Job 39

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Job 39

1 Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?

2 Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?

3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows.

4 Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.

5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?

6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings.

7 He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver.

8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.

9 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?

10 Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?

11 Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?

12 Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?

13 Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?

14 Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,

15 And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.

16 She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not her's: her labour is in vain without fear;

17 Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.

18 What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.

19 Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?

20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.

21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.

22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.

23 The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.

24 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.

25 He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

26 Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?

27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?

28 She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.

29 From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.

30 Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

<html>mountain goats Estainboc in Old French. It hates its young, and, when preparing to give birth, goes to the top of a high rock, so that its young should fall to the earth and die. But the Holy One, blessed be He, prepares an eagle for it [the young], which receives it on its wings. Do you wait for the hinds to calve? Heb. חלל, an expression of (Jer. 6:24), “pain (חיל) as of a woman in travail.” The hind’s womb is narrow, and the young cannot come forth; and, at the time of birth, I prepare a snake for her that bites her womb so that it opens; should it be a moment too early or too late, she would die immediately. I know to distinguish these moments, so should the distinction between Job (אִיוֹב) and enemy (אוֹיֵב) escape Me?</html>

Verse 3

<html>they bring forth Their womb splits open and gives forth the young, and their birth pangs… they send forth from themselves in their birth at the moment that I prepare for them.</html>

Verse 4

<html> and do not return to them When they have grown a little, they are raised on the grain, on seeds and grasses, and they do not require the raising of their father or mother.</html>

Verse 5

<html>free For no man can raise a wild donkey to teach it the work of cattle.who loosed his bands so that the yoke of man is not upon him.</html>

Verse 8

<html>He spies out the mountains for his pasture He personally spies out for himself a place of pasture.</html>

Verse 9

<html>wild ox Heb. רֵים, like רְאֵם. serve you To serve you.</html>

Verse 10

<html>to a furrow with his rope (Or did you tie a wild ox because of the furrow of your ox?) rope Heb. עבתו, a rope with which they tie [oxen] to the furrows of the plow. will he harrow, prepare the field.</html>

Verse 11

<html>Will you rely on him to gather your grain because his strength is great and he can bear great burdens? or will you leave your toil for him to gather into the house?</html>

Verse 13

<html>The wing of the renanim rejoices This is the name of a huge bird, called in the language of the Mishnah, Bar Yochni (Bechoroth 57b). the winged Heb. אֶבְרָה. Every bird is called אֶבְרָה because it flies; i.e., either the bird named “stork,” or the bird called nozah. Note her behavior.</html>

Verse 14

<html>For she leaves her eggs on the ground and she goes and warms herself on the dust at a distance.</html>

Verse 15

<html>She forgets that a foot will crack it Heb. תְּזוּרֶהָ [i.e., it will crack] her egg. [תְּזוּרֶהָ means:] will crack it.</html>

Verse 16

<html>She is hardened She deals harshly with her young ones, [distancing them] from her heart as though they were not hers. her toil is in vain and she is not afraid to lose them.</html>

Verse 18

<html>Like the time that she goes off on high [When she flies up, she scorns the horse. She is not afraid that he will tread on the eggs and crack them.] Every expression of הַמְרָאָה applies to a man whose heart prompts him to stray from his lifestyle, his upbringing, and his country, to roam in other countries and to try other lifestyles. Similarly (Deut. 21:18), “a stubborn and rebellious (וּמרֶה) son”; and in the language of the Talmud it is אִמְרָאִי: “Rav Zevid’s daughter-in-law rebelled (אִמְרָאִי) and went away” (Kethuboth 63b, Venice edition) (cf. Rashi to Hullin 58b, Baba Mezia 77a).</html>

Verse 19

<html>fierceness Heb. רעמה, an expression of thunder and fright, like (Ezek. 27:35), “Their faces are as though thunderstruck (רעמו).”</html>

Verse 20

<html>like a locust He skips and leaps like a locust and shakes himself all over. his snorting When he blows with his nostrils, it is with an awesome sound.</html>

Verse 21

<html>They spy in the valley Heb. יחפרו, like (Deut. 1:22), “that they may spy out (ויחפרו) the land for us,” for it is the habit of the horsemen to lie in wait in the valleys and in the ravines. and rejoices with strength The horse rejoices and goes forth toward the weapons.</html>

Verse 22

<html>and is not dismayed He will not be frightened.</html>

Verse 23

<html>The quiver…rattles [i.e., the quiver that is] full of arrows, and they knock against each other so that their sound is heard. the blade of the spear An iron utensil (and an iron spear) is called לַהַב, as in (Jud. 3:22), “and the haft also went in after the blade (הלהב).”</html>

Verse 24

<html>he hollows out the ground Heb. יגמא. He makes holes (גומות) with his feet. Another explanation: יְגַמֶא is like (Gen. 24:17), “Let me please swallow (הגמיאיני).” and he does not believe out of the great joy that he longs for battle. that it is the sound of a shofar of battle.</html>

Verse 25

<html>To many shofaroth Heb. בדי, an expression of (Lev. 25:28), “sufficient (די) to get it back,” to many shofaroth. he says, ‘Hurrah!’ An expression that (the passersby) (the slaves—Berechiah) say when they are happy, much as they say, ‘Woe!’ out of pain.</html>

Verse 26

<html>the hawk grows a wing Heb. יאבר, the hawk grows a wing. That is an angel resembling a hawk, who stays the severity of the south wind by spreading out his wings, lest it destroy the world.</html>

Verse 27

<html>Or is it by your order that the eagle flies high [This refers to] the Shechinah, as it is said (Deut. 32:11): “As an eagle first stirs up its nest.” He would remove His court so that they should not injure Aaron when he entered the sanctuary on Yom Kippur.</html>

Verse 28

<html>He dwells on the rock and lodges Aaron was confident when he placed the censer with the incense on the foundation stone [in the Holy of Holies].</html>

Verse 29

<html>From there he searches for food He would pray for the needs of the entire year, and after all this honor he saw the death of his two eaglets, Nadab and Abihu, who died so that My name might be sanctified through them, for My fear fell upon those who remained.</html>

Verse 30

<html>gulp down Heb. יעלעו. Only according to the measure that one is able to swallow of blood or water, but it appears as if one swallows much, in imitation of the sound “al al.” Similarly, in the language of the Sages, concerning the suspected adulteress [who must] drink [the cursing water] (Sotah 20a), “they make her swallow (מערערין) and drink against her will.” [Here too, the sound “ar ar” is alluded to.] Similarly (Isa. 15:5), “a cry of destruction they shall raise (יעוערו),” the prophet using the onomatopoetic word in imitation of the sound produced by the throat. and where there are slain, there he is to eat. Our Sages explain this entire passage as an allegory applying to Aaron, in the Pesikta to Acharei Moth (Pesikta Rabbathi, ch. 48, Meir Ayin edition, ch. 47).</html>

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Table of Contents

Job 39

Job 39

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

Verse 28

Verse 29

Verse 30