Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 8:13

"And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound." — Revelation 8:13 (ASV)

INTRODUCTION TO THE LAST THREE, OR WOE, TRUMPETS. AN EAGLE UTTERS THE THREEFOLD WOE.

And I beheld . . .—Better, And I saw, and I heard a single eagle (not “angel,” as in the English version) flying in mid-heaven, saying with a mighty voice, Woe, woe, woe, to those who dwell on the earth because of the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!

The best MS. authority is against the reading “angel,” and in favor of eagle. It is, then, an eagle, a solitary eagle, that moves across the heaven and utters the warning Woe! It flies through the meridian sky and is thus visible to the very horizon. It was an appropriate emblem: high-soaring as the spirit of the seer, its eagle-glance scanned the borders of the earth, caught sight of the coming troubles, and gave warning; swift and strong as the judgments of God, its very form gave emphasis to the warnings of its voice (Deuteronomy 28:49; Hosea 8:1).

And yet the emblem must bring to the minds of God’s children the care of Him who led Israel, instructed him, and kept him as the apple of His eye, and cherished him as an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, and beareth them on her wings (Deuteronomy 32:11). Is it not also a precursor of those eagle-like judgments which fall upon the carcass of dead nations or a dead society?