (Exodus 17:1-7).
• Job observed how the eagle builds high but pushes its young toward the edge (Job 39:27-30). Likewise, our Father disrupts complacency to grow faith.
and hovers over its youngAfter stirring the nest, the eagle circles close, never abandoning her fledglings.
• When Israel faced the pursuing Egyptians, “the angel of God…moved behind them” as a protective screen (Exodus 14:19-20).
•Deuteronomy 31:6 reminds the people, “He will never leave you nor forsake you.” God’s hovering presence reassures while He calls us out of ease.
•Psalm 34:7 echoes the same picture: “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them.”
He spread His wings to catch themIf a young bird falters, the mother swoops under, wings outstretched, bearing its weight.
•Exodus 19:4 recalls the exodus: “I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.”
•Psalm 91:4 promises, “He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge.” God’s wings are broad enough for a nation—and personal enough for an individual refugee like Ruth (Ruth 2:12).
• This imagery highlights both strength and tenderness; the same wings that soar above storms bend low for rescue.
and carried them on His pinionsPinions are the strong, outer feathers that make flight possible. The fledgling ends up gliding on the mother’s lift, not its own.
•Numbers 11:14-17 shows God sharing His Spirit with seventy elders so Moses would not bear the load alone—Israel was held up by divine strength.
•Isaiah 46:3-4 offers a lifelong promise: “I have upheld you since birth…and I will carry you.”
• InIsaiah 63:9 we read, “In all their distress He too was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them…He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.” The entire redemptive journey rides on God’s power, not human capacity.
summaryDeuteronomy 32:11 paints a living portrait of the LORD’s faithful dealings with His people: He disturbs complacency, stays close, rescues when faith wobbles, and ultimately bears the full weight of their journey. Just as an eagle both challenges and carries its young, God lovingly presses us to grow while guaranteeing we will never fall beyond His outstretched wings.
(11, 12) "As an eagle awakeneth her nest,
Over her young she broodeth,
She spreadeth out her wings, she taketh up
each one of them,
She beareth him on her pinions:
Jehovah alone leadeth him,
And a stranger-god is not with Him."
The eagle in Hebrew is masculine. He is one of the creatures that is honoured with a description by the lips of Jehovah Himself inJob 39:27-30. But beautiful as the simile and the description in these places are, they are surpassed in gentleness by our Saviour when He says, "How often would I have gathered thy children together,as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings,and ye would not" (Luke 13:34). . . .
Verse 11. - God's treatment of his people is compared to that of an eagle towards its young (cf.
Exodus 19:4). In the Authorized Version, the apodosis of the sentence is made to begin at ver. 12, and ver. 11 is wholly understood of the eagle and its young. To this arrangement it has been objected that it overlooks the fact that the suffixes to the verbs "taketh" and "beareth" are singulars, and are to be understood consequently, not of the eaglets, but of Israel. It has, therefore, been proposed to render the passage thus:
As an eagle which stirreth up its nest,
fluttereth over its young,
he spread out his wings,
took him up,
and carried him on his pinions.
The Lord alone did lead him, etc. The comparison is thus made to pass into a metaphorical representation of the Lord's dealing with Israel. One feels that there is something violent in this, for whilst God's care for Israel might be fittingly
compared to that of an eagle towards her young, it is less fit to speak of God himself as if he
were an eagle with wings which he spread abroad and on which he bare Israel. The rendering in the Authorized Version is on this account to be preferred, if it can be grammatically vindicated. And this it may on the ground that the suffixes may be understood of the "nest" as containing the young ("continens pro contento," a common rhetorical trope in Scripture; see Glass., 'Philippians Sac.,' p. 686; cf. Virgil, 'AEneid,' 12:475, "nidisque loquacibus escam"); or the young may be referred to individually, "taketh it, beareth it,"
i.
e. each of them; or, if the nest be understood, the whole body of them as therein contained.
Stirreth up her [its]
nesti.
e. its nestlings;
provocans advolandum pullos suos,
Vulgate. This is the explanation usually given of the initial clause of this verse; but its accuracy has been questioned, Furst would render the verb by "watchesover; "but though
הֵעִיר, as the Hiph. of
עוּר, to watch, may have this meaning, it is undoubtedly used generally in the sense of rousing, exciting, stirring up. Knobel retains this meaning, but understands the clause of the exciting of the nestlings by the parent bird coming to them with food. This is certainly more in keeping with what follows; for when the eagle nestles or broods over her young, she does not excite them to fly.
Fluttereth over her young; rather,
broods over,
nestles, or
cherishes (
יְרַחֵפ).
Spreadeth abroad her wings, etc. "I once saw a very interesting sight above one of the crags of Ben Nevis, as I was going in pursuit of black game. Two parent eagles were teaching their offspring, two young birds, the maneuvers of flight. They began by rising from the top of a mountain, in the eye of the sun; - it was about midday, and bright for this climate. They at first made small circles, and the young imitated them; they paused on their wings, waiting till they had made their first flight, holding them on their expanded wings when they appeared exhausted, and then took a second and larger gyration, always rising towards the sun, and enlarging their circle of flight, so as to make a gradually ascending spiral" (Davy, 'Salinertia;' see also Bochart, 'Hierozoicon,' 2:181). The general reference is to God's fostering care of Israel, and especially his dealing with them when "he suffered their manners in the wilderness" (
Acts 13:18), disciplined them, and trained them for what they were appointed to do.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
As an eagleכְּנֶ֙שֶׁר֙(kə·ne·šer)Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5404:The eaglestirs upיָעִ֣יר(yā·‘îr)Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5782:To rouse oneself, awakeits nestקִנּ֔וֹ(qin·nōw)Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7064:A nest, the nestlings, a chamber, dwellingand hoversיְרַחֵ֑ף(yə·ra·ḥêp̄)Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7363:To brood, to be relaxedoverעַל־(‘al-)Preposition
Strong's 5921:Above, over, upon, againstits young,גּוֹזָלָ֖יו(gō·w·zā·lāw)Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 1469:Young birdsHe spreadיִפְרֹ֤שׂ(yip̄·rōś)Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6566:To break apart, disperseHis wingsכְּנָפָיו֙(kə·nā·p̄āw)Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3671:An edge, extremity, a wing, a flap, a quarter, a pinnacleto catch them;יִקָּחֵ֔הוּ(yiq·qā·ḥê·hū)Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3947:To takeHe carried themיִשָּׂאֵ֖הוּ(yiś·śā·’ê·hū)Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5375:To lift, carry, takeonעַל־(‘al-)Preposition
Strong's 5921:Above, over, upon, againstHis pinions.אֶבְרָתֽוֹ׃(’eḇ·rā·ṯōw)Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 84:A pinion
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OT Law: Deuteronomy 32:11 As an eagle that stirs up her (Deut. De Du) 
