Job 39:24

24 He charges ahead[a] with trembling rage; he cannot stand still at the trumpet's sound.

Job 39:24 Meaning and Commentary

Job 39:24

He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage
Being so eager for the battle, and so full of fierceness and rage, he bounds the plain with such swiftness that he seems rather to swallow up the ground than to run upon it;

neither believeth he that [it is] the sound of the trumpet;
for joy at hearing it; or he will not trust to his ears, but will see with his eyes whether the battle is ready, and therefore pushes forward. Mr. Broughton and others read it, "he will not stand still at the noise of the trumpet"; and the word signifies firm and stable, as well as to believe; when he hears the trumpet sound, the alarm of war, as a preparation for the battle, he knows not how to F1 stand; there is scarce any holding him in, but he rushes into the battle at once, ( Jeremiah 8:6 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F1 "Stare loco nescit". Virgil. Georgic. l. 3. v. 84. "Ut fremit acer equus" Ovid. Metamorph. l. 3. Fab. 10. v. 704.

Job 39:24 In-Context

22 He laughs at fear, since he is afraid of nothing; he does not run from the sword.
23 A quiver rattles at his side, along with a flashing spear and a lance.
24 He charges ahead with trembling rage; he cannot stand still at the trumpet's sound.
25 When the trumpet blasts, he snorts defiantly. He smells the battle from a distance; he hears the officers' shouts and the battle cry.
26 Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread its wings to the south?

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Lit He swallows the ground
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