Folio 62r - the eagle, continued.
He does it, not as a father denying his own child, but as one rejecting another's.
seems to some, however, that the kindness of the common variety of the bird excuses the unkindness of its regal counterpart. The ordinary bird is called fulica, coot; in Greek, fene. Taking up the eaglet, abandoned or unacknowledged, the coot adds it to its brood, making it one of the family, with the same maternal devotion as it shows to its own chicks, and feeds and nourishes the eaglet and its own brood with equal attention.
The coot, therefore, feeds another's young, while we cast off our own with the cruelty of an enemy. For the eagle, even if it rejects its young, does not cast them off as if they were its own, but will not even acknowledge them, as if they were unworthy of its kind. We, which is worse, abandon those we have already acknowledged as our own.
Again of the eagle
The word 'eagle' in the Holy Scriptures signifies sometimes evil spirits, ravishers of souls; sometimes the rulers of this world. Sometimes, in contrast, it signifies either the acute understanding of the saints, or the Lord incarnate flying swiftly over the depths then seeking once more the heights.
The word 'eagle' represents those who lie in ambush for the spirit. This is confirmed by Jeremiah, who says: 'Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven' (Lamentations, 4:19). For our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of heaven when wicked men do such things against us that they seem to exceed the very rulers of the air in their evil machinations.
The word 'eagle' also symbolises earthly power. Ezekiel says with reference to this: 'A great eagle with broad wings and long limbs, in full plumage, richly patterned, came to Lebanon. It took away the marrow of a cedar-tree, it plucked the highest foliage' (see Ezekiel, 17:3-4).
This eagle - whom else does it signify but Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon? By the vastness of the eagle's great wings is represented the vastness of Nebuchadnezzar's army; by the length of its limbs, the length of his days; by its full plumage, his great wealth; by its rich patterning, his immeasurable earthly glory. 'The eagle came to Lebanon and took away the marrow of a cedar tree, it plucked the highest foliage',
- Commentary
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Commentary
Text
The eagle, its allegory.
Comment
Initial type 2.
Folio Attributes
- Transcription and Translation
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Transcription
dempnat. Nec quasi suum abdicat, sed quasi alienum recu\ sat. Hanc tamen ut quibusdam videtur regalis avis inclemen\ tiam plebeie avis excusat clementia. Avis cui nomen fulica\ est, que Grece dicitur fene, susceptum illum sive abdicatum, si\ ve non agnitum aquile pullum cum sua prole connectit, atque intermiscens suis eodem quo proprios fetus materne sedulita\ tis officio, et pari nutrimentorum subministratione pascit et\ nutrit. Ergo fene alienos nutrit, nos vero nostros inimici crudeli\ tate proicimus. Aquila enim si proicit, non quasi suum proicit, set\ quasi degenerem non recognoscit, nos quod peius est quos no\ stros recognoscimus abdicamus.\ Item de aquila \ Aquile vocabulo in sacra scriptura aliquando maligni spiritus\ raptores animarum, aliquando presentis seculi potestates,\ aliquando vero vel subtilissime sanctorum intelligentie vel incar\ natus dominus ima celeriter transvolans et mox summa repe\ tens designatur. Aquilarum nomine insidiatores spiritus exprimun\ tur. Jeremia attestante qui ait: Velociores fuerunt persecutores\ nostri aquilis celi. Persecutores enim nostri aquilis celi velociores sunt,\ cum tanta contra nos maligni homines faciunt, ut ipsas etiam\ aerias potestates inventionibus malicie preire videantur. Aquile\ vocabulo potestas terrena figuratur. Unde et per Ezechielem dicitur:\ Aquila grandis magnarum alarum, longo membrorum\ ductu, plena plumis et varitate venit ad Libanum, et tulit\ medullam cedri, et summitatem frondium eius evulsit. Qua\ videlicet aquila, quis alius quam Nabuchodonosor rex Babilo\ nis designatur? Qui pre universitate [,i>PL, pro immensitate] exercitus magnarum ala\ rum, pro diurnitate temporum longo membrorum ductu, pro mul\ tis diviciis plena plumis, pro innumera autem terrene glorie com\ positione plena varietate describitur. Que venit ad Libanum\ et tulit medullam cedri, et summitatem frondium eius evulsit\Translation
He does it, not as a father denying his own child, but as one rejecting another's. seems to some, however, that the kindness of the common variety of the bird excuses the unkindness of its regal counterpart. The ordinary bird is called fulica, coot; in Greek, fene. Taking up the eaglet, abandoned or unacknowledged, the coot adds it to its brood, making it one of the family, with the same maternal devotion as it shows to its own chicks, and feeds and nourishes the eaglet and its own brood with equal attention. The coot, therefore, feeds another's young, while we cast off our own with the cruelty of an enemy. For the eagle, even if it rejects its young, does not cast them off as if they were its own, but will not even acknowledge them, as if they were unworthy of its kind. We, which is worse, abandon those we have already acknowledged as our own. Again of the eagle The word 'eagle' in the Holy Scriptures signifies sometimes evil spirits, ravishers of souls; sometimes the rulers of this world. Sometimes, in contrast, it signifies either the acute understanding of the saints, or the Lord incarnate flying swiftly over the depths then seeking once more the heights. The word 'eagle' represents those who lie in ambush for the spirit. This is confirmed by Jeremiah, who says: 'Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven' (Lamentations, 4:19). For our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of heaven when wicked men do such things against us that they seem to exceed the very rulers of the air in their evil machinations. The word 'eagle' also symbolises earthly power. Ezekiel says with reference to this: 'A great eagle with broad wings and long limbs, in full plumage, richly patterned, came to Lebanon. It took away the marrow of a cedar-tree, it plucked the highest foliage' (see Ezekiel, 17:3-4). This eagle - whom else does it signify but Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon? By the vastness of the eagle's great wings is represented the vastness of Nebuchadnezzar's army; by the length of its limbs, the length of his days; by its full plumage, his great wealth; by its rich patterning, his immeasurable earthly glory. 'The eagle came to Lebanon and took away the marrow of a cedar tree, it plucked the highest foliage',
