Job 39:29

29 From there it spots its prey, its eyes see it far off.

Job 39:29 Meaning and Commentary

Job 39:29

From thence she seeketh the prey
From the high rock; from whence she can look down into valleys, and even into the sea; and spy what is for her purpose, and descend and seize upon them; as lambs, fawns, geese, shellfish though they may lie in the most hidden and secret places. Wherefore in the original text it is, "she diggeth the prey or food" F19; as treasure hid in secret is dug or diligently searched for; and for which she is qualified by the sharpness of her sight, as follows:

[and] her eyes behold afar off;
from the high rocks and higher clouds, even from the high sky, as Aelianus F20 expresses it; and who observes that she is the most sharp sighted of all birds; and so, Homer F21 says, some affirm.


FOOTNOTES:

F19 (lka rpx) "fodit escam"; Montanus, Mercerus.
F20 De Animal. l. 2. c. 26. & l. 1. c. 42. Aristot. & Plin. ut supra. (Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 32. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 3.)
F21 Iliad. 17. v. 674, 675. so Diodor. Sic. l. 3. p. 145.

Job 39:29 In-Context

27 Does the eagle fly up when you say so, to build its nest in the heights?
28 It lives and spends its nights on the cliffs; a rocky crag is its fortress.
29 From there it spots its prey, its eyes see it far off.
30 Its young ones suck up blood; wherever the slain are, there it is."
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.