Commentaries Dictionaries Concordances

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Job 39:2

canst thou number Rather, dost thou. The "months that they fulfil" is the time they go with young. The words "knowest thou", "dost thou mark", and the like, though no doubt referring partly to man's ignorance of the habits of these remote and timid creatures, carry also the question, Is it Job who presides over and determines all connected with the life and habits of these solitary creatures?

Continues after advertising

See also Job 39:2 in other biblical comments:

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    CANST THOU NUMBER THE MONTHS ... - That is, as they wander in the wilderness, as they live in inaccessible crags and cliffs of the rocks, it is impossible for man to be acquainted with their habits as...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    CHAPTER S 38:39--39:30 _ 1. The beasts of prey (Job 38:39)_ 2. The wild goats, the ass, the unicorn and the ostrich (Job 39:1) 3. The horse, the hawk and the eagle (Job 39:19)...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    CANST THOU NUMBER THE MONTHS, &C.— The meaning of these questions is, "Knowest thou the time and circumstances of their bringing forth?" For, to know the time only was easy, and had nothing in it extr...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    2. And of the animal world (Job 39:1, Job 40:2) TEXT 39:1-30 to Job 40:2 39 KNOWEST THOU THE TIME WHEN THE WILD GOATS OF THE ROCK BRING FORTH? _Or_ canst thou mark when the hinds do calve? 2 Canst...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    _CANST THOU NUMBER THE MONTHS THAT THEY FULFIL? OR KNOWEST THOU THE TIME WHEN THEY BRING FORTH?_ They bring forth with ease, and do not need to reckon the months of pregnancy, as the shepherd does in...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    THE FIRST SPEECH OF THE ALMIGHTY (CONCLUDED) Chs. Job 38:39 and Job 38:39 depict the wonders of animate creation, and the instincts with which animals are gifted by the providence of God. In view of...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    JOB, A SERVANT OF GOD Job _KEITH SIMONS_ Words in boxes (except for words in brackets) are from the Bible. This commentary has been through Advanced Checking. CHAPTER 39 GOD SPEAKS ABOUT BIRDS A...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    The animals in these verses are called goats, donkeys and oxen. (Oxen is the plural of ox.) These animals are common animals on the farms in many countries. On the farm, these are tame animals. But Go...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    Wild goats are shy animals. They live in the mountains. They stay far away from people. The young goats are not loyal to their mothers. When the young goats are old enough, they leave their mothers. A...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    תִּסְפֹּ֣ר יְרָחִ֣ים תְּמַלֶּ֑אנָה וְ֝ יָדַ֗עְתָּ עֵ֣ת...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    XXVIII. THE RECONCILIATION Job 38:1 - Job 42:6 THE main argument of the address ascribed to the Almighty is contained in Chapter s 38 and 39 and in the opening verses of chapter 42. Job makes submis...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    “KNOWEST THOU?” “CANST THOU?” Job 39:1 The series of questions is continued, and God asks more especially with respect to animated and organic nature. The wild goats, Job 39:1; the wild ass, Job 39:5...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    And still the unveiling goes forward: the mystery of the begetting and birth of lower animals, with the sorrows of travail, and the finding of strength; the freedom and wildness and splendid untameabl...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    Canst thou number the months [that] they (d) fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth? (d) That is, how long they go with young?...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    (1) В¶ Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve? (2) Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when t...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY COVERS CHAPTER S 38 THROUGH 42. Jehovah then speaks, and addressing Job, carries on the subject. He makes Job sensible of his nothingness. Job confesses himself to be vile, an...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    CANST THOU NUMBER THE MONTHS [THAT] THEY FULFIL?.... Which some understand both of wild goats and hinds. Common goats fulfil five months, they conceive in November, and bring forth in March, as Pliny...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    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 sa...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock _ Which dwell in high and steep rocks, where no man can come; _bring forth? _ Which they do with great difficulty, as is implied, Psalms 29:9, an...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    V. 1. KNOWEST THOU THE TIME WHEN THE WILD GOATS OF THE ROCK BRING FORTH, their homes being on the rocks near the summits of the mountains? OR CANST THOU MARK WHEN THE HINDS DO CALVE, noting the travai...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Canst thou number the months that they fulfil, namely, in bearing their young? OR KNOWEST THOU THE TIME WHEN THEY BRING FORTH? The external knowledge concerning these facts Job may have possessed, but...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    THE WILD GOATS AND THE DEER (vv.1-4) The Lord now turns Job's attention to animals not in the least aggressive, the wild goats and the deer. Indeed, rather than aggressive, they are elusive. Did Job...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    Dost thou exactly know when they did conceive, and when they will bring forth? which is more uncertain in these than in other creatures, because there fall out many accidents which cause them to bring...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Job 39:2 number H5608 (H8799) months H3391 fulfill H4390 (H8762) know H3045 (H8804) time H6256 young...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: God's challenge to Job continued. CHARACTERS: God, Job. CONCLUSION: When we consider God's wonderful works in all nature about us, and see how wonderfully even the brute creatures are fitt...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Job 39:1. _The wild goat,_ on the Arabian rocks, leaps with incredible celerity from rock to rock, and leaves the dogs and wolves behind. She hides her young in those retreats. They follow the laws of...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth?_ THE STUDY OF ZOOLOGY A RELIGIOUS DUTY God is here represented as calling the attention of Job to various orders of animal life. R...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    NOTES Job 39:13. “_Gatest thou the goodly wings unto the peacock, or wings and feathers into the ostrich?_” (MARGIN: “The feathers of the stork and ostrich.”) The whole verse very variously rendered....

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION JOB 39:1 This chapter completes the survey of animate nature begun at Job 38:39. The habits and instincts of the wild goat, the wild ass, and wild cattle are first noticed (Job 38:1); then...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? can you mark when the hinds calve? Can you number the months that they fulfil? [Do you know how long their pregnancies are?] or do you...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Jeremiah 2:24...

Continues after advertising