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John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 39:8

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 that is green, it seeks after; and which being scarce in deserts and mountains, it searches about for and feeds upon it, wherever it can find it; grass being the peculiar food of these... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 39:9

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 F25 Navigat. l. 1. c. 19. says he saw two at Mecca, which came from Ethiopia, the largest of which had a horn in his forehead three cubits long. There are indeed several creatures which may be called "monocerots", who have but one horn; as the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 39:10

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 harrow which is used after ploughing to break the clods, and make the land smooth and even? he will not: valleys are particularly mentioned, because arable land is usually in them; see Psalm... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 39:11

Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great ?.... No; tame oxen are employed because they are strong to labour, Psalm 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 wild ox, though stronger, and so fitter for labour, is yet not to be trusted, because unruly and unmanageable: if that sort of wild oxen called "uri" could be thought to be meant, for which... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 39:12

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 those times: if therefore Job could not manage such unruly creatures as the wild ass and the wild ox, and make them serviceable to him, how unfit must he be to govern the world, or to direct in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 39:13

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 rider, Job 39:18 ; for peacocks are not remarkable for their wings, but for their tails; whereas the wings of the ostrich are as sails unto them, as several writers observe F11 Xenophon. de... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 39:14

Which leaveth her eggs in the earth ,.... Lays them and leaves them there. Aelianus, agreeably to this, says F23 De Animal. l. 14. c. 17. , 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 truly Leo Africanus F24 Ut supra. (Descriptio Africaae, l. 9. p. 766.) , who reckons them ten or twelve; which, he says, it lays in the sand, and each of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 39:15

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 wild beast may break them ; supposing they may be, though not where men walk, yet where wild beasts frequent, they may be as easily broken by the one as the other; against which it guards not,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 39:16

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 F3 Ut supra. (Vid. Aelian. l. 4. c. 37.) reports her as very tender of her young, and exposing herself to danger for the preservation of them; but being a very forgetful creature, having laid its eggs in the sand, where it leaves them, forgets where it has laid them; and finding other eggs sits on them and hatches... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 39:17

Because God hath deprived her of wisdom ,.... Or "made her to forget" F4 השה "oblivisci fecit eum", Montanus, Mercerus, Drusius, Cocceius, Michaelis, Schultens. what she had; an instance of her forgetfulness is mentioned Job 39:15 ; and so Leo Africanus F5 Ut supra. (Desciptio. Africae, l. 9. p. 766.) 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 her understanding ; many instances are... read more

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