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You have seen that which I have done to Egypt, and how I have carried you upon the wings of eagles¹, and how I have brought you to me.²

How should we understand the allegory of being carried on eagles’ wings?

The commentaries, of course, differ in their descriptions, and so I review some:

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan

I, God, carried you on clouds—as if on the wings of eagles—from Raamses.

Rashi quoting Mekhilta

The eagle carries its young on its wings, unlike the remainder of birds that carry them between their talons, saying ‘I will receive the attacker’s arrow, and not my child’. So too did God protect us with his angel; and the clouds, rather than the Israelites, received the arrows of the Egyptians.

Rashbam

I brought you on dry land through the Red Sea, just as eagles spend their days in full flight, and you came unharmed under the eagle’s watchful eye.

Ibn Ezra

I, God, carried you from Egypt as if you were upon the wings of eagles, who soar higher than all birds; who fear no other, while others fear them; who brood carefully over their young³; who spread their wings as I have spread my cloud over you for protection.

Seforno

I brought you on a path that no man could traverse alone, as an eagle takes its [flightless] young at great heights. And this I did to separate you from the abominations of the Egyptians in order that you should be mine.

Or Hachayim

See my great love for you, as a father feels love for his child, that I even lightened the labour of your legs, setting the clouds beneath you… And God uses these expressive words to awaken Israel’s love (fear is much easier to teach, and God only hints “that which I have done to Egypt”).

Being taken upon wings means: protection; being set apart; parental love.

Within the Jewish liturgy, we also find God being likened to a winged bird as the carer of Israel. The memorial prayer, el malei rachamim begins thus:

O God full of mercy, who dwells upon great heights: make proper comfort upon⁴ the wings of the Godly presence⁵ … for the soul of [...] who has departed to his world⁶…

Tragically, the world loses many great people⁷, and for some time feels it has been cheated⁸. Dave Burnett always seemed destined to be the eagle, to take others upon and under his wings, and to soar through many worlds of dedicated activism. The many he has touched, and the many more he may have touched if given the chance, only deepens the wound. Hopefully, they too have learnt and some will grow to lead, to fly, themselves. Tragedy brings a need to believe that Dave’s soul will find its nest of heavenly shelter; it will certainly find a cherished home in the memory of the thousands that already miss him.

יהי זכרו ברוך

Notes:

1. “ואשא אתכם על כנפי נשרים”. See Balashon for a discussion of the correct translation of נשר. I am liberally ignoring it here. [↩]
2. Ex. 19:4. [↩]
3. See Deut. 32:11. [↩]
4. Some versions say “beneath”. [↩]
5. “המצא מנוחה נכונה על כנפי השכינה” [↩]
6. Or, לעולמו = “to his eternity”. [↩]
7. מי בקצו ומי לא בקצו? [↩]
8. It shouts a great and bitter cry (ויצעק צעקה גדולה ומרה עד מאד, Gen. 27:34), the distressed call of the deceived. [↩]