Job 39:25

25 When the trumpet blows, the horse snorts, 'Aha!' It smells the battle from far away; it hears the shouts of commanders and the battle cry.

Job 39:25 Meaning and Commentary

Job 39:25

He saith among the trumpets, ha, ha
As pleased with the sound of them, rejoicing thereat, and which he signifies by neighing;

and he smelleth the battle afar off;
which respects not so much the distance of place as of time; he perceives beforehand that it is near, by the preparations making for it, and particularly by what follows; so Pliny F2 says of horses, they presage a fight. The thunder of the captains, and the shouting; they understand an engagement is just about to start by the loud and thundering voice of the captains, exhorting and spiralling up their men, and giving them the word of command; and by the clamorous shout of the soldiers echoing to the speech of their captains; and which are given forth upon an onset, both to animate one another, and intimidate the enemy. Bootius F3 observes, that Virgil


FOOTNOTES:

F4 and Oppianus F5 say most of the same things in praise of the horse which are here said, and seem to have taken them from hence; and some
F6 give the horse the preference to the lion, which, when it departs from a fight, never returns, whereas the horse will. This is an emblem both of good men, ( Zechariah 10:3 ) ; and of bad men, ( Jeremiah 8:6 ) .


F2 Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 42.
F3 Animadvers. Sacr. l. 3. c. 6. s. 1.
F4 Georgic. l. 3.
F5 Cyneget. l. 1.
F6 Horus Aegypt. apud Steeb. Coelum Sephirot. Heb. c. 6. s. 1. p. 106.

Job 39:25 In-Context

23 The bag of arrows rattles against the horse's side, along with the flashing spears and swords.
24 With great excitement, the horse races over the ground; and it cannot stand still when it hears the trumpet.
25 When the trumpet blows, the horse snorts, 'Aha!' It smells the battle from far away; it hears the shouts of commanders and the battle cry.
26 "Is it through your wisdom that the hawk flies and spreads its wings toward the south?
27 Are you the one that commands the eagle to fly and build its nest so high?
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.