Job 39:1-8

1 "Do you know the month when mountain goats give birth? Have you ever watched a doe bear her fawn?
2 Do you know how many months she is pregnant? Do you know the season of her delivery,
3 when she crouches down and drops her offspring?
4 Her young ones flourish and are soon on their own; they leave and don't come back.
5 "Who do you think set the wild donkey free, opened the corral gates and let him go?
6 I gave him the whole wilderness to roam in, the rolling plains and wide-open places.
7 He laughs at his city cousins, who are harnessed and harried. He's oblivious to the cries of teamsters.
8 He grazes freely through the hills, nibbling anything that's green.

Job 39:1-8 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.

Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.