The Book of Job
Job 39
Chapter XXXIX · Vol. II, pp. 981–984
God proceedeth to show his own power, and man's weakness and ignorance, by instances from the animal creation: 1 of the wild goats and hinds, 5 of the wild ass, 9 the unicorn, &c.
1 Knowest thou the time when the awild goats1 of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the bhinds do calve?
1 The wild goat (jaal) is a beautiful creature, commonly called the ibex, dwelling among the lofty rocks of Arabia and other eastern countries. The hind (ajalah), the female stag, noted for its graceful beauty, swiftness, and sureness of foot upon the rocks. See Ps. 18. 33. The question is not, 'Dost thou know as fact, but hast thou appointed their periods of gestation, and provided for them and their young?'—C.
b Ps.29.9. Thunder promotes their birth.
2 Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows.2
A.M. cir. 2484. B.C. cir. 1520.
2 Young ones born with much pain.
4 Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn;3 they go forth, and return not unto them.
3 'In the desert.'—Boothroyd.
6 Whosed house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land5 his dwellings.
d ch.24.5. Je.2.24.
5 Heb. salt places.
7 He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver.6
6 Heb. of the exactor.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.7
7 The wild ass is still well known in Arabia. The Bedawîn regard it as one of the wildest and swiftest of animals. It seeks the most solitary spots, and instinctively avoids human dwellings.—P.
9 Will the unicorn8 be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
8 Wild bull or rhinoceros, Nu. 23. 22. Ps. 22. 21; 92. 10. De. 33. 17. [The reem. The animal commonly called unicorn has no existence except in heraldry, though Barrow (see his Travels in Africa, p. 294) describes such a creature, but does not affirm having seen it. A few consider the reem to be of the deer species; but the common opinion turns to the rhinoceros, which well accords with the description, and is also a literal unicorn. See Campbell's Travels in S. Africa, vol. ii. p. 294. Robinson (see Biblical Researches, vol. iii. p. 306) thinks it is the buffalo, but this animal does not seem to correspond with the powerful creature described in the text. While the mighty elephant is perfectly tamed, the rhinoceros is considered utterly irreclaimable. See ver.12.—C.]
10 Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
11 Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?
12 Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?
13 Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers9 unto the ostrich?
9 Or, the feathers of the stork and ostrich.
14 Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust,
15 And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.
16 She is ehardened against her young ones, as though they were not her's: her labour is in vain without fear;1
e La.4.3.
A.M. cir. 2484. B.C. cir. 1520.
1 Her labour is in vain if the wild beast break her eggs; yet, void of understanding, she is also void of maternal 'solicitude.'—C.
18 What time she lifteth up herself on 2high, she scorneth the horse and his rider3
2 Using her wings as sails, she runs swifter than a horse.
3 The ostrich generally remains couchant, but when 'she lifts herself up' to her full height, and runs at her utmost speed, she can easily distance the fleetest horse, and is taken or killed simply because she runs in a circle, so that her path may be crossed by the hunter and his associates.—C.
20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper?4 the glory of his nostrils is terrible.5
4 'Canst thou make him skip like the grasshopper,' with equal or almost imperceptible swiftness? Any one who has tried to lay hold of the grasshopper for inspection will fully comprehend the expressive aptness of the similitude.—C.
5 Heb. terrors.
22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.
24 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
25 He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha! and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
28 She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon nthe crag of the rock, and the strong place.
n Heb. tooth, 1 Sa.14.4.
29 From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.
Notes
Ver. 1-4. Is it by thy wisdom, power, care, and providence, that the wild goats and hinds are assisted in their painful births, or their young ones so well nourished? 5-8. Or that while the tame ass is so dull and stupid, the wild ass is so nimble, untractable, regardless of mankind, and lodged and maintained in the desert mountains? 9-12. Art thou capable, by all thy power and skill, to tame a wild bull, and train him to the labours of the field performed by the ox? 13-18. Dost thou adorn with wings and feathers the ostrich, that is so careless of her eggs and young, that the sun must hatch the former, and Providence alone takes care of the latter, and so fleet in running with extended wings? 19-25. Hast thou given strength and bravery to the horse? Dost thou produce the triumphant shaking of his mane, or the neighing and snorting of his throat, when he is bent upon the battle? Canst thou make him to bounce like a grasshopper? The disdainful and courageous snortings of his nostrils are terrible. When armies meet for battle he paweth in the valley, fiercely priding himself in his strength: he springs forth to meet the armour of war, rushing into the battle without any fear of danger. Quite unaffrighted he laughs at the terror of the battle: he turns not back from the sword. Over him regardless rattle and hiss the arrows of the quiver, the flaming spear, and ruinous lance. With fierceness and rage he gallops over and tears up the ground. For joy he reckons the sound of the trumpet but an encouraging blast: and at the full blowing of the trumpet he dances and sports for joy. He smells the battle afar off, the thunder-like roaring of the princes, and the alarm of war. 26. Is it by thy direction that hawks fly away so strongly, steadily, swiftly, unweariedly, and cunningly, to catch their prey; and that they bask in the sun, or remove to warmer climates in the winter? 27-30. Is it by thy direction that eagles fly directly upward, or choose their rocky residence, or spy out and rush upon their prey?
Ver. 9. [The term 'unicorn,' or 'one-horned,' is a misnomer. The Hebrew word is reem, and it is evident from De. 33. 17, where 'the horns of an unicorn' are mentioned, that the animal referred to had two horns. P.]
Ver. 13. [Rather—'The wings of the ostrich vibrate, but are they as the pinions of the stork and the falcon?' The wings of the ostrich never lift her from the earth, yet God compensates this defect by swiftness, so that she is as safe as the soaring falcon. God has deprived her of parental instincts, yet her young are protected by Providence as well as the young of the stork, the example and the emblem of maternal tenderness. C.——This is a very obscure passage. The true meaning of the verse seems to be, 'The wing of the ostrich (renanim, 'the female ostrich;' so called on account of her peculiar cry) vibrates joyously; but is wing and feather affectionate?' i.e. as explained in the context, does she exhibit ordinary parental instinct or affection, when abandoning her eggs in the desert? P.]
Ver. 17. [It is a singular fact that among the Bedawîn 'more foolish than an ostrich' is a common proverb; and it is evidently as old as the time of Job. 'Fleeter than an ostrich' is another proverb almost as common as the former. P.]
Ver. 24. [Rather—'And he standeth not still when the trumpet soundeth;' i.e. so soon as his ear catches the sound of the war-trumpet he will scarcely bear restraint, he rushes to the battle. A remark of Layard, the truth of which I can myself verify, beautifully illustrates this passage:—'Although docile as a lamb, and requiring no other guide than the halter, when the Arab mare hears the war-cry of the tribe, and sees the quivering spear of her rider, her eyes glitter with fire, her blood-red nostrils open wide, her neck is nobly arched, and her tail and mane are raised and spread out to the wind.' P.]
Ver. 29. [Her eyes behold afar off. The extraordinary far-sightedness of the eagle is well known. It can descry its prey on the ground when, to the human eye, it is perfectly invisible in the clouds; those species that live upon the dead fully realize our Lord's description, Mat. 24. 28, and an animal is scarcely fallen until they appear on the verge of the horizon hastening to its destruction. C.]
Reflections.—Behold how all things mark the excellencies of their Maker and depend on God! The eyes of all wait on him; and he giveth them their meat in due season. And surely it is absurd for men to boast of beauty, strength, swiftness, or other bodily endowments, when one or more of the brute animals excel them in all these. But, alas! how often are we like them in their worst qualities; like hinds in sinful cowardice; like wild asses in our unsettled temper; like unicorns or wild bulls in untamableness and rage in the net of affliction; like ostriches in stupidity and unconcern about the real welfare of children; like horses in pride and fury; like hawks and eagles in ambition, greediness, and cruelty! But if God feed these, he will never let the redeemed sheep of his pasture want. Lo, in what lofty manner he speaks of these animals! But how much sweeter to my soul are his descriptions of Jesus and his love, Jesus and his work, Jesus and his fulness!—All for men! all for me!