←Job 39→BSB

In This Chapter 21 terms

Key Terms

Believe In 5 Understanding 5 Strength 4 Trust 3 Majesty 3 Serve 2 Wisdom 2 Terror 2 Force to Serve Enslave Hold in Bondage Gain Control Over Ability (Skill) Ability (Power) World Universe Miracle Ability (Spiritual) Lordship Spiritually Understanding (Awareness)

The LORD Speaks of His Creation

1“Do you know when mountain goats give birth?Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?2Can you count the months they are pregnant?Do you know the time they give birth?3They crouch down and bring forth their young;they deliver their newborn.4Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field;they leave and do not return.
ⓘ the wild donkey … scorns the tumult of...

the wild donkey … scorns the tumult of the city: This is the first example in a series of animals that think little of other animals not their equal (compare 39:18, 22; 41:29). These images show how God scorns the opposition of a person like Job (see Psalm 2:4).
5Who set the wild donkey free?Who released the swift donkey from the harness?6I made the wilderness his homeand the salt flats his dwelling.7He scorns the tumult of the cityand never hears the shouts of a driver.8He roams the mountains for pasture,searching for any green thing.
ⓘ The wild ox now no longer exists and...

The wild ox now no longer exists and was already rare by Moses's time. It was the strongest land animal in early Canaan. They never tamed this Old Testament symbol of strength (Numbers 23:22; 24:8; Deuteronomy 33:17; Psalms 29:6; 92:10; compare Genesis 1:28; 9:2; Psalm 8:5–6).
9Will the wild ox consent to serve you?Will he stay by your manger at night?10Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness?Will he plow the valleys behind you?11Can you rely on his great strength?Will you leave your hard work to him?12Can you trust him to bring in your grainand gather it to your threshing floor?
ⓘ In the ancient Near East, people believed the...

In the ancient Near East, people believed the ostrich was a bird that God had not given wisdom.
13The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,but cannot match the pinions† and feathers of the stork.
ⓘ The ostrich symbolizes neglect for her young because...

The ostrich symbolizes neglect for her young because she (Lamentations 4:3):

  1. Leaves her eggs on the ground.

  2. Seems to abandon her eggs when a predator comes near. She is probably trying to distract the predator from the nest.

  3. Lays her eggs with other female ostrich in a shared nest, so many eggs are not her own.
14For she leaves her eggs on the groundand lets them warm in the sand.15She forgets that a foot may crush them,or a wild animal may trample them.16She treats her young harshly, as if not her own,with no concern that her labor was in vain.17For God has deprived her of wisdom;He has not endowed her with understanding.18Yet when she proudly spreads her wings,she laughs at the horse and its rider.
19Do you give strength to the horseor adorn his neck with a mane?20Do you make him leap like a locust,striking terror with his proud snorting?21He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength;he charges into battle.22He laughs at fear, frightened of nothing;he does not turn back from the sword.23A quiver rattles at his side,along with a flashing spear and lance.†24Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance;he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds.25At the blast of the horn, he snorts with fervor.†He catches the scent of battle from afar,the shouts of captains and the cry of war.
26Does the hawk take flight by your understandingand spread his wings toward the south?27Does the eagle soar at your commandand make his nest on high?28He dwells on a cliff and lodges there;his stronghold is on a rocky crag.29From there he spies out food;his eyes see it from afar.30His young ones feast on blood;and where the slain are, there he is.”