Job 39:1-10

1 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?

2 Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?

3 They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended.

4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.

5 “Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes?

6 I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat.

7 It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout.

8 It ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing.

9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will it stay by your manger at night?

10 Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness? Will it till the valleys behind you?

Job 39:1-10 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

• 1. S Deuteronomy 14:5
• 2. Genesis 49:21
• 3. S Genesis 31:7-9
• 4. S Genesis 16:12; Job 6:5; Job 11:12; Job 24:5
• 5. Job 24:5; Psalms 107:34; Jeremiah 2:24
• 6. Job 30:4
• 7. Job 30:7; Jeremiah 14:6; Jeremiah 17:6; Hosea 8:9
• 8. S Job 5:22
• 9. Job 3:18
• 10. Isaiah 32:20
• 11. S Numbers 23:22; Deuteronomy 33:17
• 12. S Exodus 21:6
• 13. S Genesis 42:27
• 14. Job 41:13; Psalms 32:9