Charles Ellicott Commentary Deuteronomy 32:11-12

"As an eagle that stirreth up her nest, That fluttereth over her young, He spread abroad his wings, he took them, He bare them on his pinions. Jehovah alone did lead him, And there was no foreign god with him." — Deuteronomy 32:11-12 (ASV)

(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 in Job 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).

Fluttereth. — Or, broodeth, is the word in Genesis 1:2, the Spirit of God brooding over the face of the waters.

(13, 14) The verbs again are all present: He maketh him to ride, etc.