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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 39:1-12

God here shows Job what little acquaintance he had with the untamed creatures that run wild in the deserts and live at large, but are the care of the divine Providence. As, I. The wild goats and the hinds. That which is taken notice of concerning them is the bringing forth and bringing up of their young ones. For, as every individual is fed, so every species of animals is preserved, by the care of the divine Providence, and, for aught we know, none extinct to this day. Observe here, 1.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 39:5

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 F13 Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 44. speaks of such as are; but it chooses to be free, and, agreeably to its nature, it is sent out into the wilderness as such: not that it is set free from bondage, for in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 39:6

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 F14 De Expedition. Cyri, l. 1. relates, were many of these creatures, and which he represents as very swift: and Leo Africanus F15 Descriptio Africae, l. 9. p. 752. says, great numbers of them are found in deserts, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 39:7

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 F18 Ut supra. (Descriptio Africae, l. 9. p. 752.) it yields to none for swiftness but Barbary horses: according to Xenophon F19 Ut supra. (De Expedition. Cyril, l. 1.) , it exceeds the horse in... read more

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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 39:5

Who hath sent out the wild ass free? - פרא pere , which we translate wild ass, is the same as the ονος αγριος of the Greeks, and the onager of the Latins; which must not, says Buffon, be confounded with the zebra, for this is an animal of a different species from the ass. The wild ass is not striped like the zebra, nor so elegantly shaped. There are many of those animals in the deserts of Libya and Numidia: they are of a gray color; and run so swiftly that no horse but the Arab barbs... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 39:6

Whose house - Habitation, or place of resort. The barren land - מלחה melechah , the salt land, or salt places, as in the margin. See above. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 39:7

He scorneth the multitude - He is so swift that he cannot be run or hunted down. See the description in Job 39:5 ; (note). read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 39:8

The range of the mountains - The mountains and desert places are his peculiar places of pasture; and he lives on any thing that is green, or any kind of vegetable production. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 39:1-30

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 38:1-12 ); then a transition is made to the most remarkable of birds, the ostrich ( Job 38:13-18 ). Next, the horse is described, and, as it were, depicted, in a passage of extraordinary fire and brilliancy ( Job 38:19-25 ). Finally, a return is made to remarkable birds, and the habits of the hawk and eagle obtain... read more

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