There are about 18 stars, of which four are of the 4th magnitude. Only γ and δ are in the same line, while the shaft passes between α and β.
The Hebrew name is Sham, destroying, or desolate.
2. AQUILA (The Eagle).
The Smitten One Falling.
Here we have an additional picture of the effect of this arrow, in the pierced, wounded, and falling Eagle, gasping in its dying struggle. And that [pg 081] pierced, wounded, and dying Saviour whom it represents, after saying, in Ps. xxxviii. 2, “Thine arrows stick fast in Me,” added, in verse 10:
“My heart panteth, My strength faileth Me,
As for the light of Mine eyes it is gone from Me.”
(See also Zech. xiii. 6.)
The names of the stars, all of them, bear out this representation. The constellation contains 74 stars. The brightest of them, α (in the Eagle's neck), is a notable star of the 1st magnitude, called Al Tair (Arabic), the wounding. The star β (in the throat) is called Al Shain (Arabic), the bright, from a Hebrew root meaning scarlet coloured, as in Josh. ii. 18. The star γ (in the back) is called Tarared, wounded, or torn. δ (in the lower wing) is named Alcair, which means the piercing, and ε (in the tail), Al Okal, has the significant meaning wounded in the heel.