Job 39:13-30
New English Translation
but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork?[d]
14 For she leaves[e] her eggs on the ground,
and lets them be warmed on the soil.
15 She forgets that a foot might crush them,
or that a wild animal[f] might trample them.
16 She is harsh[g] with her young,
as if they were not hers;
she is unconcerned about the uselessness of her labor.
17 For God deprived her of wisdom,
and did not impart understanding to her.
18 But as soon as she springs up,[h]
she laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its strength?
Do you clothe its neck with a mane?[i]
20 Do you make it leap[j] like a locust?
Its proud neighing[k] is terrifying!
21 It[l] paws the ground in the valley,[m]
exulting mightily,[n]
it goes out to meet the weapons.
22 It laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
it does not shy away from the sword.
23 On it the quiver rattles;
the lance and javelin[o] flash.
24 In excitement and impatience it consumes the ground;[p]
it cannot stand still[q] when the trumpet is blown.
25 At the sound of the trumpet, it says, ‘Aha!’
And from a distance it catches the scent of battle,
the thunderous shouting of commanders,
and the battle cries.
26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,[r]
and spreads its wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command[s] that the eagle soars,
and builds its nest on high?
28 It lives on a rock and spends the night there,
on a rocky crag[t] and a fortress.[u]
29 From there it spots[v] its prey,[w]
its eyes gaze intently from a distance.
30 And its young ones devour the blood,
and where the dead carcasses[x] are,
there it is.”
Footnotes
- Job 39:13 tc This whole section on the ostrich is not included in the LXX. Many feel it is an interpolation and should therefore be deleted. The pattern of the chapter changes from the questions being asked to observations being made.
- Job 39:13 tn The word occurs only here and means “shrill cries.” If the MT is correct, this is a poetic name for the ostrich (see Lam 4:3).
- Job 39:13 tn Many proposals have been made here. The MT has a verb, “exult.” Strahan had “flap joyously,” a rendering followed by the NIV. The RSV uses “wave proudly.”
- Job 39:13 tn The point of this statement would be that the ostrich cannot compare to the stork. But there are many other proposals for this line—just about every commentator has a different explanation for it. Of the three words here, the first means “pinion,” the third “plumage,” and the second probably “stork,” although the LXX has “heron.” The point of this whole section is that the ostrich is totally lacking in parental care, whereas the stork is characterized by it. The Hebrew word for “stork” is the same word for “love”: חֲסִידָה (khasidah), an interpretation followed by the NASB. The most likely reading is “or are they the pinions and plumage of the stork?” The ostrich may flap about, but cannot fly and does not care for its young.
- Job 39:14 tn The meaning may have the connotation of “lays; places,” rather than simply abandoning (see M. Dahood, “The Root ʿzb II in Job,” JBL 78 [1959]: 307f.).
- Job 39:15 tn Heb “an animal of the field.”
- Job 39:16 sn This verb, “to deal harshly; to harden; to treat cruelly,” is used for hardening the heart elsewhere (see Isa 63:17).
- Job 39:18 tn The colon poses a slight problem here. The literal meaning of the Hebrew verb translated “springs up” (i.e., “lifts herself on high”) might suggest flight. But some of the proposals involve a reading about readying herself to run.
- Job 39:19 tn The second half of the verse contains this hapax legomenon, which is usually connected with the word רַעְמָה (raʿmah, “thunder”). A. B. Davidson thought it referred to the quivering of the neck rather than the mane. Gray thought the sound and not the movement was the point. But without better evidence, a reading that has “quivering mane” may not be far off the mark. But it may be simplest to translate it “mane” and assume that the idea of “quivering” is part of the meaning.
- Job 39:20 sn The same ideas are found in Joel 2:4. The leaping motion is compared to the galloping of the horse.
- Job 39:20 tn The word could mean “snorting” as well (see Jer 8:16). It comes from the root “to blow.” If the horse is running and breathing hard, this could be the sense here.
- Job 39:21 tc The Hebrew text has a plural verb, “they paw.” For consistency and for stylistic reasons this is translated as a singular.
- Job 39:21 tn The armies would prepare for battles that were usually fought in the valleys, and so the horse was ready to charge. But in Ugaritic the word ʿmk means “force” as well as “valley.” The idea of “force” would fit the parallelism here well (see M. Dahood, “Value of Ugaritic for textual criticism,” Bib 40 [1959]: 166).
- Job 39:21 tn Or “in strength.”
- Job 39:23 tn This may be the scimitar (see G. Molin, “What is a kidon?” JSS 1 [1956]: 334-37).
- Job 39:24 tn “Swallow the ground” is a metaphor for the horse’s running. Gray renders the line: “quivering and excited he dashes into the fray.”
- Job 39:24 tn The use of אָמַן (ʾaman) in the Hiphil in this place is unique. Such a form would normally mean “to believe.” But its basic etymological meaning comes through here. The verb means “to be firm; to be reliable; to be dependable.” The causative here would mean “to make firm” or “to stand firm.”
- Job 39:26 tn This word occurs only here. It is connected to “pinions” in v. 13. Dhorme suggests “clad with feathers,” but the line suggests more the use of the wings.
- Job 39:27 tn Heb “your mouth.”
- Job 39:28 tn Heb “upon the tooth of a rock.”
- Job 39:28 tn The word could be taken as the predicate, but because of the conjunction it seems to be adding another description of the place of its nest.
- Job 39:29 tn The word means “search,” but can be used for a wide range of matters, including spying.
- Job 39:29 tn Heb “food.”
- Job 39:30 tn The word חֲלָלִים (khalalim) designates someone who is fatally wounded, literally the “pierced one,” meaning anyone or thing that dies a violent death.
Job 39:13-30
Common English Bible
Ostrich
13 The ostrich’s wings flap joyously,
but her wings and plumage are like a stork.
14 She leaves her eggs on the earth,
lets them warm in the dust,
15 then forgets that a foot may crush them
or a wild animal trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly as if they were not hers,
without worrying that her labor might be in vain;
17 God didn’t endow her with sense,
didn’t give her some good sense.
18 When she flaps her wings high,
she laughs at horse and rider.
Horse
19 Did you give strength to the horse,
clothe his neck with a mane,
20 cause him to leap like a locust,
his majestic snorting, a fright?
21 He[a] paws in the valley, prances proudly,
charges at battle weapons,
22 laughs at fear, unafraid.
He doesn’t turn away from the sword;
23 a quiver of arrows flies by him,
flashing spear and dagger.
24 Excitedly, trembling, he swallows the ground;
can’t stand still at a trumpet’s blast.
25 At a trumpet’s sound, he says, “Aha!”
smells the battle from afar,
hears[b] officers’ shouting and the battle cry.
Hawk and eagle
26 Is it due to your understanding that the hawk flies,
spreading its wings to the south?
27 Or at your command does the eagle soar,
the vulture build a nest on high?
28 They dwell on an outcropping of rock,
their fortress on rock’s edge.
29 From there they search for food;
their eyes notice it from afar,
30 and their young lap up blood;
where carcasses lie, there they are.
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