What does ἀετός (aetós) mean in the Bible?
Aetos names the bird rendered as eagle in Revelation and as vultures in the BSB's carcass sayings. Matthew and Luke use gathering birds where a carcass lies within teaching about the Son of Man.
Greek · G105
ἀετός
Aetos names the bird rendered as eagle in Revelation and as vultures in the BSB's carcass sayings. Matthew and Luke use gathering birds where a carcass lies within teaching about the Son of Man.
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ἀετόςG105
Pronunciationaetós
What does ἀετός (aetós) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀετός (G105) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G105?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include eagle (2), vultures (2), an eagle (1).
Where does ἀετός (aetós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 24:28. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (3), Luke (1), Matthew (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Aetos names the bird rendered as eagle in Revelation and as vultures in the BSB's carcass sayings. Matthew and Luke use gathering birds where a carcass lies within teaching about the Son of Man. Revelation describes a throne creature like an eagle in flight, an eagle announcing woes before the remaining trumpets and eagle wings given to the pursued woman. Each setting supplies its own action and purpose.
The word should not be forced into one modern species decision or one national emblem across all the passages. Jesus' teaching warns against chasing claims about a hidden appearance, while Revelation places its birds within worship, judgment announcement and wilderness provision. Readers can preserve the translation's distinction and the scenes' force without turning the bird into a date formula, assigning modern political identities or treating a vision as an instruction to imitate flight.
Hope and sober attention come from the stated message rather than a secret meaning inside the bird name.
How the Bible Uses It
Five direct BSB bird witnesses comprise two carcass sayings rendered vultures and three Revelation scenes rendered eagle: throne likeness, trumpet woes and wings for wilderness flight.
- Matt.24.28
Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
The vulture saying follows warnings about claims of a hidden Christ and the comparison with visible lightning, within the larger coming discourse.
- Luke.17.37
“Where, Lord?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”
Jesus answers the disciples' where question with gathering vultures and a carcass, without naming a modern location or timetable.
- Rev.4.7
The first living creature was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.
One living creature is like an eagle in flight within the throne vision; the comparison does not identify a political nation.
- Rev.8.13
And as I observed, I heard an eagle flying overhead, calling in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the remaining three angels!”
The eagle announces three woes corresponding to the remaining three angels' trumpet blasts, keeping the number tied to the stated sequence.
- Rev.12.14
But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
Eagle wings are given to the woman for escape and nourishment in the wilderness, within a vision whose conflict continues.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Iteagle2×Revelation 8:13, Revelation 12:14
vultures2×Matthew 24:28, Luke 17:37
an eagle1×Revelation 4:7
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 24:28ἀετοίtovulturesNoun - Nominative Masculine PluralLuke 17:37ἀετοὶtovulturesNoun - Nominative Masculine PluralRevelation 4:7ἀετῷtoan eagleNoun - Dative Masculine SingularRevelation 8:13ἀετοῦtoeagleNoun - Genitive Masculine SingularRevelation 12:14ἀετοῦtoeagleNoun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 24:28
Aligned rows5
Books represented3
Matthew1Luke1Revelation3
Source forms
ἀετοῦ2xaetouRevelation 8:13, Revelation 12:14
ἀετοί1xaetoiMatthew 24:28
ἀετοὶ1xaetoiLuke 17:37
ἀετῷ1xaetōRevelation 4:7
Parsing patterns
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular2xRevelation 8:13, Revelation 12:14
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural2xMatthew 24:28, Luke 17:37
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular1xRevelation 4:7
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Practice watchfulness without following speculative locations, timetables or political bird codes.
- Support weary people with rest and suitable help rather than symbolic performance demands.
Avoid claiming...
- The bird name cannot determine a present-day political identity or fulfillment date.
- A visionary wing description does not authorize dangerous demonstrations or immunity claims.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. an eagle (from its wind-like flight)
Strong'sG105
Lexical occurrences5 versesGreek text appearances4 timesWord forms3 forms5 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
an eagle (from its wind-like flight)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 24:28Noun Nominative Plural Masculine
ἀετοί.aetoi
an eagle, bird of prey
Read verseLuke 17:37Noun Nominative Plural Masculine
ἀετοί.aetoi
an eagle, bird of prey
Read verseRevelation 4:7Noun Dative Singular Masculine
ἀετῷaetw
an eagle, bird of prey
Read verseRevelation 12:14Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
ἀετοῦaetou
an eagle, bird of prey
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns3Aligned forms5Case patternGenitive (2)Number patternSingular (3)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · MasculineMatt 24:28 · Luke 17:372×
Genitive · Singular · MasculineRev 8:13 · Rev 12:142×
Dative · Singular · MasculineRev 4:71×
Word Origins
ἀετός is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Matthew warns hearers not to believe claims that the Christ is in a desert or hidden room, then compares the coming to lightning before giving the carcass-and-birds saying. Luke likewise tells disciples not to chase reports, speaks of the Son of Man's suffering and compares the coming day with Noah and Lot. Their gathering-bird statements should remain within that instruction rather than become coordinates for a modern event.
Revelation uses eagle language differently: a living creature is like one in flight, a bird announces woes before the remaining trumpets and the woman receives eagle wings for escape to her nourished place. The likenesses and actions matter more than a universal species or national code. Isaiah's eagle-wing image of renewed strength can accompany trust in the Creator without promising uninterrupted energy to every weary person.
Teachers can encourage watchfulness, worship and patient hope while keeping the text's translation distinctions and refusing speculative identification of contemporary people or powers.
Anchor passage
Rev.8.13
Doctrinal connections
- Matthew's discourse warns against claims locating the Christ in a hidden place.
- Luke joins coming-day instruction to the Son of Man's prior suffering and rejection.
- The eagle-like throne creature belongs to worship of the Creator in Revelation.
- The three announced woes correspond to the remaining three trumpet blasts.
- The woman's eagle wings lead toward wilderness escape and promised nourishment.
- Isaiah directs weary hearers toward the everlasting Creator who gives strength.
The masculine noun appears in nominative plural for the carcass sayings and singular dative or genitive forms in Revelation. The BSB's vulture/eagle distinction follows setting; grammatical number cannot resolve modern zoological or prophetic identities.
From Old to New Testament
Isaiah 40:25-31 places eagle-wing renewal beside the incomparable Creator who knows the stars and strengthens the weak. This poetic encouragement can accompany trust in God without importing a biological renewal story, promising uninterrupted stamina or adding its Hebrew bird term to the Greek denominator.