WINGS
Wings
wingz (, kanaph; , pterux): Biblical references to the wings of birds are common, especially in Psalms, many of them exquisitely poetical. Often the wings of an eagle are mentioned because they are from 7 to 9 feet in sweep, of untiring flight, and have strength to carry heavy burdens: so they became the symbol of strength and endurance. Ancient monuments and obelisks are covered with the heads of bulls, lions, different animals, and men even, to which the wings of an eagle were added to symbolize strength. Sometimes the wings of a stork are used to portray strong flight, as in the vision of Zechariah: Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there came forth two women, and the wind was in their wings; now they had wings like the wings of a stork; and they lifted up the ephah between earth and heaven (Zec 5:9). The wings of a dove symbolized love. Wings in the abstract typified shelter, strength or speed, as a rule, while in some instances their use was ingenious and extremely poetical, as when Job records that the Almighty used wings to indicate migration: And stretcheth her wings toward the south (Job 39:26). In Psa 17:8 there is a wonderful poetical imagery in the plea, Hide me under the shadow of thy wings. In Psa 18:10 there is a reference to the wings of the wind. And in Psa 55:6 the Psalmist cries, Oh that I had wings like a dove! The brightness and peace of prosperous times are beautifully described in Psa 68:13, the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her pinions with pale green gold.’ The first rays of dawn are compared to the wings of the morning (Psa 139:9). Solomon was thinking of the swiftness of wings when he said, For riches’ certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flieth toward heaven (Pro 23:5). So also was Isaiah in Isa 40:31, They that wait for Yahweh shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint. In Mal 4:2 the King James Version, there is a beautiful reference, But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings. the Revised Version (British and American) changes his to its. Wings as an emblem of love were used by Jesus in the cry, O Jerusalem … how often would I have gathered thy children … as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings (Mat 23:37).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Wings
Used as a symbol of protection. Under ‘the shadow of God’s wings’ is referred to in the Psalms; and the Lord said He would often have gathered Israel as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but they would not. Psa 17:8; Psa 36:7; Psa 57:1; Mat 23:37; etc. Wings were given for rapid motion. The living creatures in Ezek. 1, had each four wings, and those in Isa 6:2 and Rev 4, had each of them six wings. God’s executives are swift messengers.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
WINGS
Wings according to the natural use of them, are for covering and brooding; and in this sense the symbol of protection; as in Rth 2:12; Psa 17:8; Psa 91:4; Mal 4:2; Matt. xxiii. 37. Agreeably to this Iolaus in Euripides,f1 to express that the children of Hercules were under his protection after the father’s death, saith they were under his wings. And Megara, speaking of the same children, says, ” She preserved them under her wings as a hen her young ones.” Eurip. Here. Fur. ver. 71.
It may be observed, that a wing is called in Hebrew , H3671 and that word signifies a covering in Deu 22:30, Deu 27:20, and in Eze 5:3; that is, the wing or cap of a garment to cover withal the nakedness. So that as covering is protection, so the wing is a proper symbol thereof, just as a tabernacle is a covering in hot countries, and is therefore a symbol of protection.
So the fortress in Babylon was called ,f2 wings, from the protection it pretended to afford. On which account Vegetius says, “Equitum al ab eo dicuntur quod ad similitudinem alarum protegant aciem.”f3
Another use of wings is to carry away or help in flight; and in this case also, wings are the symbol of protection. Thus in Exo 19:4, God saith to the Israelites, after he had delivered them from Pharaoh, and caused them to pass safely into the wilderness, “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself;” which is further enlarged upon in Deu 32:11-12, “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreading abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.”
Upon the account of wings being the symbol of protection, some of the Egyptians called their god (whom they looked upon as from everlasting and immortal) ,* that is, the wing, or , as Strabo writes it with the Greek termination. And they also represented him with a wing upon his head as the symbol of his royalty; the chief notion of the deity and of kings, being that of protectors. And therefore is the true God, upon the account of his being the great protector, styled in 1Ti 4:10, , the Saviour of all men.
Wings, when used to fly upwards, are the symbols of exaltation. And thus in Isa 40:31, ” to mount up with wings as eagles,” is to be highly exalted.
The interpretation of the Oriental Oneirocritics is exactly agreeable to what has been said.
Persons invested with riches, power, and authority, are the best enabled to give defence and protection. And therefore in ch. 286., the wing is made the symbol of power and dignity. And as to the wings of an eagle in particular, ” If a king dreams of finding an eagle’s wings, it denotes that he shall obtain greater glory and riches than the kings his predecessors;” and ” if a private person have such a dream, it shews that he will be greatly enriched, and highly honoured and promoted by his sovereign.” And again, “If a king dream that an eagle takes him up upon his back, and flies up on high with him, it portends great exaltation to him in his kingdom and long life; and the same dream to a private person denotes that he shall come to reign.” And Artemidorus, Lib. ii. c. 20, says, “If poor men dream of being mounted upon an eagle, they will be supported and well relieved by some rich persons.”
A bird with expanded wings, or a huge pair of wings, without head or body, was the ancient hieroglyphic of the element of the air, or rather of the general mundane atmosphere, one of the most irresistible of physical agents. Hence, “The wind hath bound up in her wings,” (Hos 4:19) denotes the condition of a people torn by a conqueror from their native land, scattered in exile to the four quarters of the world, and living thenceforward, without any settled residence of their own, liable to be moved about at the will of arbitrary masters, like a thing tied to the wings of the wind, obliged to go with the wind whichever way it set, but never suffered for a moment to lie still.
F1 Eurip. Heraclid. ver. 10.
F2 Stephan. de Urbib. Vid. Plin. Nat. Hist. L. vi. c. 26.
F3 Veget. de Re Milit. Vid. Serv. in Virgil. n. L. xi. Col. 1691.
F4 Plutarch. de Iside, p. 398. Jamblich. de Myst. g. 8. c. 3, and Not. T. Gale. ibid.