And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle. "The two wings of the great eagle" is found in most authorities, though א omits both the articles. The symbol of the eagle is a common one in the Old Testament, and this may account for the presence of the article.
The escape of the Jewish Church from the power of Pharaoh, and her preservation in the wilderness, are referred to under a like figure (see Exodus 19:4; Deuteronomy 32:11, "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself").
The natural enmity between the eagle and the serpent is alluded to by Wordsworth (Wordsworth, in loc., where see a full exposition of the symbolism here employed). "The two wings" may typify the Old and New Testaments, by the authority of which the Church convicts her adversaries, and by which she is supported during her period of conflict with the devil.
That she might fly into the wilderness, into her place. The reference to the flight of Israel from Egypt is still carried on. "Her place" is the "place prepared of God" (Revelation 12:6). The Church, though in the world, is not of the world (see on Revelation 12:6).
Where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. Still the history of Israel is borne in mind. As the chosen people were nourished in the wilderness, so the Church of God is sustained in her pilgrimage on earth.
The redundant δπον ἐκεῖ, "where there," follows the analogy of the Hebrew (see on Revelation 12:6). "The time, times, and half a time," is the period elsewhere described as 42 months, 1260 days, 3.5 years.
It denotes the period of the existence of this world (see on Revelation 11:2). The expression is taken from Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7. By this verse and Daniel 12:6 is established the identity of the two expressions—1260 days, and the time, times, and half a time (i.
e. one year + two years + half a year). The plural καιροί is used for "two times," as no dual occurs in the Greek of the New Testament. The construction, "nourished from the face" ( τρέφεται ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ ὄφεως), is built upon the analogy of the Hebrew.
The "serpent" is the "dragon" of Daniel 12:13 (cf. Daniel 12:9, "the great dragon, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan"). The two words are used as convertible terms (cf. verse 17, where he is again called "the dragon").