Job 39:11-30

11 Will you rely on it for its great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12 Can you trust it to haul in your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork.
14 She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand,
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense.
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting?
21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray.
22 It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; it does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against its side, along with the flashing spear and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’ It catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high?
28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is its stronghold.
29 From there it looks for food; its eyes detect it from afar.
30 Its young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there it is.”

Job 39:11-30 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.

Cross References 23

  • 1. ver 19; Job 40:16; Job 41:12,22; Psalms 147:10
  • 2. Zechariah 5:9
  • 3. 2 Kings 14:9
  • 4. ver 17; Lamentations 4:3
  • 5. S ver 16; S Job 21:22; Job 35:11
  • 6. S Job 5:22
  • 7. S ver 11
  • 8. Joel 2:4-5; Revelation 9:7
  • 9. Job 41:25
  • 10. Jeremiah 8:16
  • 11. ver 11
  • 12. Jeremiah 8:6
  • 13. S Job 5:22
  • 14. Isaiah 5:28; Jeremiah 5:16
  • 15. Nahum 3:3
  • 16. Numbers 10:9; Jeremiah 4:5,19; Ezekiel 7:14; Amos 3:6
  • 17. Joshua 6:5
  • 18. Jeremiah 8:6; Amos 1:14; Amos 2:2
  • 19. Jeremiah 8:7
  • 20. Jeremiah 49:16; Obadiah 1:4; Habakkuk 2:9
  • 21. Jeremiah 49:16; Obadiah 1:3
  • 22. S Job 9:26
  • 23. Matthew 24:28; Luke 17:37
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