Iyov 39

1 9 Dost thou have da’as of the et (time) when the mountain goats give birth, or art thou shomer to watch when the doe bears her fawn?

2 Canst thou number the months that they fulfil, or dost thou have da’as of the et (time) when they give birth?

3 They crouch down, they bring forth their yeledim, their chavalim (birth pains) are cast off in riddance.

4 Their banim gain strength, they grow up in the bar (open, wild); they go forth, and return not unto them.

5 Who hath sent out the pere (wild donkey) free, or who hath untied the ropes of the arod (wild donkey, onager),

6 Whose bais I have made the aravah, and the barren land his mishkenot (dwellings)?

7 He laughs at the tumult of the kiryah (city), neither regardeth he the shouts of the driver.

8 The range of the harim is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.

9 Will the wild ox be willing to be thy eved, or stay the night by thy evus (animal feeding trough)?

10 Canst thou bind the wild ox to the furrow with a rope, or will it behind thee till the amakim (valleys)?

11 Wilt thou depend on him, because his ko’ach is great, or wilt thou hand over thy heavy work to him?

12 Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring in thy zera (grain), and gather it into thy goren (threshing floor)?

13 Joyfully flapping are the wings of the ostrich, but are her wings and feathers like the khasidah (stork)?

14 For the ostrich layeth her betzim (eggs) la’aretz (on the ground), and warmeth them in the sand,

15 And forgetteth that the regel may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.

16 She treats harshly her banim, as though they were not hers; though her labor should be in vain, yet she is without pachad (fear, care),

17 Because Elo’ah hath deprived her of chochmah, neither hath he imparted to her binah.

18 Yet at the et (time) she flaps her wings [to run], she laughs at the sus and his rider.

19 Hast thou given the sus gevurah? Hast thou clothed his neck with a flowing mane?

20 Canst thou make him leap like an arbeh (locust)? The hod (glory) of his snorting strikes terror.

21 He paweth in the emek (valley), and rejoiceth in his koach; he chargeth into the fray.

22 He laugheth at pachad, and nothing fears; neither turneth he back from the cherev.

23 The quiver rattleth at his side, the glittering spear and the kidon (scimitar, curved sword).

24 He eats up the eretz with fierceness and rogez (rage); neither standeth he still at the sound of the shofar.

25 As often as the shofar, he snorts Aha! and he smelleth the milchamah afar off, the shout of the sarim, and the teru’ah (battle cry).

26 Doth the hawk fly by thy binah, and stretch her wings toward the south?

27 Doth the nesher (eagle) mount up at thy command, and make her ken (nest) on high?

28 She dwelleth and abideth on the cliff, upon the crag of the rock, its metzudah (stronghold).

29 From there she seeketh the okhel (food, prey), and her eyes behold it from afar off.

30 Her young ones feast on dahm; and where the chalalim (slain ones) are, there it is.

Iyov 39 Commentary

Chapter 39

God inquires of Job concerning several animals.

- In these questions the Lord continued to humble Job. In this chapter several animals are spoken of, whose nature or situation particularly show the power, wisdom, and manifold works of God. The wild ass. It is better to labour and be good for something, than to ramble and be good for nothing. From the untameableness of this and other creatures, we may see, how unfit we are to give law to Providence, who cannot give law even to a wild ass's colt. The unicorn, a strong, stately, proud creature. He is able to serve, but not willing; and God challenges Job to force him to it. It is a great mercy if, where God gives strength for service, he gives a heart; it is what we should pray for, and reason ourselves into, which the brutes cannot do. Those gifts are not always the most valuable that make the finest show. Who would not rather have the voice of the nightingale, than the tail of the peacock; the eye of the eagle and her soaring wing, and the natural affection of the stork, than the beautiful feathers of the ostrich, which can never rise above the earth, and is without natural affection? The description of the war-horse helps to explain the character of presumptuous sinners. Every one turneth to his course, as the horse rushes into the battle. When a man's heart is fully set in him to do evil, and he is carried on in a wicked way, by the violence of his appetites and passions, there is no making him fear the wrath of God, and the fatal consequences of sin. Secure sinners think themselves as safe in their sins as the eagle in her nest on high, in the clefts of the rocks; but I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord, ( Jeremiah 49:16 ) . All these beautiful references to the works of nature, should teach us a right view of the riches of the wisdom of Him who made and sustains all things. The want of right views concerning the wisdom of God, which is ever present in all things, led Job to think and speak unworthily of Providence.

Chapter Summary

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.