Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

Doth the eagle mount up - The eagle is said to be of so acute a sight, that when she is so high in the air that men cannot see her, she can discern a small fish in the water! See on Job 39:29; (note).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Doth the eagle mount up at thy command? - Margin, as in Hebrew, “by thy mouth.” The meaning is, that Job had not power to direct or order the eagle in his lofty flight. The eagle has always been celebrated for the height to which it ascends. When Ramond had reached the summit of Mount Perdu, the highest of the Pyrenees, he perceived no living creature but an eagle which passed above him, flying with inconceivable rapidity in direct opposition to a furious wind. “Edin. Ency.” “Of all animals, the eagle flies highest; and from thence the ancients have given him the epithet of “the bird of heaven.” “Goldsmith.” What is particularly worth remarking here is, the accuracy with which the descriptions in Job are made. If these are any indications of the progress of the knowledge of Natural History, that science could not have been then in its infancy. Just the things are adverted to here which all the investigations of subsequent ages have shown to characterize the classes of the feathered creation referred to.

And make her nest on high - “The nest of the eagle is usually built in the most inaccessible cliff of the rock, and often shielded from the weather by some jutting crag that hangs over it.” “Goldsmith.” “It is usually placed horizontally, in the hollow or fissure, of some high and abrupt rock, and is constructed of sticks of five or six feet in length, interlaced with pliant twigs, and covered with layers of rushes, heath, or moss. Unless destroyed by some accident, it is supposed to suffice, with occasional repairs, for the same couple during their lives.” “Edin. Ency.”

The Biblical Illustrator

Job 39:27

Doth the eagle mount up at thy command?

The captive set free

Many years had a noble eagle been confined in such a manner that no one had seen it even attempt to raise a wing. It had been cherished and fed that it might be exhibited to visitors and friends. Perfectly subdued, unconscious now of its native power, it remained inactive, and apparently contented, oblivious of the heights it once could soar. But its owner was about to leave for a far country, never to return. He could not take the eagle with him. “I will do,” said he, “one act of kindness before I go, which shall be remembered long after me.” He unloosed the chain from the captive. His neighbours and children looked on with regret that they should see the eagle no more. A moment, and it would be gone forever! But no. The bird walked the usual round, which had been the length of his chain, looked tamely about, unconscious that he was free, and at length perched himself at his usual height. The gazers looked on in wonder and in pity. Brief, however, was their pity. The slow rustling of a wing was heard. It was projected from the body, then folded. Anon it moved again. At last, stretched to its full expansion, it quivered a moment in the air, then folded softly against its resting place. Now slowly and cautiously the eagle expanded the other, and stood at last upon his perch with both wings spread, looking earnestly in the blue sky above. One effort to mount, then another. The wings have found their lost skill and strength. Upward, slowly, still upward--higher and speedier he mounts his way. The eye follows him in vain. Lost to sight, far above tide mountain top he is bathing his cramped wings in misty clouds, and revels in his liberty. Hast thou, O child of God, been pinioned long to the cares and toils of earth, so that thy wings of faith and love have lost all power to rise? Long bound to earth, its hopes and visions, thou canst not shake thy wings at once. The heart tries to mount in prayer, but it tries in vain. Scenes of earth are floating still before the vision, and sounds of earth ring in the ears. But cease not thy efforts. Expand thy soul once more, if only for a little. Raise the wing of thought first--still more, raise it higher yet. (Preacher’s Lantern.)

The eagle

The eagle is built for a solitary life. There is no bird so alone; other birds go in flocks--the eagle never, two at most together, and they are mates. Its majesty consists partly in its solitariness. It lives apart because other birds cannot live where and as it lives, and follow where it leads. The true child of God must consent to a lonely life apart with God, and often the condition of holiness is separation. (A. T. Pierson.)
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John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Doth the eagle mount up at thy command,.... No; but by an instinct which God has placed in it, and a capacity he has given it above all other birds. They take a circuit in their flight, and bend about before they soar aloft: but the eagle steers its course directly upwards towards heaven, till out of sight; and, as Apuleius says^F16Florida 1. , up to the clouds, where it rains and snows, and beyond which there is no place for thunder and lightning;

and make her nest on high? so the philosopher says^F17Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 32. ; eagles make their nests not in plains, but in high places, especially in cragged rocks, as in Job 39:28.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

eagle — It flies highest of all birds: thence called “the bird of heaven.”

Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?

Mount — Flies directly upward 'till she be out of thy sight; which no other bird can do.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

Job 39:27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?

Ver. 27. Doth the eagle mount up at thy command?] Mount plumb up (which no bird else can do) to an infinite height, even out of sight; not without an eye still on her prey, which by this means she spies sooner, and seizeth upon better, Matthew 24:28. A fit emblem of a hypocrite, who seems to soar aloft, but it is for some self and sinister respect: he seeketh not the Lord Jesus Christ (as the sincere hearted do), but his own belly, Romans 16:18.

And make her nest on high] Not in plains, but on lofty tops and inaccessible rocks, for the safety of her young ones. Of the nature of eagles, read Aristotle, De Nat. Animal. lib. 9, cap. 32, and Pliny, lib. 3, cap. 10. They tell us, that there is an enmity between the eagle and the serpent; and because the serpent seeketh to destroy the young eagles, she setteth her nest on high, to safeguard them. And if any man seek to rob her nest, she doubteth not to assault him with her wings and talons. Formidable she is to all birds save only the hawk, who is able to deal with her if he can but avoid the first shock.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Mount up; fly directly upward, till she be out of thy sight; which no other bird can do.

On high; in the highest and inaccessible rocks. Compare Jeremiah 49:16 Obadiah 1:4.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

27.The eagle — Comp. Obadiah 1:4. The climax is reached in the eagle, king of birds, (compare the lion, king of beasts, with which the description commences, Job 38:39,) which, notwithstanding its home “is in the teeth of the rock,” delights in blood. Another marvellous feature of instinct is thus presented, that he who flies so high should stoop so low, so that “wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”

Matthew 24:28. Tristram observes that eagles will not kill their prey, if they can find it ready slain to their hand.

Her nest — his nest. The gender is the same throughout the description.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?

Eagle - it flies highest of all birds: thence called the bird of heaven.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

the eagle

Exodus 19:4; Leviticus 11:13; Psalms 103:5; Proverbs 23:5; Isaiah 40:31; Hosea 8:1

at thy command

Heb. by thy mouth. make.

Jeremiah 49:16; Obadiah 1:4