Hawks are mentioned several times throughout the Bible, primarily in metaphorical contexts. The hawk is portrayed as a bird of prey, known for its speed, ferocity and hunting abilities. Biblical references to hawks often symbolize God’s judgment, protection or deliverance. While hawks are not a major focus in Scripture, there are some key passages that provide insight into how these birds were viewed in biblical times.
Hawks Symbolize Speed and Ferocity
The hawk’s swift flying speed and predatory nature are emphasized in several verses. In Deuteronomy 28:49, God warns that he will bring a nation against Israel “as swift as the eagle flies” to discipline his people. This depicts how rapidly God’s judgment can come. Jeremiah 4:13 compares God’s impending judgment to a hawk “swooping down for the kill.” The hawk’s quickness and deadly hunting skills vividly portray the fierceness of God’s anger against sin.
Job 39:26 also highlights the hawk’s velocity: “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?” This suggests that while humans have no control over the hawk’s flight, God in his wisdom determines the hawk’s course.
Habakkuk 1:8 indicates that the invading Babylonian horses “fly like a vulture swooping to devour.” Here, the hawk’s speed emphasizes how quickly Babylon would attack and conquer Judah.
Overall, the hawk epitomizes swiftness, ferocity and deadly hunting abilities. Biblical writers employed these attributes to dramatize the intensity of God’s actions towards both judgment and deliverance.
Hawks Symbolize God’s Divine Protection
Though the hawk represents God’s judgment in several texts, this bird also signifies God’s protection and deliverance. After the Israelites left Egypt, God assured them: “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (Exodus 19:4). Though “eagles’ wings” may refer to actual eagles, the imagery likely symbolizes God’s divine protection and care for his people during the exodus.
God later promises in Exodus 23:20, “I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.” This pledge of guidance and protection is followed by a warning in verse 21: “Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.” Verse 31 adds: “I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.” Just as hawks drive out their prey, God would drive out Israel’s enemies through his angel.
Isaiah 31:5 makes a similar point: “Like birds hovering overhead, the Lord Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will ‘pass over’ it and will rescue it.” As hawks protect their young, God’s hovering, bird-like guardianship represents his defense of Jerusalem.
God’s hawk-like qualities emphasize his power to swiftly deliver and guard his people. This imagery offers comforting reassurance of God’s watchful protection.
Hawks are Unclean Birds According to Mosaic Law
Along with eagles, vultures, ravens and other birds of prey, hawks are listed among the unclean birds in Leviticus 11:13-19 and Deuteronomy 14:11-18. The Mosaic Law prohibited Israelites from eating these birds. However, they were permitted to sell their carcasses to foreigners or give them to dogs (Exodus 22:31).
Why were raptors considered unclean? Likely because they are carnivorous birds that eat carrion and dead flesh. Scavenging habits may have contributed to their association with death and corruption, perhaps explaining the ceremonial uncleanness of eating hawk meat under the Mosaic code.
Hawks Illustrate God’s Provision
Though prohibited for food, hawk chick and egg are presented as permitted sources of sustenance in God’s provision for his people. Deuteronomy 14:11-18 prohibits eating unclean birds but states in verse 20: “You may eat any clean bird.”
Scholars believe this permission likely extended to young raptors before their diet became exclusively meat-based. Leviticus 11:13-19 specifically allows eating locusts, katydids, crickets and grasshoppers – presumably including locusts consumed by nestling hawks.
In Job 39:27-30, God asks Job:
“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread its wings toward the south?
Does the eagle soar at your command
and build its nest on high?
It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is its stronghold.
From there it looks for food;
its eyes detect it from afar.
Its young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there it is.”
This passage suggests hawks were seen as models of God’s wise hunting provision. Though fearsome predators, hawks were subject to God’s design as faithful parents (Psalm 103:5). Their young were evidence of God’s care in providing food.
Hawk Imagery in Bible Prophecy
Both Isaiah (46:11) and Jeremiah (49:22) employ hawk and eagle metaphors to symbolize the coming judgment on Babylon by the Persian king Cyrus. Isaiah 46:11 prophesies:
“From the east I summon a bird of prey;
from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that I will bring about;
what I have planned, that I will do.”
As a bird of prey swoops down on its victims, so God would bring Cyrus against Babylon. Jeremiah 49:22 similarly warns: “Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.” As an eagle attacks its prey, so God’s human agent would come swiftly against Edom as part of God’s Day of Judgment.
Revelation 12:14 portrays Israel as being given “the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness” to escape the Antichrist’s assault. The eagle’s wings enable her God-given protection, recalling Exodus 19:4.
Hawk Imagery Points to Jesus Christ
Though hawks and eagles represent judgment in many texts, these raptors more prominently signify deliverance and protection from God. Parallels can be drawn to Jesus Christ as mankind’s Savior and Redeemer. Luke uses an eagle metaphor to depict Christ’s redemptive work, stating in Luke 17:37: “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.” Here, the eagle represents Jesus while the dead body symbolizes sinful humanity. Just as eagles gather where the carrion is, Jesus came to where sinners were to offer spiritual life.
Other hawk imagery reinforces the connection to Christ. A mother hawk cares for her young just as a hen cares for her chicks (Matthew 23:37). Vividly protecting Jerusalem under its wings (Matthew 23:37), Jesus laments its rejection like chicks refusing their mother’s care. And like hawks swiftly swooping to deliver their young, Jesus stands ready to return suddenly “like a thief in the night” to rescue his people (1 Thessalonians 5:2).
Overall, hawk imagery in Scripture spotlights God’s attributes: his judgment on sin and injustice, deliverance and protection of his people, and provision of sustenance. The hawk metaphors announce God as judge, savior, protector and provider – roles ultimately embodied in Christ.
Key Bible Verses About Hawks
Here are some key Bible passages that mention hawks:
- Deuteronomy 28:49 – “The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand.”
- Job 39:26 – “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?”
- Isaiah 46:11 – “I summon a bird of prey from the east, the man of my choosing from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it about; I have planned it, and I will do it.”
- Jeremiah 49:22 – “Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.”
- Luke 17:37 – “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
- Revelation 12:14 – “The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.”
Conclusion
In summary, hawks symbolize different attributes of God in Scripture – chiefly his speed and power as judge, deliverer and protector. Though unclean under Mosaic Law, hawks illustrate God’s wise provision for his creation. metaphors point to Christ as mankind’s redeemer who, like a hawk, descended swiftly and decisively to gather the lost. While not mentioned extensively, the Bible’s hawk imagery offers poignant glimpses into God’s character and relationship with his people, ultimately fulfilled in Christ.