Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? [or] canst thou mark when the hinds do calve? Ver. 1. _Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth?_] The history of the living creatures is of singular use we see to set forth the goodness, power, wisdom, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Canst thou number the months [that] they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth? Ver. 2. _Canst thou number the months they fulfil?_] Eight months, Aristotle saith (the elephant is said to go above eight years), but who can tell the instant when, or why not sooner or later? Dost tho... [ Continue Reading ]
_They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows._ Ver. 3. _They bow themselves_] _sc._ By an instinct of nature, whether it be the pain they suffer, which compelleth them to it, or the fear of hurting their calves, which obligeth them to it. _ They bring forth... [ Continue Reading ]
Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them. Ver. 4. _Their young ones are in good liking_] Or, they recover; revalescent _begin to grow well_, as Isaiah 58:14, notwithstanding the hardness of their birth, by reason of their dam's exceeding d... [ Continue Reading ]
Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? Ver. 5. _Who hath sent out the wild ass free?_] פרא _Phere, ferum animal_ (so Tremellius rendereth it), the wild creature. And it is not unlikely that the Latin word _fera_ comes from this Hebrew word for a wild ass;... [ Continue Reading ]
Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. Ver. 6. _Whose house I have made the wilderness_] That of Arabia especially near unto Job, where were whole droves of these wild asses. There are a sort of them also in Plara, one of the islands of the Aegean Sea. Hermits an... [ Continue Reading ]
He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. Ver. 7. _He scorneth the multitude of the city_] Heb. He laugheth. _Insignis metaphora._ He would scorn to be set to work, as the tame ass is. _Asinum oneramus et non curat, quia asinus est,_ saith Bernard, We loa... [ Continue Reading ]
The range of the mountains [is] his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing. Ver. 8. _The range of the mountains is his pasture_] There he keeps, probably, for fear of lions and other fierce creatures; and there he finds food and forage, such as doth not only appease his hunger, but excit... [ Continue Reading ]
Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Ver. 9. _Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee?_] The rhinoceros, saith the Vulgate: but that is another kind of beast, so called from the growing of his horn from his nose (_Naricornis_). This is the _monoceros_ or unicorn, which... [ Continue Reading ]
Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee? Ver. 10. _Canst thou bind the unicorn? &c._] To keep him in order, and to hold him hard to his work, that he may lay the furrows even? Canst thou tether or gear him, like a horse? Or wilt he be brough... [ Continue Reading ]
Wilt thou trust him, because his strength [is] great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him? Ver. 11. _Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great?_] Of the unicorn's strength Balaam speaketh, Numbers 23:22. The Hebrew word signifieth such lustiness, courage, and prowess, as whereby one endur... [ Continue Reading ]
Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather [it into] thy barn? Ver. 12. _Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed_] That is, the crop that comes of thy seed; as in the former verse, thy labour, that is, the fruit of thy labour, as Psalms 128:2. There is no tr... [ Continue Reading ]
Job 39:13 [Gavest thou] the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? Ver. 13. _Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks?_] _Alam exultandam,_ the wings and tail to the peacock, wherein he so prideth himself and taketh such pleasure, being all in changeable colou... [ Continue Reading ]
Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust, Ver. 14. _Which leaveth her eggs in the earth_] Some say that she layeth 80 eggs, and having a faculty of discerning which of them will prove ostriches, and which will come to nothing; she leaveth some of them upon the sand, and upon ot... [ Continue Reading ]
And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. Ver. 15. _And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them_] This brutish and blockish bird forgetteth, that is, she never considereth, what may befall her eggs, left so carelessly.... [ Continue Reading ]
She is hardened against her young ones, as though [they were] not hers: her labour is in vain without fear; Ver. 16. _She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers_] Heb. her sons. So are those _peremptores potius quam parentes,_ as Bernard calleth them, rather parricides tha... [ Continue Reading ]
Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding. Ver. 17. _Because God hath deprived her of wisdom_] That is, of such forecast to provide for her young ones by a natural instinct, as other fowls and beasts have, _Struthionis astorgia declaratur e causis duabus... [ Continue Reading ]
_What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider._ Ver. 18. _What time she lifteth up herself on high, &c._] That is, when she runneth away from the hunter (which she doth with singular swiftness), she lifteth up herself on high, not from the earth, as other birds (fo... [ Continue Reading ]
Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Ver. 19. _Hast thou given the horse strength?_] Having mentioned the horse, he comes next to show his nature; and here we have a most elegant description of a generous horse, such as Dubartas maketh Cain to manage, and as... [ Continue Reading ]
Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils [is] terrible. Ver. 20. _Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper?_] Which soon flincheth and flieth with the least noise. But the horse is more like that formidable army of locusts described Joel 2:1,32, that bare down all b... [ Continue Reading ]
He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in [his] strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. Ver. 21. _He paweth in the valley_] -- _Cavatque_ Tellurem, et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu. Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum (Virg.). Such is the impatience of his spirit, that he... [ Continue Reading ]
He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword. Ver. 22. _He mocketh at fear, &c._] Heb. He laugheth, by an elegant prosopopoeia, _a_ such as this Book is full of. _Non vanes horret strepitus._ He feareth no colours when once engaged in fight, but counts that a sp... [ Continue Reading ]
The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield. Ver. 23. _The quiver rattleth against him_] The arrow; those messengers of death come whisking and singing about his ears (so the bullets now in so much use), but he is unappalled by this. _ The glittering spear_] Heb. The flami... [ Continue Reading ]
He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that [it is] the sound of the trumpet. Ver. 24. _He swalloweth the ground with fierceness_] He runs over it as fast as if he did swallow it up at a draught, _Terrain prae cursus celeritate, ebibare, et epotare videtur_ (Merc.).... [ Continue Reading ]
He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting. Ver. 25. _He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha_] Or, _Euge._ A note of rejoicing, which he seemeth to utter in his language: these are poetic terms. _ He smelleth out the battle... [ Continue Reading ]
Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, [and] stretch her wings toward the south? Ver. 26. _Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom?_] Or, Doth the hawk _(plumescere)_ get her feathers by thy wisdom? The word cometh from a root which signifieth strong, because the strength of fowls is in their wings, their deligh... [ Continue Reading ]
Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? Ver. 27. _Doth the eagle mount up at thy command?_] Mount plumb up (which no bird else can do) to an infinite height, even out of sight; not without an eye still on her prey, which by this means she spies sooner, and seizeth upon be... [ Continue Reading ]
She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. Ver. 28. _She dwelleth and abideth upon the rock, &c._] Which are counterscarfed and encompassed with precipices; there she makes her nest in the clefts and crags. The reason whereof see in the note on the verse... [ Continue Reading ]
From thence she seeketh the prey, [and] her eyes behold afar off. Ver. 29. _From thence she seeketh her prey_] Besides fowls (whereof she is called the queen) she preyeth upon hares, hinds, foxes, and such other beasts as she can master. Hence that complaint of the hare, _ In me omnis terraeque ma... [ Continue Reading ]
Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain [are], there [is] she. Ver. 30. _Her young ones also suck up blood_] Heb. They are glutonous for blood. The Hebrew word, _jegnalegna dam,_ seems to be made from the sound in sucking. The young eagles, not yet able to tear the prey brought unto... [ Continue Reading ]