Job

Job 39

30 verses · Wisdom · Old Testament

1“Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns? 2Can you count the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they give birth? 3They bow themselves. They bear their young. They end their labor pains. 4Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go out, and don’t return again.
5“Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey, 6whose home I have made the wilderness, and the salt land his dwelling place? 7He scorns the tumult of the city, neither does he hear the shouting of the driver. 8The range of the mountains is his pasture, He searches after every green thing.
9“Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough? 10Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you? 11Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave to him your labor? 12Will you confide in him, that he will bring home your seed, and gather the grain of your threshing floor?
13“The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; but are they the feathers and plumage of love? 14For she leaves her eggs on the earth, warms them in the dust, 15and forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild animal may trample them. 16She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear, 17because God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has he imparted to her understanding. 18When she lifts up herself on high, she scorns the horse and his rider.
19“Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane? 20Have you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome. 21He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the armed men. 22He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed, neither does he turn back from the sword. 23The quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the javelin. 24He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet. 25As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, ‘Aha!’ He smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26“Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings toward the south? 27Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up, and makes his nest on high? 28On the cliff he dwells, and makes his home, on the point of the cliff, and the stronghold. 29From there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off. 30His young ones also suck up blood. Where the slain are, there he is.”

Commentary

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What others are saying

5 commentators · 90 notes on this chapter

Matthew HenryEnglish Puritan / Nonconformist · 1708–17144

Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.

Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.

v. 1–12

God here shows Job what little acquaintance he had with the untamed creatures that run wild in the deserts and live at large, but are the care of the divine Providence. As, I. The wild goats and the hinds. That which is taken notice of concerning them is the…

v. 13–18

The ostrich is a wonderful animal, a very large bird, but it never flies. Some have called it a winged camel. God here gives an account of it, and observes, I. Something that it has in common with the peacock, that is, beautiful feathers (Job 39:13): Gavest…

v. 19–25

God, having displayed his own power in those creatures that are strong and despise man, here shows it in one scarcely inferior to any of them in strength, and yet very tame and serviceable to man, and that is the horse, especially the horse that is prepared…

John GillParticular Baptist / High Calvinist · 1746–176330

The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.

Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.

v. 1

Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth?.... Which creatures are so called, because they dwell among the rocks (d) and run upon them; and though their heads are loaded with a vast burden of horns upon them, yet can so poise…

v. 2

Canst thou number the months that they fulfil?.... Which some understand both of wild goats and hinds. Common goats fulfil five months, they conceive in November, and bring forth in March, as Pliny (f) observes; but how many the wild goats of the rock fulfil…

v. 3

They bow themselves,.... That they may bring forth their young with greater ease and more safety: for it seems the hinds bring forth their young with great difficulty; and there are provisions in nature made to lessen it; as thunder, before observed, which…

Adam ClarkeMethodist / Wesleyan-Arminian · 1810–182623

The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.

Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.

v. 1–2

Knowest thou the time - To know time, etc., only, was easy, and has nothing extraordinary in it; but the meaning of these questions is, to know the circumstances, which have something peculiarly expressive of God's providence, and make the questions proper in…

v. 3

They bow themselves - In order to bring forth their young ones. They cast out their sorrows - חבליהם chebleyhem; the placenta, afterbirth, or umbilical cord. So this word has been understood.

v. 4

In good liking - After the fawns have sucked for some time, the dam leads them to the pastures, where they feed on different kinds of herbage; but not on corn, for they are not born before harvest-time in Arabia and Palestine, and the stag does not feed on…

Keil & DelitzschGerman Lutheran, conservative-critical · 1861–18756

The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.

Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.

v. 1–4

1 Dost thou know the bearing time of the wild goats of the rock? Observest thou the circles of the hinds? 2 Dost thou number the months which they fulfil, And knowest thou the time of their bringing forth? 3 They bow down, they let their young break through…

v. 5–8

5 Who hath sent forth the wild ass free, And who loosed the bands of the wild ass, 6 Whose house I made the steppe, And his dwelling the salt country? 7 He scorneth the tumult of the city, He heareth not the noise of the driver. 8 That which is seen upon the…

v. 9–12

9 Will the oryx be willing to serve thee, Or will he lodge in thy crib? 10 Canst thou bind the oryx in the furrow with a leading rein, Or will he harrow the valleys, following thee? 11 Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great, And leave thy labour to…

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownScottish Presbyterian / Reformed · 187127

The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.

Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.

v. 2

They bring forth with ease and do not need to reckon the months of pregnancy, as the shepherd does in the case of his flocks.

v. 3

bow themselves--in parturition; bend on their knees (Sa1 4:19). bring forth--literally, "cause their young to cleave the womb and break forth." sorrows--their young ones, the cause of their momentary pains.

v. 4

are in good liking--in good condition, grow up strong. with corn--rather, "in the field," without man's care. return not--being able to provide for themselves.

World English Bible — Public domain