“On Wings like Eagles!” (Isa 40:31)

Abstract Faunal imagery in ancient literature has been the focus of many discussions, so much so that the increased interest in such rhetoric has been recognized as “an animal turn” in a number of disciplines, including biblical studies. This article examines the symbolism of a bird’s wings in ancient Near Eastern traditions and the Hebrew Bible. First, it surveys images of fragility in social, religious, and political domains related through wings in various states of dysfunction—bound, broken, and torn off. Then it examines images of empowerment denoted by means of strengthened, reinforced, and outspread wings. Building on previous studies of transformative symbols from the natural world, the primary focus of this essay is on the motif of restoration. To this end, it analyzes the striking rhetoric in Isa 40:29–31, i.e., the return of God’s people from captivity in the manner of soaring eagles, and in the Sumerian poem Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird , i.e., Lugalbanda’s supernatural bird-like travel.