Job 39:5-12

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

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

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

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