Job 39:5-15

Wild donkey

5 Who freed the wild donkey, loosed the ropes of the onager
6 to whom I gave the desert as home, his dwelling place in the salt flats?
7 He laughs at the clamor of the town, doesn't hear the driver's shout,
8 searches the hills for food and seeks any green sprout.

Wild ox

9 Will the wild ox agree to be your slave, or will it spend the night in your crib?
10 Can you bind it with a rope to a plowed row; will it plow the valley behind you?
11 Will you trust it because its strength is great so that you can leave your work to it?
12 Can you rely on it to bring back your grain to gather into your threshing floor?

Ostrich

13 The ostrich's wings flap joyously, but her wings and plumage are like a stork.
14 She leaves her eggs on the earth, lets them warm in the dust,
15 then forgets that a foot may crush them or a wild animal trample them.

Job 39:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible