God created winged-things (Genesis 1:21; kanaf), and they were preserved in the ark (Genesis 7:14). But there aren’t many references to winged-things in the first book of the Bible.
At the Exodus, Yahweh sprouts eagle wings and carries Israel from Egypt (Exodus 19:4, the first use of pterux in the LXX; cf. Exodus 32:11), and then it seems everyone has wings. We met cherubim outside Eden, but only after the Exodus do we discover that they have wings (Exodus 25:20; 37:9) that spread over the ark cover and form a throne for Yahweh. Israelites offer winged-things as ascensions (Leviticus 1:17), and each Israelite has a tassel on the wing of his robe (Numbers 15:38; Deuteronomy 22:12). A man spreads his wing to cover his bride (Ruth 3:9), and curses fall on this who pull back another’s cover (Deuteronomy 22:30; 27:20). Wings clearly are designed for covering (Isaiah 6:2).
Outside of Revelation, Jesus is the only one in the New Testament who has wings – hen-wings so that, like Yahweh, he can bring His chicks under their shadow (Matthew 23:37; Luke 3:34). He is the only true Israelite, the only winged man, in the entire New Testament.
Israel is formed after the pattern of her Deliverer. The winged God of the exodus makes a winged people, equipped to bring others out of bondage and to fly them to safe havens, winged to re-enact exodus.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Lift My Chin, Lord
Lift my chin, Lord,Say to me,“You are not whoYou feared to be,Not Hecate, quite,With howling sound,Torch held…
Letters
Two delightful essays in the March issue, by Nikolas Prassas (“Large Language Poetry,” March 2025) and Gary…
Spring Twilight After Penance
Let’s say you’ve just comeFrom confession. Late sunPours through the budding treesThat mark the brown creek washing Itself…
