Job 39: Yahweh asks about the wild animals and birds
A free study, verse by verse. Text: World English Bible. Notes come from the Hebrew. How to read a study
What happens?
Yahweh goes on with his questions to Job, now about living creatures: the mountain goats and the doe giving birth, the wild donkey, the wild ox, the ostrich, the horse in battle, and the hawk and the eagle. Each time he asks whether Job knows, can do, or commands what the animal does, and he tells what the animal is like.
Who is speaking?
Yahweh speaks in 30 of the 30 verses, all of them: this chapter carries on the speech of Job 38, and the text gives no new line saying who speaks. Job speaks no words and no one else speaks, but in verse 25 Yahweh tells what the horse says at the horn: "Aha!" God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1“Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?God speaks
In plain English: "Do you know the time when the mountain goats (the Hebrew says: goats of the rock) give birth? Do you watch when the does bear their young?
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2Can you count the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they give birth?God speaks
In plain English: Can you count the months that they complete? Or do you know the time when they give birth?
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3They bow themselves. They bear their young. They end their labor pains.God speaks
In plain English: They kneel down. They bring out their young. They send out (or: end) their labor pains.
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4Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go out, and don’t return again.God speaks
In plain English: Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go out and do not return to them.
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5“Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,God speaks
In plain English: "Who set the wild donkey free? Or who loosened the bonds of the swift donkey (another Hebrew word for a wild donkey),
The Hebrew words: "Wild donkey" is pere, which the dictionary gives as "the onager". It is in 10 verses of the Bible and 4 of Job, and the WEB says "wild" in all 10. "Swift donkey" is arod, which the dictionary gives as "an onager (from his lonesome habits)". It is in this verse only in the whole Bible.
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6whose home I have made the wilderness, and the salt land his dwelling place?God speaks
In plain English: whose home I have made the desert plain, and the salt land his dwelling places?
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7He scorns the tumult of the city, neither does he hear the shouting of the driver.God speaks
In plain English: He laughs at the tumult of the town. He does not hear the shouting of the driver.
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8The range of the mountains is his pasture. He searches after every green thing.God speaks
In plain English: He explores the mountains as his pasture, and searches after every green thing.
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9“Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?God speaks
In plain English: "Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Or will he spend the night at your feeding trough?
The Hebrew word: "Wild ox" is re'em, which the dictionary gives as "a wild bull (from its conspicuousness)". It is in 9 verses of the Bible and 2 of Job, this verse and . The WEB says "ox" or "oxen" in all 9.
Good to know: The text describes the animal and does not say more about what kind of animal it is.
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10Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?God speaks
In plain English: Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with his rope? Or will he harrow the valleys behind you?
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11Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave to him your labor?God speaks
In plain English: Will you trust him because his strength is great? Or will you leave your toil to him?
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12Will you confide in him, that he will bring home your seed, and gather the grain of your threshing floor?God speaks
In plain English: Will you rely on him to bring back your seed and gather the grain of your threshing floor?
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13“The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the feathers and plumage of love?God speaks
In plain English: "The wing of the ostrich waves joyfully (or: proudly), but is it the wing and plumage of a stork (or: of love, of kindness)?
The Hebrew words: "Ostrich" is renanim, a form of renen, which the dictionary gives as "an ostrich (from its wail)". It is in this verse only in the whole Bible. "Wave proudly" is a form of alas, which the dictionary gives as "to leap for joy, i.e. exult, wave joyously". It is in 3 verses of the Bible, 2 of them in Job. "Love" is chasidah, which the dictionary gives as "the kind (maternal) bird, i.e. a stork". It is in 6 verses of the Bible and 1 of Job, this one. The WEB says "stork" in 5 of the 6 and "love" here.
What changes: With "stork", the verse asks whether the wing and plumage of the ostrich are a stork's. With "love" or "kindness", it asks whether they are the wing and plumage of love. The text does not say which is meant.
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14For she leaves her eggs on the earth, warms them in the dust,God speaks
In plain English: For she leaves her eggs on the ground, and keeps them warm in the dust,
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15and forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild animal may trample them.God speaks
In plain English: and forgets that a foot may crush them, or that the wild animal of the field may trample them.
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16She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,God speaks
In plain English: She treats her young ones roughly, as if they were not hers. Her labor is in vain, but she is without fear,
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17because God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has he imparted to her understanding.God speaks
In plain English: because God has made her forget wisdom, and has not given her a share in understanding.
The Hebrew word: "God" here is Eloah, which the dictionary gives as "a deity or the Deity". It is in 59 verses of the Bible and 41 of Job, and the WEB says "God" in all 41 of Job. In the word is El, which is in 56 verses of Job.
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18When she lifts up herself on high, she scorns the horse and his rider.God speaks
In plain English: At the time when she lifts herself up on high, she laughs at the horse and his rider.
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19“Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?God speaks
In plain English: "Do you give the horse strength? Do you clothe his neck with a quivering mane?
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20Have you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.God speaks
In plain English: Do you make him leap like a locust? The majesty of his snorting is terror.
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21He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the armed men.God speaks
In plain English: He paws in the valley (the Hebrew verb is: they paw) and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet weapons (or: armed men).
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22He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed, neither does he turn back from the sword.God speaks
In plain English: He laughs at fear and is not dismayed. He does not turn back from the sword.
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23The quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the javelin.God speaks
In plain English: The quiver rattles on him, the flash of the spear and the javelin.
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24He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet.God speaks
In plain English: With shaking and excitement (or: fierceness and rage) he swallows the ground, and he does not stand firm (or: stand still) at the sound of the horn.
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25As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, ‘Aha!’ He smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.God speaks
In plain English: At every sound of the horn he says, 'Aha!' From far away he smells the battle, the thunder of the commanders and the battle cry.
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26“Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings toward the south?God speaks
In plain English: "Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads her wings toward the south?
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27Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up, and makes his nest on high?God speaks
In plain English: Or is it at your command that the eagle makes his flight high and sets his nest on high?
The Hebrew word: "Eagle" is nesher, which the dictionary gives as "the eagle (or other large bird of prey)". It is in 26 verses of the Bible, and the WEB says "vulture" in 3 of them.
What changes: The word can mean an eagle or another large bird of prey, so the bird of verses 27 to 30 may be an eagle or a vulture. The text says what it does, and in verse 30 that its young drink blood and that it is where the slain are.
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28On the cliff he dwells and makes his home, on the point of the cliff and the stronghold.God speaks
In plain English: He lives on a rock and spends the night there, on the tooth of the rock and the stronghold.
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29From there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off.God speaks
In plain English: From there he spies out food. His eyes look from far away.
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30His young ones also suck up blood. Where the slain are, there he is.”God speaks
In plain English: His young ones also drink blood. Where the slain are, there he is."
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