INTRODUCTION TO JOB 39 This chapter treats of various creatures, beasts and birds, which Job had little knowledge of, had no concern in the making of them, and scarcely any power over them; as of the goats and hinds, Job 39:1; of the wild ass, Job 39:5; of the unicorn, Job 39:9; of the peacock and... [ Continue Reading ]
KNOWEST THOU THE TIME WHEN THE WILD GOATS OF THE ROCK BRING FORTH?.... Which creatures are so called, because they dwell among the rocks d and run upon them; and though their heads are loaded with a vast burden of horns upon them, yet can so poise themselves, as with the greatest swiftness, to leap... [ Continue Reading ]
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 f observes; but how many the wild goats of the rock fulfil is not said by him or any other I know of... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY BOW THEMSELVES,.... That they may bring forth their young with greater ease and more safety: for it seems the hinds bring forth their young with great difficulty; and there are provisions in nature made to lessen it; as thunder, before observed, which causes them to bring forth the sooner; and... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR YOUNG ONES ARE IN GOOD LIKING,.... Plump, fat, and sleek, as fawns are: THEY GROW UP WITH CORN; by which they grow, or without in the field, as the word also signifies; and their growth and increase is very quick, as Aristotle observes l; THEY GO FORTH, AND RETURN NOT UNTO THEM: they go fort... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO HATH SENT OUT THE WILD ASS FREE?.... Into the wide waste, where it is, ranges at pleasure, and is not under the restraint of any; a creature which, as it is naturally wild, is naturally averse to servitude, is desirous of liberty and maintains it: not but that it may be tamed, as Pliny m speaks... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSE HOUSE I HAVE MADE THE WILDERNESS,.... Appointed that to be his place of residence, as being agreeable to his nature, at a distance from men, and in the less danger of being brought into subjection by them. Such were the deserts of Arabia; where, as Xenophon n relates, were many of these creatu... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SCORNETH THE MULTITUDE OF THE CITY,.... Choosing rather to be alone in the wilderness and free than to be among a multitude of men in a city, and be a slave as the tame ass; or it despises and defies a multitude of men, that may come out of cities to take it, Leo Africanus says r it yields to non... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RANGE OF THE MOUNTAINS [IS] HIS PASTURE,.... It ranges about the mountains for food; it looks about for it, as the word signifies, and tries first one place and then another to get some, it having short commons there; AND HE SEARCHETH AFTER EVERY GREEN THING; herb or plant, be it what it will t... [ Continue Reading ]
WILL THE UNICORN BE WILLING TO SERVE THEE,.... Whether there is or ever was such a creature, as described under the name of an unicorn, is a question: it is thought the accounts of it are for the most part fabulous; though Vartomannus y says he saw two at Mecca, which came from Ethiopia, the largest... [ Continue Reading ]
CANST THOU BIND THE UNICORN WITH HIS BAND IN THE FURROW?.... Put the yoke and harness upon him, and fasten it to the plough to draw it, that he may make furrows with it in the field, or plough up the ground as the tame ox does? thou canst not; OR WILL HE HARROW THE VALLEYS AFTER THEE? draw the harr... [ Continue Reading ]
WILT THOU TRUST HIM, BECAUSE HIS STRENGTH [IS] GREAT?.... No; tame oxen are employed because they are strong to labour, Psalms 144:14; and they are to be trusted, in ploughing or treading out the corn, under direction, because they are manageable, and will attend to business with constancy; but the... [ Continue Reading ]
WILT THOU BELIEVE HIM THAT HE WILL BRING HOME THY SEED?.... Draw in the cart, and bring home the ripe sheaves of corn, as the tame ox does? no; thou knowest him too well to believe he will bring it home in safety; AND GATHER [IT INTO] THY BARN; to be trodden out, which used to be done by oxen in th... [ Continue Reading ]
[GAVEST THOU] THE GOODLY WINGS UNTO THE PEACOCKS?.... Rather "ostriches", as the Vulgate Latin and Tigurine versions render it; some render it, "the wing of those that exult is joyful", so Montanus; that is, of the ostriches; who, in confidence of their wings, exult and glory over the horse and his... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH LEAVETH HER EGGS IN THE EARTH,.... Lays them and leaves them there. Aelianus, agreeably to this, says w, that it builds a low nest in the ground, making a hollow in the sand with its feet; though he seems to be mistaken as to the number of its eggs, which he makes to be more than eighty; more... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FORGETTETH THAT THE FOOT MAY CRUSH THEM,.... The foot of the traveller, they being laid in the ground, where he may walk, or on the sand of the seashore, where he may tread and trample upon them unawares, and crush them to pieces; to prevent which this creature has no foresight; OR THAT THE WIL... [ Continue Reading ]
SHE IS HARDENED AGAINST HER YOUNG ONES, AS THOUGH [THEY WERE] NOT HERS,.... Hence said to be cruel, Lamentations 4:3; not against the young ones she hatches, for Aelianus c reports her as very tender of her young, and exposing herself to danger for the preservation of them; but being a very forgetfu... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE GOD HATH DEPRIVED HER OF WISDOM,.... Or "made her to forget" d what she had; an instance of her forgetfulness is mentioned Job 39:15; and so Leo Africanus e says of it, that it is of a very short memory, and presently forgets the place where its eggs are laid; NEITHER HATH HE IMPARTED TO H... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT TIME SHE LIFTED UP HERSELF ON HIGH,.... It is sometimes eight foot high l; when alarmed with approaching danger she raises up herself, being sitting on the ground, and erects her wings for flight, or rather running; SHE SCORNETH THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER; being then, as Pliny m says, higher than... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU GIVEN THE HORSE STRENGTH?.... Not only to bear burdens and draw carriages, but for war; for it is the war horse that is here spoken of, as what follows shows, and his strength denotes; not strength of body only, but fortitude and courage; for which, as well as the other, the horse is emine... [ Continue Reading ]
CANST THOU MAKE HIM AFRAID AS A GRASSHOPPER?.... Which is frightened at every noise, and at any approach of men; but not so the horse; or canst thou move him, or cause him to skip and jump, or rather leap like a grasshopper? that is, hast thou given, or canst thou give him the faculty of leaping ove... [ Continue Reading ]
HE PAWETH IN THE VALLEY,.... Where armies are usually pitched and set in battle army, and especially the cavalry, for which the valley is most convenient; and here the horse is impatient of engaging, cannot stand still, but rises up with his fore feet and paws and prances, and, as the word signifies... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MOCKETH AT FEAR, AND IS NOT AFFRIGHTED,.... At those things which cause fear and fright to men; as arms, though ever so terrible, and armies, though never so numerous; NEITHER TURNETH HE BACK FROM THE SWORD; the naked sword, when it is drawn against him, and ready to be thrust into him; the hors... [ Continue Reading ]
THE QUIVER RATTLETH AGAINST HIM,.... The quiver is what arrows are put into and carried in, and seems here to be put for arrows, which being shot by the enemy come whizzing about him, but do not intimidate him; unless this is to be understood of arrows rattling in the quiver when carried by the ride... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SWALLOWETH THE GROUND WITH FIERCENESS AND RAGE,.... Being so eager for the battle, and so full of fierceness and rage, he bounds the plain with such swiftness that he seems rather to swallow up the ground than to run upon it; NEITHER BELIEVETH HE THAT [IT IS] THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPET; for joy at... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SAITH AMONG THE TRUMPETS, HA, HA,.... As pleased with the sound of them, rejoicing thereat, and which he signifies by neighing; AND HE SMELLETH THE BATTLE AFAR OFF; which respects not so much the distance of place as of time; he perceives beforehand that it is near, by the preparations making fo... [ Continue Reading ]
DOTH THE HAWK FLY BY THY WISDOM,.... With so much swiftness, steadiness, and constancy, until she has seized her prey. The Vulgate Latin version and some others read, "does she become feathered", or "begin to have feathers?" and so Bochart: either when first fledged; or when, as it is said d she cas... [ Continue Reading ]
DOTH THE EAGLE MOUNT UP AT THY COMMAND,.... No; but by an instinct which God has placed in it, and a capacity he has given it above all other birds. They take a circuit in their flight, and bend about before they soar aloft: but the eagle steers its course directly upwards towards heaven, till out o... [ Continue Reading ]
SHE DWELLETH AND ABIDETH ON THE ROCK, UPON THE CRAG OF THE ROCK, AND THE STRONG PLACE. Where she and her young are safe: so Pliny r says, eagles make their nests in rocks, even in the precipices of them, as the philosopher quoted in the preceding verse; and here on the tooth, edge, or precipice of t... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM THENCE SHE SEEKETH THE PREY,.... From the high rock; from whence she can look down into valleys, and even into the sea; and spy what is for her purpose, and descend and seize upon them; as lambs, fawns, geese, shellfish, c. though they may lie in the most hidden and secret places. Wherefore in... [ Continue Reading ]
HER YOUNG ONES ALSO SUCK UP BLOOD,.... As well as herself, being brought up to it by her. The eagle cares not for water, but drinks the blood of her prey; and so her young ones after her, as naturalists report w. And Aelianus says x the same of the hawk, that it eats no seeds, but devours flesh and... [ Continue Reading ]