Chapter Overview
Summary
Job 39 closes the first divine-speech with a magnificent ANIMAL-CATALOG: mountain-goats and deer (vv. 1–4), wild-donkey (vv. 5–8), wild-ox (vv. 9–12), ostrich (vv. 13–18), war-horse (vv. 19–25), hawk and eagle (vv. 26–30). The catalog emphasizes WILD-CREATURES that-resist-human-domestication — God-knows-and-cares-for them all. Verse 30's eagle-feeding-on-corpses provides the Christological-allusion of-Matthew 24:28's 'wherever the corpse is, there the eagles will gather.'
Notable Variants
39:9 'will the wild ox consent to serve you?' wild-ox untamability; 39:13–18 OSTRICH-PASSAGE — significantly-shortened in LXX (LXX omits or abbreviates several verses); 39:30 'where the slain are, there she is' → Matt 24:28.
Structural Notes
MT Job 39 = LXX Job 39 (LXX abbreviated, especially the ostrich-section). 30 verses MT.
Do you know when the mountain goats give birth on the cliff? Do you watch over the deer as they labor?
'Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the does?' tracks MT.
Can you count the months until they are due? Do you know the time of their delivery?
'Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give birth' tracks MT.
They crouch down, push out their young, and are done with their birth pangs.
'When they crouch, bring forth their offspring, and are delivered of their young?' tracks MT.
Their young grow strong, they thrive in the open; they leave and do not return.
'Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open; they go out and do not return to them' tracks MT.
Who set the wild donkey free? Who untied the ropes of the onager?
'Who has let the wild donkey go free? Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey' tracks MT. WILD-DONKEY untamability.
I made the wasteland its home and the salt flats its dwelling.
'To whom I have given the arid plain for his home and the salt land for his dwelling place?' tracks MT.
It laughs at the noise of the city. It does not hear the driver's shouts.
'He scorns the tumult of the city; he hears not the shouts of the driver' tracks MT.
It roams the mountains as its pasture and searches for every green thing.
'He ranges the mountains as his pasture, and he searches after every green thing' tracks MT.
Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will it spend the night at your feeding trough?
'Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger?' tracks MT. WILD-OX (re'em — possibly aurochs) untamability — distinguishes from domestic-ox.
Can you bind the wild ox to a furrow with ropes? Will it harrow the valleys behind you?
'Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes, or will he harrow the valleys after you?' tracks MT.
Can you trust it because its strength is so great? Would you leave your heavy work to it?
'Will you depend on him because his strength is great, and will you leave to him your labor?' tracks MT.
Do you trust it to bring in your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?
'Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain and gather it to your threshing floor?' tracks MT.
The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully — but are they the pinions of the stork?
'The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love?' tracks MT. OSTRICH-PASSAGE (vv. 13–18). The LXX significantly-abbreviates this section.
She leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the dust,
'For she leaves her eggs to the earth and lets them be warmed on the ground' tracks MT.
forgetting that a foot may crush them or a wild animal may trample them.
'Forgetting that a foot may crush them and that the wild beast may trample them' tracks MT.
She treats her young harshly, as if not her own. Her labor may be for nothing — she does not care.
'She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers; though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear' tracks MT.
For God did not grant her wisdom or give her a share of understanding.
'Because God has made her forget wisdom and given her no share in understanding' tracks MT.
But when she spreads her wings and runs, she laughs at the horse and its rider.
'When she rouses herself to flee, she laughs at the horse and his rider' tracks MT. OSTRICH-LAUGHS-AT-HORSE — speed-of-the-ostrich exceeds horse-and-rider.
Did you give the horse its strength? Did you clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
'Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane?' tracks MT. WAR-HORSE portrait begins (vv. 19–25). Magnificent-poetic-description of military-equine.
Can you make it leap like a locust? The splendor of its snorting is terrifying.
'Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrifying' tracks MT.
It paws in the valley and rejoices in its strength. It charges out to meet the weapons.
'He paws in the valley and exults in his strength; he goes out to meet the weapons' tracks MT.
It laughs at fear and is not dismayed. It does not turn back from the sword.
'He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; he does not turn back from the sword' tracks MT.
The quiver rattles against its side, the flashing spear and the javelin.
'Upon him rattle the quiver, the flashing spear, and the javelin' tracks MT.
With trembling and fury it devours the ground. It cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
'With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground; he cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet' tracks MT.
At each blast of the trumpet it cries, 'Ha!' From far off it catches the scent of battle — the thunder of commanders and the war cry.
'When the trumpet sounds, he says: Aha! He smells the battle from afar, the thunder of the captains and the shouting' tracks MT.
Does the hawk soar by your wisdom, spreading its wings toward the south?
'Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south?' tracks MT.
Does the eagle rise at your command and build its nest on high?
'Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high?' tracks MT.
It dwells on the rock and lodges there, on the crag of the cliff and the stronghold.
'On the rock he dwells and makes his home, on the rocky crag and stronghold' tracks MT.
From there it searches for food; its eyes scan the distance.
'From there he spies out the prey; his eyes behold it from far away' tracks MT.
Its young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are — there it is.
'His young ones suck up blood, and where the slain are, there is he' tracks MT. WHERE-THE-SLAIN-ARE-THERE-IS-HE. Matthew 24:28 ('wherever the corpse is, there the eagles will gather') directly-echoes — applied to the parousia and-judgment.