Job 39:6

6 To whom I gave ¹the wilderness for a home And the salt land for 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 offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field; They leave and do not return to them.

5 "Who sent out the wild donkey free? And who loosed the bonds of the swift donkey,

6 To whom I gave the wilderness for a home And the salt land for his dwelling place?

7 "He scorns the tumult of the city, The shoutings of the driver he does not hear.

8 "He explores the mountains for his pasture And searches after every green thing.

Cross References

• 1. Job 24:5; Jeremiah 2:24; Hosea 8:9