Job 39:27

27 Is it at thy command that the eagle mounteth up, And maketh her nest on high?

Job 39:27 Meaning and Commentary

Job 39:27

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 ^F16, 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 ^F17; eagles make their nests not in plains, but in high places, especially in cragged rocks, as in ( Job 39:28 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F16 Florida 1.
F17 Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 32.

Job 39:27 In-Context

25 As oft as the trumpet [soundeth] he saith, Aha! And he smelleth the battle afar off, The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

26 Is it by thy wisdom that the hawk soareth, (And) stretcheth her wings toward the south?

27 Is it at thy command that the eagle mounteth up, And maketh her nest on high?

28 On the cliff she dwelleth, and maketh her home, Upon the point of the cliff, and the stronghold.

29 From thence she spieth out the prey; Her eyes behold it afar off.