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Job39

American Standard Version · Public Domain

1Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? Or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?

2Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? Or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?

3They bow themselves, they bring forth their young, They cast out their pains.

4Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field; They go forth, and return not again.

5Who hath sent out the wild ass free? Or who hath loosed the bonds of the swift ass,

6Whose home I have made the wilderness, And the salt land his dwelling-place?

7He scorneth the tumult of the city, Neither heareth he the shoutings of the driver.

8The range of the mountains is his pasture, And he searcheth after every green thing.

9Will the wild-ox be content to serve thee? Or will he abide by thy crib?

10Canst thou bind the wild-ox with his band in the furrow? Or will he harrow the valleys after thee?

11Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? Or wilt thou leave to him thy labor?

12Wilt thou confide in him, that he will bring home thy seed, And gather the grain of thy threshing-floor?

13The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; But are they the pinions and plumage of love?

14For she leaveth her eggs on the earth, And warmeth them in the dust,

15And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, Or that the wild beast may trample them.

16She dealeth hardly with her young ones, as if they were not hers: Though her labor be in vain, she is without fear;

17Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, Neither hath he imparted to her understanding.

18What time she lifteth up herself on high, She scorneth the horse and his rider.

19Hast thou given the horse his might? Hast thou clothed his neck with the quivering mane?

20Hast thou made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is terrible.

21He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: He goeth out to meet the armed men.

22He mocketh at fear, and is not dismayed; Neither turneth he back from the sword.

23The quiver rattleth against him, The flashing spear and the javelin.

24He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage; Neither believeth he that it is the voice of the trumpet.

25As oft as the trumpet soundeth he saith, Aha! And he smelleth the battle afar off, The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

26Is it by thy wisdom that the hawk soareth, And stretcheth her wings toward the south?

27Is it at thy command that the eagle mounteth up, And maketh her nest on high?

28On the cliff she dwelleth, and maketh her home, Upon the point of the cliff, and the stronghold.

29From thence she spieth out the prey; Her eyes behold it afar off.

30Her young ones also suck up blood: And where the slain are, there is she.

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Job 39.

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Chapter Summary

In this chapter: God inquires of Job concerning several animals. (1-30).

vv1-30

—In these questions the Lord continued to humble Job. In this chapter several animals are spoken of, whose nature or situation particularly show the power, wisdom, and manifold works of God. The wild ass. It is better to labour and be good for something, than to ramble and be good for nothing. From the untameableness of this and other creatures, we may see, how unfit we are to give law to Providence, who cannot give law even to a wild ass's colt. The unicorn, a strong, stately, proud creature. He is able to serve, but not willing; and God challenges Job to force him to it. It is a great mercy if, where God gives strength for service, he gives a heart; it is what we should pray for, and reason ourselves into, which the brutes cannot do. Those gifts are not always the most valuable that make the finest show. Who would not rather have the voice of the nightingale, than the tail of the peacock; the eye of the eagle and her soaring wing, and the natural affection of the stork, than the beautiful feathers of the ostrich, which can never rise above the earth, and is without natural affection? The description of the war-horse helps to explain the character of presumptuous sinners. Every one turneth to his course, as the horse rushes into the battle. When a man's heart is fully set in him to do evil, and he is carried on in a wicked way, by the violence of his appetites and passions, there is no making him fear the wrath of God, and the fatal consequences of sin. Secure sinners think themselves as safe in their sins as the eagle in her nest on high, in the clefts of the rocks; but I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord, Jer 49:16. All these beautiful references to the works of nature, should teach us a right view of the riches of the wisdom of Him who made and sustains all things. The want of right views concerning the wisdom of God, which is ever present in all things, led Job to think and speak unworthily of Providence.

Cross References

Job 39
v1Psalms 104:18thematic

Direct parallel linking wild rock goats (ibex) and high rocks as God's design for wilderness animals.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v1Psalms 29:9thematic

Sola Scriptura parallel of the Lord's voice causing the hinds to calve/bring forth with difficulty.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v5Jeremiah 2:24thematic

The wild ass in the wilderness, snuffing up the wind, untamed and preferring lonely freedom.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v27Jeremiah 49:16thematic

The pride of man contrasted with the eagle nesting on high in the crag of the rock.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v13Job 30:29allusion

Verbal link to the ostrich's crying and mournful nature in desolate places.

Supported by JFB

v16Lamentations 4:3thematic

Expressly compares the daughters of Jerusalem to ostriches in the wilderness, being cruel to their young.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v17Job 35:11thematic

Contrast of the ostrich's lack of wisdom with God teaching man more than the beasts.

Supported by JFB

v5Job 6:5thematic

Contrast between the lowing of the domestic ox and the free braying of the wild ass.

Supported by JFB

v6Psalms 107:34allusion

The Hebrew word for 'barren land' translates literally to saltiness/salt places as in Psalm 107.

Supported by JFB

v9Isaiah 1:3contrast

Contrast between the domestic ox knowing its owner's crib versus the wild, untamable unicorn.

Supported by JFB

v30Matthew 24:28thematic

Proverbial parallel used by Jesus: 'for wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered.'

v11 Samuel 24:2thematic

Mentions the actual steep geographical 'rocks of the wild goats' where David hid.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v5Job 11:12thematic

Proverbial comparison of vain, foolish man to a wild ass's colt needing restraint.

Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB

v7Job 3:18thematic

The wild ass's immunity to the driver's voice matches the prisoners hearing not the oppressor.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v19Jeremiah 8:6thematic

Compares headlong, presumptuous sinners to a war-horse rushing mindlessly into battle.

Supported by Matthew Henry