Job 39

God Speaks of Nature and Its Beings

1 "Do you know the time the ¹mountain * goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the ²deer?

2 "Can you count the months they fulfill, Or do you know the time they give birth?

3 "They kneel down, they bring forth their young, They get rid of their labor pains.

4 "Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field; They leave and do not return to them.

5 "Who sent out the ³wild donkey free? And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,

6 To whom I gave ⁴the wilderness for a home And the salt land for his dwelling place?

7 "He scorns the tumult of the city, The shoutings of the driver he does not hear.

8 "He explores the mountains for his pasture And searches after every green thing.

9 "Will the ⁵wild ox consent to serve you, Or will he spend the night at your manger?

10 "Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ropes, Or will he harrow the valleys after you?

11 "Will you trust him because his strength is great And leave your labor to him?

12 "Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain And gather it from your threshing floor?

13 "The ostriches' wings flap joyously With the pinion and plumage of love,

14 For she abandons her eggs to the earth And warms them in the dust,

15 And she forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may trample them.

16 "She treats her young ⁶cruelly, as if they were not hers; Though her labor be in vain, she is unconcerned *;

17 Because God has made her forget wisdom, And has not given her a share of understanding.

18 "When she lifts herself on high, She laughs at the horse and his rider.

19 "Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane?

20 "Do you make him ⁷leap like the locust? His majestic ⁸snorting is terrible.

21 "He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; He ⁹goes out to meet the weapons.

22 "He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; And he does not turn back from the sword.

23 "The quiver rattles against him, The flashing spear and javelin.

24 "With shaking and rage he races over the ground, And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet.

25 "As often as the trumpet sounds he says, 'Aha!' And he scents the battle from afar, And the thunder of the captains and the war cry.

26 "Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south?

27 "Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up And makes ¹⁰his nest on high?

28 "On the cliff he dwells and lodges, Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place.

29 "From there he ¹¹spies out food; His eyes see it from afar.

30 "His young ones also suck up blood; And ¹²where the slain are, there is he."

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Job 39 Commentary

Chapter 39

God inquires of Job concerning several animals.

- 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, ( Jeremiah 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.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 12

1. Deuteronomy 14:5; 1 Samuel 24:2; Psalms 104:18
2. Psalms 29:9
3. Job 6:5; Job 11:12; Job 24:5; Psalms 104:11
4. Job 24:5; Jeremiah 2:24; Hosea 8:9
5. Numbers 23:22; Deuteronomy 33:17; Psalms 22:21; Psalms 29:6; Psalms 92:10; Isaiah 34:7
6. Lamentations 4:3
7. Joel 2:5
8. Jeremiah 8:16
9. Jeremiah 8:6
10. Jeremiah 49:16; Obadiah 4
11. Job 9:26
12. Matthew 24:28; Luke 17:37

Footnotes 11

[a]. Lit "goats of the rock"
[b]. Lit "his rope"
[c]. Lit "seed"
[d]. Or "a stork"
[e]. Lit "it"
[f]. Lit "it"
[g]. Lit "without fear"
[h]. Or "to flee"
[i]. Lit "They paw"
[j]. Or "swallows up"
[k]. Lit "mouth"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 39

This chapter treats of various creatures, beasts and birds, which Job had little knowledge of, had no concern in the making of them, and scarcely any power over them; as of the goats and hinds, Job 39:1-4; of the wild ass, Job 39:5-8; of the unicorn, Job 39:9-12; of the peacock and ostrich, Job 39:13-18; of the horse, Job 39:19-25; and of the hawk and eagle, Job 39:26-30.