Job 39:6

6 Whose home I have made the wilderness, And the salt land his dwelling-place?

Job 39:6 Meaning and Commentary

Job 39:6

Whose house I have made the wilderness
Appointed that to be his place of residence, as being agreeable to his nature, at a distance from men, and in the less danger of being brought into subjection by them. Such were the deserts of Arabia; where, as Xenophon


FOOTNOTES:

F14 relates, were many of these creatures, and which he represents as very swift: and Leo Africanus F15 says, great numbers of them are found in deserts, and on the borders of deserts; hence said to be used to the wilderness ( Jeremiah 2:24 ) ;

and the barren land his dwellings;
not entirely barren, for then it could not live there; but comparatively, with respect to land that is fruitful: or "salt land" F16; for, as Pliny F17 says, every place where salt is, is barren.


F14 De Expedition. Cyri, l. 1.
F15 Descriptio Africae, l. 9. p. 752.
F16 (hxlm) "salsuginem", Montanus; "salsuginosam terram", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
F17 Nat. Hist. l. 31. c. 7.

Job 39:6 In-Context

4 Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field; They go forth, and return not again.
5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? Or who hath loosed the bonds of the swift ass,
6 Whose home I have made the wilderness, And the salt land his dwelling-place?
7 He scorneth the tumult of the city, Neither heareth he the shoutings of the driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, And he searcheth after every green thing.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.