Job 39:5

QUESTIONS REGARDING THE WILD-ASS AND THE WILD-OX

"Who hath sent out the wild-ass free?

Or who hath loosed the bands of the wild-ass,

Whose home I have made the wilderness,

And the salt land his dwelling place?

He scorneth the tumult of the city,

Neither heareth he the shoutings of the driver.

The range of the mountains is his pasture,

And he searcheth after every green thing.

Will the wild-ox be content to serve thee?

Or will he abide by thy crib?

Canst thou bind the wild-ox with his band in the furrow?

Or will he harrow the valleys after thee?

Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great?

Or wilt thou leave to him thy labor?

Wilt thou confide in him, that he will bring home thy seed,

And gather the grain of thy threshing floor?"

The animals mentioned here are the wild-ass, which is, "The onager of central Asia,"[1] and the wild-ox, identified by Pope in the Anchor Bible as, "the buffalo."[2]

The wild-ass, of course, is similar to the common donkey; and the mystery of these animals in some particulars is still incredibly arcane. Why, for example, has it been impossible to domesticate the buffalo? And regarding the ass, why cannot mules be produced by the breeding of the female donkey with a stallion? whereas, they are produced only by the breeding of mares with the male ass. We mention these things merely to suggest that, although men have learned many things, there are yet many incomprehensible mysteries in the natural creation that surrounds us.