Job 39:24

24 With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground; he cannot stand still at ¹the sound of the trumpet.

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 and is not dismayed; he does not turn back from the sword.

23 Upon him rattle the quiver, the flashing spear, and the javelin.

24 With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground; he cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.

25 When the trumpet sounds, he says 'Aha!' He smells the battle from afar, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

26 "Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south?

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 4:19; Amos 3:6