Job 38:39-39:4 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 38:25-41

Hitherto God had put such questions to Job as were proper to convince him of his ignorance and short-sightedness. Now he comes, in the same manner, to show his impotency and weakness. As it is but little that he knows, and therefore he ought not to arraign the divine counsels, so it is but little that he can do, and therefore he ought not to oppose the proceedings of Providence. Let him consider what great things God does, and try whether he can do the like, or whether he thinks himself an... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:39

Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion ?.... From meteors the Lord passes to animals, beasts, and birds, wherefore some here begin the thirty ninth chapter, which only treats of such; and he begins with the lion, the strongest among beasts, and most fierce; cruel, and voracious; and asks, who hunts his prey for him? Not man, who cannot; and if he could, durst not: but the Lord does; and, according to some writers F24 Thevenot's Travels, part 2. c. 13. , he has provided a small creature,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:39

Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? - Rather the lioness, or strong lion. Hast thou his instinct? Dost thou know the habits and haunts of such animals as he seeks for his food? Thou hast neither his strength, his instinct nor his cunning. In the best Hebrew Bibles, the thirty-ninth chapter begins with this verse, and begins properly, as a new subject now commences, relating to the natural history of the earth, or the animal kingdom; as the preceding chapter does to astronomy and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 38:1-41

The tone of the appeal is sustained at a high pitch, and the entire passage is one of extraordinary force and eloquence. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 38:31-41

Jehovah to Job: the first answer-the examination: 5. Concerning four worlds. I. THE WORLD OF STARS . Jehovah invites Job to reflect upon his own impotence, and therefore also inferentially upon his ( i.e. Jehovah's) omnipotence, as regards the phenomena of the heavens, over which the Power of God is exhibited in a fourfold degree. 1 . In creating the orbs of heaven. The constellations (Orion, Arcturus, the Pleiades, Mazzaroth) and the planets that adorn the nocturnal sky,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 38:39

Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? A new departure. Job 39:1-30 should commence from this point. What does Job know of the habits and instincts of animals? Can he arrange so that the lion (rather, lioness ) shall obtain its proper prey, and thus fill the appetite —or, satisfy the appetite (Revised Version)—of the young lions, which depend on their dam? Certainly not. "The lions, roaring after their prey, do seek their meat from God " ( Psalms 104:21 ). read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 38:39

Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? - The appeal here is to the instincts with which God has endowed animals, and to the fact that he had so made them that they would secure their own food. He asks Job whether he would undertake to do what the lion did by instinct in finding his food, and by his power and skill in seizing his prey. There was a wise adaptation of the lion for this purpose which man could neither originate nor explain.Or fill the appetite of the young lions - Margin, as in... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 38:39-40

Job 38:39-40. Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? Is it by thy care and providence that the lions, who live in desert places, are furnished with necessary provisions? This is justly mentioned as another wonderful work of God. When they couch in their dens When, through age and infirmity, they cannot range abroad for prey as the young lions do, but lie still in their dens, as it were, expecting their food from God, from whom also they receive it. And abide in the covert, to lie in wait ... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Job 38:39-41

Control of the animal world (38:39-39:30)The pressure on Job increases as God continues with his unanswerable questions. From the natural world in general, God moves to the animal world. He draws Job’s attention to animals that sometimes appear to have no purpose so far as human life is concerned, but are still part of God’s ordering of the world.God asks Job if he is able to order nature by providing wild animals with food (39-41), while protecting timid animals when they give birth and care... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Job 38:39

THE REMARKABLE ENDOWMENT OF LOWER LIFE-FORMS"Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness,Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,When they couch in their dens,And abide in the covert to lie in wait?Who provideth for the raven his prey,When his young ones cry unto God,And wander for lack of food?"The words of Jehovah are continued in the following chapters, where we shall find many other unanswerable questions regarding God's care and preservation of the lower forms of life upon the planet... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Job 38:25-41

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Job 38:39

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 38:39

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 38:1-41

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 38:31-41

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 38:39

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Job 38:39

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Job 38:39-40

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Job 38:39-41

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Job 38:39

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