1 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 they bring forth?
3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows.
4 Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.
5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?
6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings.
7 He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.
9 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
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 feathers unto the ostrich?
14 Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,
15 And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.
16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not her's: her labour is in vain without fear;
17 Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
18 What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.
19 Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.
22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
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.
26 Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?
27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?
28 She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.
29 From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.
30 Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.
1 Knowest H3045 thou the time H6256 when the wild goats H3277 of the rock H5553 bring forth? H3205 or canst thou mark H8104 when the hinds H355 do calve? H2342
2 Canst thou number H5608 the months H3391 that they fulfil? H4390 or knowest H3045 thou the time H6256 when they bring forth? H3205
3 They bow H3766 themselves, they bring forth H6398 their young ones, H3206 they cast out H7971 their sorrows. H2256
4 Their young ones H1121 are in good liking, H2492 they grow up H7235 with corn; H1250 they go forth, H3318 and return H7725 not unto them.
5 Who hath sent out H7971 the wild ass H6501 free? H2670 or who hath loosed H6605 the bands H4147 of the wild ass? H6171
6 Whose house H1004 I have made H7760 the wilderness, H6160 and the barren H4420 land his dwellings. H4908
7 He scorneth H7832 the multitude H1995 of the city, H7151 neither regardeth H8085 he the crying H8663 of the driver. H5065
8 The range H3491 of the mountains H2022 is his pasture, H4829 and he searcheth H1875 after H310 every green thing. H3387
9 Will the unicorn H7214 be willing H14 to serve H5647 thee, or abide H3885 by thy crib? H18
10 Canst thou bind H7194 the unicorn H7214 with his band H5688 in the furrow? H8525 or will he harrow H7702 the valleys H6010 after H310 thee?
11 Wilt thou trust H982 him, because his strength H3581 is great? H7227 or wilt thou leave H5800 thy labour H3018 to him?
12 Wilt thou believe H539 him, that he will bring home H7725 H7725 thy seed, H2233 and gather H622 it into thy barn? H1637
13 Gavest thou the goodly H7443 wings H3671 unto the peacocks? H5965 or wings H84 and feathers H2624 unto the ostrich? H5133
14 Which leaveth H5800 her eggs H1000 in the earth, H776 and warmeth H2552 them in dust, H6083
15 And forgetteth H7911 that the foot H7272 may crush H2115 them, or that the wild H7704 beast H2416 may break H1758 them.
16 She is hardened H7188 against her young ones, H1121 as though they were not H3808 hers: her labour H3018 is in vain H7385 without fear; H6343
17 Because God H433 hath deprived H5382 her of wisdom, H2451 neither hath he imparted H2505 to her understanding. H998
18 What time H6256 she lifteth up H4754 herself on high, H4791 she scorneth H7832 the horse H5483 and his rider. H7392
19 Hast thou given H5414 the horse H5483 strength? H1369 hast thou clothed H3847 his neck H6677 with thunder? H7483
20 Canst thou make him afraid H7493 as a grasshopper? H697 the glory H1935 of his nostrils H5170 is terrible. H367
21 He paweth H2658 in the valley, H6010 and rejoiceth H7797 in his strength: H3581 he goeth on H3318 to meet H7125 the armed men. H5402
22 He mocketh H7832 at fear, H6343 and is not affrighted; H2865 neither turneth he back H7725 from H6440 the sword. H2719
23 The quiver H827 rattleth H7439 against him, the glittering H3851 spear H2595 and the shield. H3591
24 He swalloweth H1572 the ground H776 with fierceness H7494 and rage: H7267 neither believeth H539 he that it is the sound H6963 of the trumpet. H7782
25 He saith H559 among H1767 the trumpets, H7782 Ha, H1889 ha; H1889 and he smelleth H7306 the battle H4421 afar off, H7350 the thunder H7482 of the captains, H8269 and the shouting. H8643
26 Doth the hawk H5322 fly H82 by thy wisdom, H998 and stretch H6566 her wings H3671 toward the south? H8486
27 Doth the eagle H5404 mount up H1361 at thy command, H6310 and make H7311 her nest H7064 on high? H7311
28 She dwelleth H7931 and abideth H3885 on the rock, H5553 upon the crag H8127 of the rock, H5553 and the strong place. H4686
29 From thence she seeketh H2658 the prey, H400 and her eyes H5869 behold H5027 afar off. H7350
30 Her young ones H667 also suck up H5966 blood: H1818 and where the slain H2491 are, there is she. H1931
1 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 they bring forth?
3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young, They cast out their pains.
4 Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field; They go forth, and return not again.
5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? Or who hath loosed the bonds of the swift ass,
6 Whose home I have made the wilderness, And the salt land his dwelling-place?
7 He scorneth the tumult of the city, Neither heareth he the shoutings of the driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, And he searcheth after every green thing.
9 Will the wild-ox be content to serve thee? Or will he abide by thy crib?
10 Canst thou bind the wild-ox 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 to him thy labor?
12 Wilt thou confide in him, that he will bring home thy seed, And gather `the grain' of thy threshing-floor?
13 The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; `But' are they the pinions and plumage of love?
14 For she leaveth her eggs on the earth, And warmeth them in the dust,
15 And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, Or that the wild beast may trample them.
16 She dealeth hardly with her young ones, as if they were not hers: Though her labor be in vain, `she is' without fear;
17 Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, Neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
18 What time she lifteth up herself on high, She scorneth the horse and his rider.
19 Hast thou given the horse `his' might? Hast thou clothed his neck with the quivering mane?
20 Hast thou made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is terrible.
21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: He goeth out to meet the armed men.
22 He mocketh at fear, and is not dismayed; Neither turneth he back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattleth against him, The flashing spear and the javelin.
24 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage; Neither believeth he that it is the voice of the trumpet.
25 As oft as the trumpet `soundeth' he saith, Aha! And he smelleth the battle afar off, The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 Is it by thy wisdom that the hawk soareth, (And) stretcheth her wings toward the south?
27 Is it at thy command that the eagle mounteth up, And maketh her nest on high?
28 On the cliff she dwelleth, and maketh her home, Upon the point of the cliff, and the stronghold.
29 From thence she spieth out the prey; Her eyes behold it afar off.
30 Her young ones also suck up blood: And where the slain are, there is she.
1 Hast thou known the time of The bearing of the wild goats of the rock? The bringing forth of hinds thou dost mark!
2 Thou dost number the months they fulfil? And thou hast known the time of their bringing forth!
3 They bow down, Their young ones they bring forth safely, Their pangs they cast forth.
4 Safe are their young ones, They grow up in the field, they have gone out, And have not returned to them.
5 Who hath sent forth the wild ass free? Yea, the bands of the wild ass who opened?
6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, And his dwellings the barren land,
7 He doth laugh at the multitude of a city, The cries of an exactor he heareth not.
8 The range of mountains `is' his pasture, And after every green thing he seeketh.
9 Is a Reem willing to serve thee? Doth he lodge by thy crib?
10 Dost thou bind a Reem in a furrow `with' his thick band? Doth he harrow valleys after thee?
11 Dost thou trust in him because great `is' his power? And dost thou leave unto him thy labour?
12 Dost thou trust in him That he doth bring back thy seed? And `to' thy threshing-floor doth gather `it'?
13 The wing of the rattling ones exulteth, Whether the pinion of the ostrich or hawk.
14 For she leaveth on the earth her eggs, And on the dust she doth warm them,
15 And she forgetteth that a foot may press it, And a beast of the field tread it down.
16 Her young ones it hath hardened without her, In vain `is' her labour without fear.
17 For God hath caused her to forget wisdom, And He hath not given a portion To her in understanding:
18 At the time on high she lifteth herself up, She laugheth at the horse and at his rider.
19 Dost thou give to the horse might? Dost thou clothe his neck `with' a mane?
20 Dost thou cause him to rush as a locust? The majesty of his snorting `is' terrible.
21 They dig in a valley, and he rejoiceth in power, He goeth forth to meet the armour.
22 He laugheth at fear, and is not affrighted, And he turneth not back from the face of the sword.
23 Against him rattle doth quiver, The flame of a spear, and a halbert.
24 With trembling and rage he swalloweth the ground, And remaineth not stedfast Because of the sound of a trumpet.
25 Among the trumpets he saith, Aha, And from afar he doth smell battle, Roaring of princes and shouting.
26 By thine understanding flieth a hawk? Spreadeth he his wings to the south?
27 At thy command goeth an eagle up high? Or lifteth he up his nest?
28 A rock he doth inhabit, Yea, he lodgeth on the tooth of a rock, and fortress.
29 From thence he hath sought food, To a far off place his eyes look attentively,
30 And his brood gulph up blood, And where the pierced `are' -- there `is' he!
1 Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? dost thou mark the calving of the hinds?
2 Dost thou number the months that they fulfil? and knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
3 They bow themselves, they give birth to their young ones, they cast out their pains;
4 Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field, they go forth, and return not unto them.
5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? and who hath loosed the bands of the onager,
6 Whose house I made the wilderness, and the salt plain his dwellings?
7 He laugheth at the tumult of the city, and heareth not the shouts of the driver;
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.
9 Will the buffalo be willing to serve thee, or will he lodge by thy crib?
10 Canst thou bind the buffalo with his cord in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
11 Wilt thou put confidence in him, because his strength is great? and wilt thou leave thy labour to him?
12 Wilt thou trust him to bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy threshing-floor?
13 The wing of the ostrich beats joyously -- But is it the stork's pinion and plumage?
14 For she leaveth her eggs to the earth, and warmeth them in the dust,
15 And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the beast of the field may trample them.
16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers; her labour is in vain, without her concern.
17 For +God hath deprived her of wisdom, and hath not furnished her with understanding.
18 What time she lasheth herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.
19 Hast thou given strength to the horse? hast thou clothed his neck with the quivering mane?
20 Dost thou make him to leap as a locust? His majestic snorting is terrible.
21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in [his] strength; he goeth forth to meet the armed host.
22 He laugheth at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from before the sword.
23 The quiver rattleth upon him, the glittering spear and the javelin.
24 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage, and cannot contain himself at the sound of the trumpet:
25 At the noise of the trumpets he saith, Aha! and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 Doth the hawk fly by thine intelligence, [and] stretch his wings toward the south?
27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make his nest on high?
28 He inhabiteth the rock and maketh his dwelling on the point of the cliff, and the fastness:
29 From thence he spieth out the prey, his eyes look into the distance;
30 And his young ones suck up blood; and where the slain are, there is he.
1 "Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill? Or do you know the time when they give birth?
3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young, They end their labor pains.
4 Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go forth, and don't return again.
5 "Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,
6 Whose home I have made the wilderness, And the salt land his dwelling-place?
7 He scorns the tumult of the city, Neither hears he the shouting of the driver.
8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, He searches after every green thing.
9 "Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?
10 Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?
11 Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave to him your labor?
12 Will you confide in him, that he will bring home your seed, And gather the grain of your threshing floor?
13 "The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; But are they the feathers and plumage of love?
14 For she leaves her eggs on the earth, Warms them in the dust,
15 And forgets that the foot may crush them, Or that the wild animal may trample them.
16 She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,
17 Because God has deprived her of wisdom, Neither has he imparted to her understanding.
18 When she lifts up herself on high, She scorns the horse and his rider.
19 "Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?
20 Have you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.
21 He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength: He goes out to meet the armed men.
22 He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed; Neither does he turn back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against him, The flashing spear and the javelin.
24 He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, Neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
25 As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, 'Aha!' He smells the battle afar off, The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
26 "Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, And stretches her wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up, And makes his nest on high?
28 On the cliff he dwells, and makes his home, On the point of the cliff, and the stronghold.
29 From there he spies out the prey. His eyes see it afar off.
30 His young ones also suck up blood. Where the slain are, there he is."
1 Do you go after food for the she-lion, or get meat so that the young lions may have enough,
2 When they are stretched out in their holes, and are waiting in the brushwood?
3 Who gives in the evening the meat he is searching for, when his young ones are crying to God; when the young lions with loud noise go wandering after their food?
4 Have you knowledge of the rock-goats? or do you see the roes giving birth to their young?
5 Is the number of their months fixed by you? or is the time when they give birth ordered by you?
6 They are bent down, they give birth to their young, they let loose the fruit of their body.
7 Their young ones are strong, living in the open country; they go out and do not come back again.
8 Who has let the ass of the fields go free? or made loose the bands of the loud-voiced beast?
9 To whom I have given the waste land for a heritage, and the salt land as a living-place.
10 He makes sport of the noise of the town; the voice of the driver does not come to his ears;
11 He goes looking for his grass-lands in the mountains, searching out every green thing.
12 Will the ox of the mountains be your servant? or is his night's resting-place by your food-store?
13 Will he be pulling your plough with cords, turning up the valleys after you?
14 Will you put your faith in him, because his strength is great? will you give the fruit of your work into his care?
15 Will you be looking for him to come back, and get in your seed to the crushing-floor?
16 Is the wing of the ostrich feeble, or is it because she has no feathers,
17 That she puts her eggs on the earth, warming them in the dust,
18 Without a thought that they may be crushed by the foot, and broken by the beasts of the field?
19 She is cruel to her young ones, as if they were not hers; her work is to no purpose; she has no fear.
20 For God has taken wisdom from her mind, and given her no measure of knowledge.
21 When she is shaking her wings on high, she makes sport of the horse and of him who is seated on him.
22 Do you give strength to the horse? is it by your hand that his neck is clothed with power?
23 Is it through you that he is shaking like a locust, in the pride of his loud-sounding breath?
24 He is stamping with joy in the valley; he makes sport of fear.
25 In his strength he goes out against the arms of war, turning not away from the sword.
26 The bow is sounding against him; he sees the shining point of spear and arrow.
27 Shaking with passion, he is biting the earth; he is not able to keep quiet at the sound of the horn;
28 When it comes to his ears he says, Aha! He is smelling the fight from far off, and hearing the thunder of the captains, and the war-cries.
29 Is it through your knowledge that the hawk takes his flight, stretching out his wings to the south?
30 Or is it by your orders that the eagle goes up, and makes his resting-place on high?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Job 39
Commentary on Job 39 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
1 Dost thou know the bearing time of the wild goats of the rock?
Observest thou the circles of the hinds?
2 Dost thou number the months which they fulfil,
And knowest thou the time of their bringing forth?
3 They bow down, they let their young break through,
They cast off their pains.
4 Their young ones gain strength, grow up in the desert,
They run away and do not return.
The strophe treats of the female chamois or steinbocks, ibices (perhaps including the certainly different kinds of chamois), and stags. The former are called יעלים , from יעל , Arab. w‛l (a secondary formation from עלה , Arab. ‛lâ ), to mount, therefore: rock-climbers. חולל is inf. Pil.: τὸ ὠδίνειν , comp. the Pul . Job 15:7. שׁמר , to observe, exactly as Ecclesiastes 11:4; 1 Samuel 1:12; Zechariah 11:11. In Job 39:2 the question as to the expiration of the time of bearing is connected with that as to the time of bringing forth. תּספּור , plene , as Job 14:16; לדתּנה ( littâna , like עת = עדתּ ) with an euphonic termination for לדתּן , as Genesis 42:36; Genesis 21:29, and also out of pause, Ruth 1:19, Ges. §91, 1, rem. 2. Instead of תּפלּחנה Olsh. wishes to read תּפלּטנה , but this (synon. תמלטנה ) would be: they let slip away; the former (synon. תבקענה ): they cause to divide, i.e., to break through (comp. Arab. felâh , the act of breaking through, freedom, prosperity). On כּרע , to kneel down as the posture of one in travail, vid., 1 Samuel 4:19. “They cast off their pains” is not meant of an easy working off of the after-pains (Hirz., Schlottm.), but חבל signifies in this phrase, as Schultens has first shown, meton. directly the foetus, as Arab. ḥabal , plur. ahbâl , and ὠδίν , even of a child already grown up, as being the fruit of earlier travail, e.g., in Aeschylus, Agam . 1417f.; even the like phrase, ῥίψαι ὠδῖνα = edere foetum , is found in Euripides, Ion 45. Thus born with ease, the young animals grow rapidly to maturity ( חלם , pinguescere , pubescere , whence חלום , a dream as the result of puberty, vid., Psychol . S. 282), grow in the desert ( בּבּר , Targ. = בּחוּץ , vid., i. 329, note), seek the plain, and return not again למו , sibi h. e. sui juris esse volentes (Schult.), although it might also signify ad eas , for the Hebr. is rather confused on the question of the distinction of gender, and even in חבליהם and בניהם the masc . is used ἐπικοίνως . We, however, prefer to interpret according to Job 6:19; Job 24:16. Moreover, Bochart is right: Non hic agitur de otiosa et mere speculativa cognitione, sed de ea cognitione, quae Deo propria est, qua res omnes non solum novit, sed et dirigit atque gubernat .
5 Who hath sent forth the wild ass free,
And who loosed the bands of the wild ass,
6 Whose house I made the steppe,
And his dwelling the salt country?
7 He scorneth the tumult of the city,
He heareth not the noise of the driver.
8 That which is seen upon the mountains is his pasture,
And he sniffeth after every green thing.
On the wild ass (not: ass of the forest).
(Note: It is a dirty yellow with a white belly, single-hoofed and long-eared; its hornless head somewhat resembles that of the gazelle, but is much later; its hair has the dryness of the hair of the deer, and the animal forms the transition from the stag and deer genus to the ass. It is entirely distinct from the mahâ or baqar el-wahsh , wild ox, whose large soft eyes are so much celebrated by the poets of the steppe. This latter is horned and double-hoofed, and forms the transition from the stag to the ox distinct from the ri'm , ראם , therefore perhaps an antelope of the kind of the Indian nîlgau , blue ox, Portax tragocamelus . I have not seen both kinds of animals alive, but I have often seen their skins in the tents of the Ruwalâ . Both kinds are remarkable for their very swift running, and it is especially affirmed of the ferâ that no rider can overtake it. The poets compare a troop of horsemen that come rushing up and vanish in the next moment to a herd of ferâ . In spite of its difficulty and hazardousness, the nomads are passionately given to hunting the wild ass, and the proverb cited by the Kâmûs: kull es - sêd bigôf el - ferâ (every hunt sticks in the belly of the ferâ , i.e., compared with that, every other hunt is nothing), is perfectly correct. When the approach of a herd, which always consists of several hundred, is betrayed by a cloud of dust which can be seen many miles off, so many horsemen rise up from all sides in pursuit that the animals are usually scattered, and single ones are obtained by the dogs and by shots. The herd is called gemı̂le , and its leader is called ‛anûd ( ענוּד ),as with gazelles. - Wetzst.)
In Hebr. and Arab. it is פּרא ( ferâ or himâr el - wahsh , i.e., asinus ferus ), and Aram. ערוד ; the former describes it as a swift-footed animal, the latter as an animal shy and difficult to be tamed by the hand of man; “Kulan” is its Eastern Asiatic name. lxx correctly translates: τίς δὲ ἐστιν ὁ ἀφεὶς ὄνον ἄγριον ἐλεύθερον . חפשׁי is the acc . of the predicate (comp. Genesis 33:2; Jeremiah 22:30). Parallel with ערבה (according to its etymon perhaps, land of darkness, terra incognita ) is מלחה , salt adj . or (sc. ארץ ) a salt land, i.e., therefore unfruitful and incapable of culture, as the country round the Salt Sea of Palestine: that the wild ass even gladly licks the salt or natron of the desert, is a matter of fact, and may be assumed, since all wild animals that feed on plants have a partiality, which is based on chemical laws of life, for licking slat. On Job 39:8 Ew. observes, to render יתוּר as “what is espied” is insecure, “on account of the structure of the verse” ( Gramm . S. 419, Anm.). This reason is unintelligible; and in general there is no reason for rendering יתוּר , after lxx, Targ., Jer., and others, as an Aramaic 3 fut . with a mere half vowel instead of Kametz before the tone = יתוּר , which is without example in Old Testament Hebrew (for יהוּא , Ecclesiastes 11:3, follows the analogy of יהי ), but יתוּר signifies either abundantia (after the form יבוּל , לחוּם Job 20:23, from יתר , Arab. wtr , p. 571) or investigabile , what can be searched out (after the form יקוּם , that which exists, from תּוּר , Arab. târ , to go about, look about), which, with Olsh. §212, and most expositors, we prefer.
9 Will the oryx be willing to serve thee,
Or will he lodge in thy crib?
10 Canst thou bind the oryx in the furrow with a leading rein,
Or will he harrow the valleys, following thee?
11 Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great,
And leave thy labour to him?
12 Wilt thou confide in him to bring in thy sowing,
And to garner thy threshing-floor?
In correct texts רים has a Dagesh in the Resh , and היאבה the accent on the penult., as Proverbs 11:21 ינּקה רע , and Jeremiah 39:12 רּע מאוּמה . The tone retreats according to the rule, Ges. §29, 3, b ; and the Dagesh is, as also when the second word begins with an aspirate,
(Note: The National Grammarians call this exception to the rule, that the muta is aspirated when the preceding word ends with a vowel, אתי מרחיק ( veniens e longinquo ), i.e., the case, where the word ending with a vowel is Milel , whether from the very first, or, when the second word is a monosyllable or has the tone on the penult., on account of the accent that has retreated (in order to avoid two syllables with the chief tone coming together); in this case the aspirate, and in general the initial letter (if capable of being doubled) of the second monosyllabic or penultima -accented word, takes a Dagesh; but this is not without exceptions that are quite as regular. Regularly, the second word is not dageshed if it begins with ו , כ , ל , ב , or if the first word is only a bare verb, e.g., עשׂה לו , or one that has only ו before it, e.g., ועשׂה פסח ; the tone of the first word in both these examples retreats, but without the initial of the second being doubled. This is supplementary, and as far as necessary a correction, to what is said in Psalter , i 392, Anm.)
Dag. forte conj., which the Resh also takes, Proverbs 15:1 מענה־רּך , exceptionally, according to the rule, Ges. §20, 2, a . In all, it occurs thirteen times with Dagesh in the Old Testament - a relic of a mode of pointing which treated the ר (as in Arabic) as a letter capable of being doubled (Ges. §22, 5), that has been supplanted in the system of pointing that gained the ascendency. רים (Psalms 22:22, רם ) is contracted from ראם (Psalms 92:11, plene , ראים ), which (= ראם ) is of like form with Arab. ri'm (Olsh. §154, a ).
(Note: Since ra'ima , inf. ri'mân , has the signification assuescere , ראם , רים , רימנא (Targ.) might describe the oryx as a gregarious animal, although all ruminants have this characteristic in common. On ראם , Arab. r'm , vid., Seetzen's Reise, iii. S. 393, Z 9ff., and also iv. 496.)
Such, in the present day in Syria, is the name of the gazelle that is for the most part white with a yellow back and yellow stripes in the face ( Antilope leucoryx , in distinction from Arab. ‛ifrı̂ , the earth-coloured, dirty-yellow Antilope oryx , and Arab. ḥmrı̂ , himrı̂ , the deer-coloured Antilope dorcas ); the Talmud also ( b. Zebachim , 113b; Bathra , 74 b ) combines ראימא and אורזילא or ארזילא , a gazelle (Arab. gazâl ), and therefore reckons the reêm to the antelope genus, of which the gazelle is a species; and the question, Job 39:10 , shows that an animal whose home is on the mountains is intended, viz., as Bochart, and recently Schlottm. (making use of an academic treatise of Lichtenstein on the antelopes, 1824), has proved, the oryx, which the lxx also probably understands when it translates μονοκέρως ; for the Talmud. קרש , mutilated from it, is, according to Chullin , 59 b , a one-horned animal, and is more closely defined as טביא דבי עילאי , “gazelle (antelope) of Be (Beth)-Illâi” (comp. Lewysohn, Zoologie des Talmuds , 1858, §146).
The oryx also appears on Egyptian monuments sometimes with two horns, but mostly with one variously curled; and both Aristotle
(Note: Vid., Sundevall, Die Thierarten des Aristoteles (Stockholm, 1863), S. 64f.)
and Pliny describe it as a one-horned cloven-hoof; so that one must assent to the supposition of a one-horned variety of the oryx (although as a fact of natural history it is not yet fully established), as then there is really tolerably certain information of a one-horned antelope both in Upper Asia and in Central Africa;
(Note: J. W. von Müller ( Das Einhorn von gesch. u. naturwiss. Standpunkte betrachtet, 1852) believed that in a horn in the Ambras Collection at Vienna he recognised a horn of the Monocerôs (comp. Fechner's Centralblatt, 1854, Nr. 2), but he is hardly right. J. W. von Müller, Francis Galton ( Narrative of an Explorer in Tropical South Africa, 1853), and other travellers have heard the natives speak ingenuously of the unicorn, but without seeing it themselves. On the other hand, Huc and Gabet ( Journeyings through Mongolia and Thibet , Germ. edition) tell us “a horn of this animal was sent to Calcutta: it was 50 centimetres long and 11 in circumference; from the root it ran up to a gradually diminishing point. It was almost straight, black, etc ... . Hodgson, when English consul at Nepal, had the good fortune to obtain an unicorn ... . It is a kind of antelope, which in southern Thibet, that borders on Nepal, is called Tschiru . Hodgson sent a skin and horn to Calcutta; they came from an unicorn that died in the menagerie of the Raja of Nepal.” The detailed description follows, and the suggestion is advanced that this Antilope Hodgsonii , as it has been proposed to call the Tschiru , is the one-horned oryx of the ancients. The existence of one-horned wild sheep (not antelopes), attested by R. von Schlagintweit ( Zoologischer Garten , 1st year, S. 72), the horn of which consists of two parts gradually growing together, covered by one horn-sheath, does not depreciate the credibility of the account given by Huc-Gabet (to which Prof. Will has called my attention as being the most weighty testimony of the time). Another less minute account is to be found in the Arabic description of a journey (communicated to me by Prof. Fleischer) by Selîm Bisteris (Beirût, 1856): In the menagerie of the Viceroy of Egypt he saw an animal of the colour of a gazelle, but the size and form of an ass, with a long straight horn between the ears, and what, as he says, seldom go together) with hoofs, viz. - and as the expression Arab. ḥâfr , horse's hoof (not Arab. chuff , a camel's hoof), also implies - proper, uncloven hoofs, - therefore an one-horned and at the same time one-hoofed antelope.)
and therefore there is sufficient ground for seeking the origin of the tradition of the unicorn in an antelope, - perhaps rather like a horse, - with one horn rising out of the two points of ossification over the frontal suture. The proper buffalo, Bos bubalus, cannot therefore be intended, because it only came from India to Western Asia and Europe at a more recent date, but also not any other species whatever of this animal (Carey and others), which is recognisable by its flat horns, which are also near together, and its forbidding, staring, bloodshot eyes; for it is tameable, and is (even in modern Syria) used as a domestic animal. On the other hand there are antelopes which somewhat resemble the horse, others the ox (whence βούβαλος , βούβαλις , is a name for the antelope), others the deer and the ass. Schultens erroneously considers ראם to be the buffalo, being misled by a passage in the Divan of the Hudheilites, which gives the ri'm the by-name of dhu chadam , i.e., oxen-like white-footed, which exactly applies to the A. oryx or even the A. leucoryx; for the former has white feet and legs striped lengthwise with black stripes, the latter white feet and legs. Just as little reason is there for imagining the rhinoceros after Aquila (and in part Jerome); ῥινοκέρως is nothing but an unhappy rendering of the μονοκέρως of the lxx. The question in Job 39:10 , as already observed, requires an animal that inhabits the mountains.
On אבה , to be willing = to take up, receive. The “furrow ( תּלם , sulcus , not porca , the ridge between the furrows) of his cord” is that which it is said to break up by means of the ploughshare, being led by a rein. אחריך refers to the leader, who goes just before or at the side; according to Hahn, to one who has finished the sowing which precedes the harrowing; but it is more natural to imagine the leader of the animal that is harrowing, which is certainly not left to itself. On כּי , Job 39:12 , as an exponent of the obj. vid., Ew. §336, b . The Chethib here uses the Kal שׁוּב transitively: to bring back (viz., that which was sown as harvested), which is possible (vid., Job 42:10). גרנך , Job 39:12 , is either a locative (into thy threshing-floor) or acc . of the obj. per synecd. continentis pro contento , as Ruth 3:2; Matthew 3:12. The position of the question from beginning to end assumes an animal outwardly resembling the yoke-ox, as the ראם is also elsewhere put with the ox, Deuteronomy 33:17; Psalms 29:6; Isaiah 34:7. But the conclusion at length arrived at by Hahn and in Gesenius' Handwörterbuch , that on this very account the buffalo is to be understood, is a mistake: A. oryx and leucoryx are both (for this very reason not distinguished by the ancients) entirely similar to the ox; they are not only ruminants, like the ox, with a like form of the hoof, but also of a plump form, which makes them appear to be of the ox tribe.
13 The wing of the ostrich vibrates joyously,
Is she pious, wing and feather?
14 No, she leaveth her eggs in the earth
And broodeth over the dust,
15 Forgetting that a foot may crush them,
And the beast of the field trample them.
16 She treateth her young ones harshly as if they were not hers;
In vain is her labour, without her being distressed.
17 For Eloah hath caused her to forget wisdom,
And gave her no share of understanding.
18 At the time when she lasheth herself aloft,
She derideth the horse and horseman.
As the wild ass and the ox-like oryx cannot be tamed by man, and employed in his service like the domestic ass and ox, so the ostrich, although resembling the stork in its stilt-like structure, the colour of its feathers, and its gregarious life, still has characteristics totally different from those one ought to look for according to this similarity. רננים , a wail, prop. a tremulous shrill sound (vid., Job 39:23), is a name of the female ostrich, whose peculiar cry is called in Arabic zimâr ( זמר ). נעלס (from עלס , which in comparison with עלץ , עלז , rarely occurs) signifies to make gestures of joy. אם , Job 39:13 , is an interrogative an; חסידה , pia , is a play upon the name of the stork, which is so called: pia instar ciconiae (on this figure of speech, comp. Mehren's Rehtorik der Araber, S. 178). כּי , Job 39:14 , establishes the negation implied in the question, as e.g., Isaiah 28:28. The idea is not that the hen-ostrich abandons the hatching of her eggs to the earth ( עזב ל as Psalms 16:10), and makes them “glow over the dust” (Schlottm.), for the maturing energy compensating for the sitting of the parent bird proceeds from the sun's heat, which ought to have been mentioned; one would also expect a Hiph . instead of the Piel תּחמּם , which can be understood only of hatching by her own warmth. The hen-ostrich also really broods herself, although from time to time she abandons the חמּם to the sun.
(Note: It does, however, as it appears, actually occur, that the female leaves the work of hatching to the sun by day, and to the male at night, and does not sit at all herself; vid., Funke's Naturgeschichte , revised by Taschenberg (1864), S. 243f.)
That which contrasts with the φιλοστοργία of the stork, which is here made prominent, is that she lays here eggs in a hole in the ground, and partly, when the nest is full, above round about it, while חסידה ברושׁים ביתה , Psalms 104:17. רננים is construed in accordance with its meaning as fem. sing., Ew. §318, a . Since she acts thus, what next happens consistently therewith is told by the not aoristic but only consecutive ותּשׁכּח : and so she forgets that the foot may crush ( זוּר , to press together, break by pressure, as הזּוּרה , Isaiah 59:5 = הזּוּרה , that which is crushed, comp. לנה = לנה , Zechariah 5:4) them (i.e., the eggs, Ges. §146, 3), and the beast of the field may trample them down, crush them ( דּוּשׁ as Arab. dâs , to crush by treading upon anything, to tread out).
Job 39:16
The difficulty of הקשׁיח (from קשׁח , Arab. qsḥ , hardened from קשׁה , Arab. qsâ ) being used of the hen-ostrich in the masc., may be removed by the pointing הקשׁיח (Ew.); but this alteration is unnecessary, since the Hebr. also uses the masc . for the fem . where it might be regarded as impossible (vid., Job 39:3 , and comp. e.g., Isaiah 32:11.). Jer. translates correctly according to the sense: quasi non sint sui , but ל is not directly equivalent to כּ ; what is meant is, that by the harshness of her conduct she treats her young as not belonging to her, so that they become strange to her, Ew. §217, d . In Job 39:16 the accentuation varies: in vain ( לריק with Rebia mugrasch ) is her labour that is devoid of anxiety; or: in vain is her labour ( לריק( ruobal r with Tarcha , יגיעהּ with Munach vicarium ) without anxiety (on her part); or: in vain is her labour ( לריק with Mercha , יגיעה with Rebia mugrasch ), yet she is without anxiety. The middle of these renderings ( לריק in all of them, like Isaiah 49:4 = לריק , Isaiah 65:23 and freq.) seems to us the most pleasing: the labour of birth and of the brooding undertaken in places where the eggs are put beyond the danger of being crushed, is without result, without the want of success distressing her, since she does not anticipate it, and therefore also takes no measures to prevent it. The eggs that are only just covered with earth, or that lie round about the nest, actually become a prey to the jackals, wild-cats, and other animals; and men can get them for themselves one by one, if they only take care to prevent their footprints being recognised; for if the ostrich observes that its nest is discovered, it tramples upon its own eggs, and makes its nest elsewhere (Schlottm., according to Lichtenstein's Südafrik. Reise ). That it thus abandons its eggs to the danger of being crushed and to plunder, arises, according to Job 39:17, from the fact that God has caused it to forget wisdom, i.e., as Job 39:17 explains, has extinguished in it, deprived it of, the share thereof ( ב as Isaiah 53:12, lxx ἐν , as Acts 8:21) which it might have had. It is only one of the stupidities of the ostrich that is made prominent here; the proverbial ahmaq min en - na‛âme , “more foolish than the ostrich,” has its origin in more such characteristics. But if the care with which other animals guard their young ones is denied to it, it has in its stead another remarkable characteristic: at the time when ( כּעת here followed by an elliptical relative clause, which is clearly possible, just as with בּעת , Job 6:17) it stretches (itself) on high, i.e., it starts up with alacrity from its ease (on the radical signification of המריא = המרה ), and hurries forth with a powerful flapping of its wings, half running half flying, it derides the horse and its rider - they do not overtake it, it is the swiftest of all animals; wherefore Arab. '‛ dâ mn 'l - dlı̂m ‛ zalı̂m , equivalent to delı̂m according to a less exact pronunciation, supra , p. 582, note) and Arab. 'nfr mn 'l - n‛âmt , fleeter than the ostrich, is just as proverbial as the above Arab. 'ḥmq mn 'l - wa‛nat ; and “on ostrich's wings” is equivalent to driving along with incomparable swiftness. Moreover, on תּמריא and תּשׂחק , which refer to the female, it is to be observed that she is very anxious, and deserts everything in her fright, while the male ostrich does not forsake his young, and flees no danger.
(Note: We take this remark from Doumas, Horse of the Sahara . The following contribution from Wetzstein only came to hand after the exposition was completed: “The female ostriches are called רננים not from the whirring of their wings when flapped about, but from their piercing screeching cry when defending their eggs against beasts of prey (chiefly hyaenas), or when searching for the male bird. Now they are called rubd , from sing. rubda (instead of rabdâ ), from the black colour of their long wing-feathers; for only the male, which is called חיק (pronounce hêtsh ), has white. The ostrich-tribe has the name of בּת יענה bat (Arab. bdt 'l - wa‛nat ), 'inhabitant of the desert,' because it is only at home in the most lonely parts of the steppe, in perfectly barren deserts. Neshwân the Himjarite, in his 'Shems el-'olûm' (MSS in the Royal Library at Berlin, sectio Wetzst . I No. 149, Bd. i.f. 110 b ), defines the word el - wa‛na by: ארץ ביצא לא תנבת שׁיא , a white (chalky or sandy) district, which brings forth nothing; and the Kâmûs explains it by ארץ צלבּה , a hard (unfruitful) district. In perfect analogy with the Hebr. the Arabic calls the ostrich abu (and umm ) es - sahârâ , 'possessor of the sterile deserts.' The name יענים , Lamentations 4:3, is perfectly correct, and corresponds to the form יעלים (steinbocks); the form פעל (Arab. f‛l ) is frequently the Nisbe of פעל and פעלה , according to which יען = בּת היענה and יעל = בּת היּעלה , 'inhabitant of the inaccessible rocks.' Hence, says Neshwân (against the non-Semite Firûzâbâdi ), wa‛l ( יעל and wa‛la ) is exclusively the high place of the rocks, and wa‛il ( יעל exclusively the steinbock. The most common Arabic name of the ostrich is na‛âme , נעמה , collective na‛âm , from the softness ( nu‛ûma , נעוּמה ) of its feathers, with which the Arab women (in Damascus frequently) stuff cushions and pillows. Umm thelâthin , 'mother of thirty,' is the name of the female ostrich, because as a rule she lays thirty eggs. The ostrich egg is called in the steppe dahwa , דּחוה (coll. dahû ), a word that is certainly very ancient. Nevertheless the Hauranites prefer the word medha , מדחה . A place hollowed out in the ground serves as a nest, which the ostrich likes best to dig in the hot sand, on which account they are very common in the sandy tracts of Ard ed-Dehanâ ( דהנא ), between the Shemmar mountains and the Sawâd (Chaldaea). Thence at the end of April come the ostrich hunters with their spoil, the hides of the birds together with the feathers, to Syria. Such an unplucked hide is called gizze ( גזּה ). The hunters inform us that the female sits alone on the nest from early in the day until evening, and from evening until early in the morning with the male, which wanders about throughout the day. The statement that the ostrich does not sit on its eggs, is perhaps based on the fact that the female frequently, and always before the hunters, forsakes the eggs during the first period of brooding. Even. Job 39:14 and Job 39:15 do not say more than this. But when the time of hatching (called el - faqs , פקץ ) is near, the hen no longer leaves the eggs. The same observation is also made with regard to the partridge of Palestine ( el - hagel , חגל ), which has many other characteristics in common with the ostrich.
That the ostrich is accounted stupid (Job 39:17) may arise from the fact, that when the female has been frightened from the eggs she always seeks out the male with a loud cry; she then, as the hunters unanimously assert, brings him forcibly back to the nest (hence its Arabic name zalı̂m , 'the violent one'). During the interval the hunter has buried himself in the sand, and on their arrival, by a good shot often kills both together in the nest. It may also be accounted as stupidity, that, when the wind is calm, instead of flying before the riding hunters, the bird tries to hide itself behind a mound or in the hollows of the ground. But that, when escape is impossible, it is said to try to hide its head in the sand, the hunters regard as an absurdity. If the wind aids it, the fleeing ostrich spreads out the feathers of its tail like a sail, and by constantly steering itself with its extended wings, it escapes its pursuers with ease. The word המריא , Job 39:18, appears to be a hunting expression, and (without an accus. objecti ) to describe this spreading out of the feathers, therefore to be perfectly synonymous with the תערישׁ (Arab. t'rı̂š ) of the ostrich hunters of the present day. Thus sings the poet Râshid of the hunting race of the Sulubât: 'And the head (of the bride with its loosened locks) resembles the (soft and black) feathers of the ostrich-hen, when she spreads them out ( ‛arrashannâ ). They saw the hunter coming upon them where there was no hiding-place, And stretched their legs as they fled.' The prohibition to eat the ostrich in the Thora (Leviticus 11:16; Deuteronomy 14:15) is perhaps based upon the cruelty of the hunt; for it is with the rarest exceptions always killed only on its eggs. The female, which, as has been said already, does not flee towards the end of the time of brooding, stoops on the approach of the hunter, inclines the head on one side and looks motionless at her enemy. Several Beduins have said to me, that a man must have a hard heart to fire under such circumstances. If the bird is killed, the hunter covers the blood with sand, puts the female again upon the eggs, buries himself at some distance in the sand, and waits till evening, when the male comes, which is now shot likewise, beside the female. The Mosaic law might accordingly have forbidden the hunting of the ostrich from the same feeling of humanity which unmistakeably regulated it in other decisions (as Exodus 23:19; Deuteronomy 22:6., Leviticus 22:28, and freq.).)
19 Dost thou give to the horse strength?
Dost thou clothe his neck with flowing hair?
20 Dost thou cause him to leap about like the grasshopper?
The noise of his snorting is a terror!
21 He paweth the ground in the plain, and boundeth about with strength.
He advanceth to meet an armed host.
22 He laugheth at fear, and is not affrighted,
And turneth not back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattleth over him,
The glittering lance and spear.
24 With fierceness and rage he swalloweth the ground,
And standeth not still, when the trumpet soundeth.
25 He saith at every blast of the trumpet: Ha, ha!
And from afar he scenteth the battle,
The thundering of the captains and the shout of war.
After the ostrich, which, as the Arabs say, is composed of the nature of a bird and a camel, comes the horse in its heroic beauty, and impetuous lust for the battle, which is likewise an evidence of the wisdom of the Ruler of the world - a wisdom which demands the admiration of men. This passage of the book of Job, says K. Lצffler, in his Gesch. des Pferdes (1863), is the oldest and most beautiful description of the horse. It may be compared to the praise of the horse in Hammer-Purgstall's Duftkצrner; it deserves more than this latter the praise of majestic simplicity, which is the first feature of classic superiority. Jer. falsely renders Job 39:19 : aut circumdabis collo ejus hinnitum ; as Schlottm., who also wishes to be so understood: Dost thou adorn his neck with the voice of thunder? The neck ( צוּאר , prop. the twister, as Persic gerdân , gerdan , from צוּר , Arab. ṣâr , to twist by pressure, to turn, bend, as Pers. from gerdı̂den , to turn one's self, twist) has nothing to do with the voice of neighing. But רעמה also does not signify dignity (Ew. 113, d ), but the mane, and is not from רעם = ראם = רם , the hair of the mane, as being above, like λοφιά , but from רעם , tremere , the mane as quivering, trembling (Eliz. Smith: the shaking mane); like φόβη , according to Kuhn, cogn. with σόβη , the tail, from φοβεῖν ( σοβεῖν ), to wag, shake, scare, comp. άΐ́σσεσθαι of the mane, Il . vi. 510.
Job 39:20
The motion of the horse, which is intended by תרעישׁנּוּ ( רעשׁ , Arab. r‛s , r‛š , tremere , trepidare ), is determined according to the comparison with the grasshopper: what is intended is a curved motion forwards in leaps, now to the right, now to the left, which is called the caracol, a word used in horsemanship, borrowed from the Arab. hargala -l- farasu (comp. חרגּל ), by means of the Moorish Spanish; moreover, Arab. r‛s is used of the run of the ostrich and the flight of the dove in such “successive lateral and oblique motions” (Carey). nachar, Job 39:20 , is not the neighing of the horse, but its snorting through the nostrils (comp. Arab. nachı̂r , snoring, a rattling in the throat), Greek φρύαγμα , Lat. fremitus (comp. Aeschylus, Septem c. Th. 374, according to the text of Hermann: ἵππος χαλινῶν δ ̓ ὡς κατασθμαίνων βρέμει ); הוד , however, might signify pomp (his pompous snorting), but perhaps has its radical signification, according to which it corresponds to the Arab. hawı̂d , and signifies a loud strong sound, as the peal of thunder ( hawı̂d er - ra‛d ),' the howling of the stormy wind ( hawı̂d er - rijâh ), and the like.
(Note: A verse of a poem of Ibn-Dûchi in honour of Dôkân ibn-Gendel runs: Before the crowding ( lekdata ) of Taijâr the horses fled repulsed, And thou mightest hear the sound of the bell-carriers ( hawı̂da mubershemât ) of the warriors ( el - menâir , prop. one who thrusts with the lance). Here hawı̂d signifies the sound of the bells which those who wish to announce themselves as warriors hang about their horses, to draw the attention of the enemy to them. Mubershemât are the mares that carry the burêshimân , i.e., the bells. The meaning therefore is: thou couldst hear this sound, which ought only to be heard in the fray, in flight, when the warriors consecrated to death fled as cowards. Taijâr ( Têjâr ) is Sâlih the son of Cana'an (died about 1815), mentioned in p. 456, note 1, a great warrior of the wandering tribe of the 'Aneze . - Wetzst.)
The substantival clause is intended to affirm that its dull-toned snort causes or spreads terror. In Job 39:21 the plur . alternates with the sing., since, as it appears, the representation of the many pawing hoofs is blended with that of the pawing horse, according to the well-known line,
Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum