Wisdom · Chapter 39 of 42

Job 39

God continues his tour of creation, focusing on the wild animals. He asks Job whether he oversees the birth of mountain goats and deer, who set the wild donkey free, whether the wild ox will serve him, why the ostrich abandons her eggs, who gave the war horse its fearless strength, and whether the hawk and eagle soar by Job's command. Each creature lies beyond human control.

What happens in Job 39

God asks Job whether he knows when the wild goats give birth or can number the months of the deer's pregnancy. Who loosed the wild donkey to roam the wilderness, scorning the city and the driver's shout? Will the wild ox consent to serve at Job's crib or plow his furrows? God describes the ostrich, who leaves her eggs in the dust and treats her young harshly, deprived of wisdom by God, yet who outruns the horse when she lifts herself to flee.

Then God turns to the war horse, clothed with a quivering mane, pawing the valley, mocking fear, charging into battle and smelling it from afar amid the trumpets. Finally he points to the hawk stretching its wings toward the south and the eagle mounting to nest on the high crag, spying its prey from far off. All these creatures live by an instinct and freedom that Job neither gave nor governs.

Job 39 in context

This chapter extends God's whirlwind answer from the heavens and seas to the untamed animal world. Each creature is wild, beyond human management, yet perfectly provided for and fitted to its life by God. The wildness is the point: Job cannot domesticate or explain these animals, yet God knows and sustains them all.

The picture enlarges Job's sense of a world vast, free, and cared for by a wisdom that does not center on human beings.

Main themes of Job 39

Job 39 (KJV)

1Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve? 2Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth? 3They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows. 4Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them. 5Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? 6Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. 7He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. 8The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing. 9Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? 10Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee? 11Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him? 12Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn? 13Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? 14Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust, 15And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. 16She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear; 17Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding. 18What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider. 19Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? 20Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible. 21He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. 22He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword. 23The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield. 24He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. 25He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting. 26Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south? 27Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? 28She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. 29From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. 30Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.

Verses to carry from Job 39

“Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?”Job 39:1

“Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?”Job 39:19

“Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?”Job 39:26

Reflection

God fills his answer to Job with creatures no one tends yet everyone marvels at. The eagle nests on a crag you will never climb, and God feeds it still. If his care reaches the wild places, it surely reaches the corners of your life you cannot manage.

A prayer from Job 39