Job 39

KNowest thou the time That thou mayest then go to them and afford them thy help in their hard work. when the wild goats of the rock Which dwell in high and steep Rocks where no Man can come. See 1 am. 24. 2. Psal. 104. 18. bring forth Which they do with great difficulty as is implied, Psal. 29. 9. and noted by Philosophers, wherein they have no assistance from men but only from God.? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve When God by his secret instinct directs them to a certain Herb called Seseli, which, as Naturalists report, does hasten and help forward their Birth.?

Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth Dost thou exactly know when they did conceive, and when they will bring forth: which is more uncertain in these than in other Creatures, because there fall out many accidents which cause them to bring forth before their time, as thunder, Psal. 29. 9. and other like causes of sudden fear which may be many and various in those desert places where they live.?

They bow themselves Being taught by a Divine instinct to dispose themselves in such a posture as may be fittest for their safe and easie bringing forth., they bring forth their young ones To wit, with great pain being almost torn or rent asunder with the Birth, as the word signifies: or without any of that help, which tame Beasts oft have., they cast out their sorrows i. e. Their young ones and their sorrows together. Or, though (which Particle is oft understood) they remit or put away their sorrows, i. e. Though in stead of cherishing and furthering their sorrows, which for their own ease and safety they should do, they foolishly hinder them and so increase their own danger, yet by God's good Providence to them they are enabled to bring forth, as was now said..

Their young ones are in good liking Or, grow strong or fat; notwithstanding their great weakness caused by their hard entrance into the World., they grow up with corn Which they find and feed upon in the Fields.: they go forth, and return not unto them Or, as with Corn, i. e. as if they were fed with Corn; the Particle as being oft deficient and to be supplied. Or, in the Field, as this word in the Chaldee or Syriak Dialect signifies.. Finding sufficient Provisions abroad by the care and conduct of God's Providence.

Who has sent out the wild ass free Who has given him this disposition that he loves freedom, and avoids and hates that subjection which other Creatures quietly and contentedly endure.? or who has loosed the bands of the wild ass Which is not to be understood privatively, as if God took off the bands which men had put upon him, but Negatively, that he keeps him from receiving the bands and submitting to the service of Man. Who has made him so untractable and unmanageable? Which is the more strange, because home-bred Asses are so tame and tractable.?

Whose house I have made the wilderness Who useth and loveth to dwell in desert Lands, Ier. 2. 24. Hos... a 8. 3. 9., and the barren land Called barren, not simply, for then he must be starved there, but comparatively, unmanaged and therefore in a great measure unfruitful Land. his dwellings.

He scorneth Either 1. he feareth them not, when they pursue him, because he is swift and can easily escape them. Or 2. he values them not, nor any provisions or advantages which he may have from them, but prefers a vagrant and solitary life in the Wilderness before them. Or 3. he disdains to submit himself to them, and resolutely maintains his own freedom. the multitude of the city He mentions the City rather than the Countrey, partly because there is the greatest Multitude of People to pursue and overtake and subject him: and partly because there is the greatest plenty of all things to invite him; the Fruits of the Countrey being said up in Cities in greatest abundance., neither regardeth Heb. heareth, i. e obeyeth. he the crying of the driver Heb. of the Taskmaster, or Exactor of Labour, i. e. He will not be brought to receive his Yoke nor to do his Drudgery, nor to answer to his cries or commands, as tame Asses are forced to do..

The range of the mountain That which he searcheth out or findeth in the Mountains. He prefers that mean provision and hardship with... is freedom before the fattest Pastures with servitude. Why so weak and harmless a Creature as the wild Ass should be untamable when the most savage Lions and Tigers have been tamed; and how there comes to be so vast a difference between the tame, and the wild Ass, thou canst give no reason, but must refer it wholly to my good pleasure, to which also thou shouldst upon the same grounds refer all the various methods of my providence and dealings with thee and with other men, and not so boldly censure what thou dost not understand. is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.

Will the Unicorn Will he suffer himself to be tied or confined there all Night, and to be reserved to the work of the next day, as the oxen do? Surely no. And if thou canst not rule such a Creature as this, much less art thou able to govern the World or to teach me how to govern it, which thou presumest to do. be willing to serve thee Canst thou tame him and bring him into subjection to thy command., or abide by thy crib Will he suffer himself to be tied or confined there all Night, and to be reserved to the work of the next day, as the oxen do? Surely no. And if thou canst not rule such a Creature as this, much less art thou able to govern the World or to teach me how to govern it, which thou presumest to do.? x It is much disputed among the Learned, but is not needful to be known by others, whether there be or ever was such a Creature as we call the Unicorn, or whether this Reem, which is the Hebrew name of it, be the Rhinoceros, as some would have it; or a certain kind of wild Goat called Onyx, which is very tall and strong and untractable; or one of that kind of wild Oxen or Bulls called Uri; which may seem most probable both from the description of this Creature here and elsewhere in Scripture which exactly agrees with its description given by other Authours; and from the description of his work in this place; which must in all reason be agreeable to Creatures of that general kind; and from the conjunction of this Creature with Bullocks in Scripture, Deut. 33. 17. and especially Isa. 34. 6, 7 where having put Lambs and Goats, and Rams together, v. 6. as Creatures of the same or very like sort; he mentions Bullocks, and Bulls & Reems, v. 7. as belonging to the same general sort of Creatures. But this I shall not positively determin here He that would know more may see what the Reverend and Learned Mr. Caryl has upon this Text out of Bootius and others, and my Latin Synopsis on Numb. 23. 22.

Canst thou bind the Unicorn with his band in the furrow i. e. In thy furrowed Field, by a Metonymy. Or, to or for (as the prefix Beth is oft used, as Gen. 1. 4. Levit 16. 22. Iob 24. 5.) the furrow, i. e. to make Furrows, or to Plow: for which work Cattle use to be bound together that they may be directed by the Husbandman, and may make right Furrows.? or will he harrow the valleys To wit, the low grounds; which are most proper for, and most imployed in the work of Plowing. after thee Under thy conduct following thee step by step.?

Wilt thou trust him To wit, for the doing of these works? because his strength is great Because he is very able for thy work. And wilt thou by thy power make him willing or force him to put forth and spend his strength in thy service?? or wilt thou leave thy labour Either 1. thy work of Plowing and Harrowing. Or rather 2. the Fruit of thy labour, or the goods gotten by thy labour, as this word is oft used, as Deut. 28. 33. Iob 20. 18. Psal. 78. 46 & 128. 2. Ioh. 4. 38. to wit, the Fruits of the Earth procured by God's blessing upon thy industry. to him To be brought home by him into thy Barns, as the next Verse explains it.?

Wilt thou believe him that he will bring home thy seed Heb. will return thy seed; either 1. by Plowing and Harrowing thy Land so well that it shall make a good return to thee for thy seed. Or rather 2. by bringing into thy Barn, as it follows, thy seed, i. e. the product of thy seed, or thy sheaves of Corn, as this word is used, Hagg. 2. 19., and gather it into thy Barn?

Gavest thou The Stile of this Book is very concise and some Verb is manifestly wanting to supply the sense; and this seems to be fitly understood out of v. 19. where it is expressed. the goodly Or, triumphant, that wherein it triumpheth or prideth it self. wings Or, feathers. Heb. wing or feather. The Peacocks, beauty lies in its tail; which may well enough be comprehended under this Name, as it is confessed that the Latin word Ala, which properly signifies a wing, is used by Martial and Claudian to express the Peacoks tail. unto the Peacoks Or, as some render it, to the Ostrich: whose wings are much more great and goodly than those of the Peacock. And for the other word in the next Clause which is rendred Ostrich, they translate it another way. For that the Hebrew word Hasidah does not signifie an Ostrich, seems plain from the mention and description of that Bird, Psal 104. 17. Ier. 8. 7. Lament. 4. 3. Zech. 5. 9. which does not at all agree to the Ostrich. And forasmuch as the following Verses do evidently speak of the Ostrich, and it is absurd to discourse of a Bird which had not been so much as named, and consequently the name of it must be found in this Verse, and there is no other word in this Verse which bids so fair for it, it may seem probable that this word is not to be rendred the Peacock (though it be so taken by most) but the Ostrich. Nor is it likely that both the Peacock and the Ostrich should be crouded together into one Verse: especially when all the following Characters belong only to the latter of them. Add to this, that it is confessed even by the Hebrew Writers themselves that there is a great uncertainty in the signification of the Names of Birds and Beasts; and therefore it is not strange if many Interpreters were mistaken in the signification of this word.? or wings and feathers unto the Ostrich Or, or the wings or feathers of the Stork (or, or) the Ostrich? Or, didst thou give (which may be repeated out of the former branch) the wings and feathers to the Stork? Or, verily (the Particle im being oft used as a note of confirmation, as Psal. 59. 16. & 63. 7, Prov. 3. 34. & 23. 18.) it has wings and feathers like those of a Stork; for so indeed they are, black and white like them. And this may be noted as a great and a remarkable work of God, that it should really have wings and feathers as other Birds have, and particularly the Stork, who comes nearest to it in bulk and colour, although otherwise by its vast bulk it might seem to be a Beast rather than a Bird, as it is also called by Aristotle and Pliny, and others.?

Which i. e. Which Ostrich; whose property this is noted to be by Naturalists. Or, But: for this unnatural quality is opposed to the goodliness of her wings or feathers. leaveth her eggs in the earth In the place where she lays them: where she leaves them, either 1. from care lest she should crush and break them if her vast body should sit upon them: or rather 2. from forgetfulness, or carelesness, or unnaturalness, or folly; to which it is manifestly ascribed in the following Verses., and warmeth them in the dust Either 1. covering them with sand that they may be warmed and hatched by that together with the heat of the Sun. But this is judged a fabulous report; for the Arabians, amongst whom this Bird is most frequent and best known, affirm that such Eggs do quickly perish and putrefie. Or rather 2. exposing them to the heat of the Sun, which being excessive in those hot Countreys, does and must needs quickly destroy or spoil them. And the Ostrich is said to warm them, because her leaving them there is not only the occasion, but in some sort the cause of the Suns warming them.

And forgetteth that the foot To wit, of wild Beasts (as it follows) passing that way. may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.

She is hardned Or, He, i. e. God, hardens her. Or, she hardneth her self. against her young ones i. e. Against her eggs, which he calls her young ones emphatically, to aggravate her fault and folly in destroying those Eggs, which, if not neglected, would have been young ones., as though they were not hers As if they were laid by some other Bird. Or, that they may not be to her, i. e. that they may be utterly lost and destroyed; or as if it were her design to destroy their very being.: her labour To wit, in laying her Eggs is wholly lost. is in vain without fear This may be added as a further aggravation. She does this, not because she is compelled to forsake her Eggs for fear of men or beasts, but merely out of an unnatural carelesness. Or, she is without fear, or, for want of fear, to wit, of a provident fear and care about them.;

Because God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has he imparted to her understanding Because God has not implanted in her that natural instinct and providence and affection which he has put into other Birds and Beasts towards their young. And yet no man presumes to reproach me for making this difference in my Creatures. And as little reason hast thou to blame me for afflicting thee, when others not so bad as thou for the present go unpunished: because I have no less authority over thee, than over them, and can dispose of all my Creatures according to my good pleasure. The great folly of this Bird is noted by Arabick Writers who best know her, and that not only for this property of forsaking her own Eggs, but also for other things, as that she eats any thing which is offered to her, as Iron, Stones, Glass, hot Coals, &c. Whereas other Birds and Beasts have so much sagacity as to reject improper and unwholsome things; that being pursued by the hunter she thinks her self safe and unseen by hiding her head in the Sand: For which and other such qualities it is a Proverb among the Arabians, More foolish than an Ostrich..

What time she lifteth up her self on high To flee from her pursuer: to which end she lifteth up her head and body, and... ads her wings., she scorneth the horse and his rider She despiseth them in regard of her greater swiftness; for though she cannot flie because of her great bulk, being said to be as big as a new-born Camel, yet by the aid of her wings she runs so fast that Horsemen cannot reach her, as both Greek and other Authors have noted..

Hast thou given the horse strength Either strength of body: or rather courage and generous confidence, for which the Horse is highly commended.? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder i. e. With snorting and neighing; in the making of which found the Neck, in regard of the Throat which is within it, and a part of it, is a principal instrument: which noise may not unfitly be called thunder, because of the great vehemency, and rage wherewith it is attended, and the great terrour which it causeth, especially in War and Battel, of which see Ier. 8. 16. and compare 1 Sam. 12. 17, 18. where this very term of thundring is ascribed to a far lower and less terrible noise. Nor is this, as some alledge, an improper speech, because this thunder or neighing is rather clothed with the Neck, as being within it, than the Neck with it; for nothing is more common in Scripture than to say that men are clothed with righteousness, humility, and other graces, which yet are in strictness of speech within the man, and not he within them. But because this word, in this form, is not elsewhere extant, some render it otherwise, with a mane, with a thick, and full, and deep mane, as the phrase of being clothed with it implies. For this is mentioned by all Writers of Horses, as a notable mark of a generous Horse; which therefore they conceive would not be omitted here where so many several properties and excellencies are described. And the Verb Raam, whence this comes, in the Syriack Language signifies not only to thunder, but also to be high or lofty: which fitly agrees to the mane which is in the highest part of the Horse.?

Canst thou make him afraid as a grashopper Which is easily affrighted and chased away by the least noise of a Man. Or, as divers others render the place, didst thou make him to move like a Grashopper, skipping and leaping as he goes! So he describes the posture of a gallant and generous Horse, who carvets and praunseth, and as it were danceth as he walks.? the glory of his nostrils That snoring, or sound, and smoke which cometh out of his Nostrils, especially when he is inraged and ingaged in battle, which is another note of a generous Horse, and strikes a terrour into his adversary. Or the vehemency, or majesty, or magnificence of his snorting, or snoring as this word is rendered, Ier 8. 16. is terrible.

He paweth Or, He diggeth. Through courage and wantonness he cannot stand still, but is beating, as it were, digging up the Earth with his feet. in the valley This he adds partly because the ground being there more plain and smooth, he has the better conveniency for his praunsing and pawing with his feet, which in hilly and uneven ground he cannot so well do, and partly because Battels use to be pitched in Valleys or low grounds, especially Horse Battels, and rejoyceth in his strength Making semblance of great pride and complacency in it.: he goeth on to meet the armed men With great readiness and undaunted courage.

He mocketh at fear i. e. At all Instruments and objects of terrour, as Fear is oft used, as Prov. 1. 26. & 10. 24. He despiseth what other Creatures dread., and is not affrighted: neither turneth he back from the Sword Or, because of the Sword: or, for fear of the Sword, as this phrase is used, Isa. 21. 15. & 31. 8. Ier. 14. 16. & 50. 16..

The quiver Or, although the Quiver, &c. So this comes in as an aggravation of his courage notwithstanding the just causes of fear which are mentioned in this Verse. And the Quiver is here put for the Arrows contained in it by a Metonymy very usual in this very case and in all sorts of Authors, which being shot against the Horse and Rider make this rateling noise here mentioned. rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the Shield Or rather the Launce or Iavelin. For that this was not a defensive, but an offensive weapon seems plain both from this place where it is mentioned among such, and as an object of fear, which the Shield is not, and from Ios. 8. 18. 1 Sam. 17. 45. where it is so used..

He swalloweth the ground The sense is either 1. He is so earnest and eager upon the Battle that he rusheth into it with all speed, and runs over the ground so swiftly, that he might seem to have swallowed it up. Or, 2. He is so full of warlike Rage and Fury, that he not only champs his Bridle, but is ready to tear and devour the very ground on which he goes. And the Phrase here used is not unusual, both in Arabick, and in other Authors: of which see my Latin Synopsis on this place. with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet i. e. He is so pleased with the approach of the Battle, and the sound of the Trumpet calling to it, that he could scarce believe his Ears for gladness. Compare Gen. 45. 26. Luk. 24. 41. Or thus, He cannot stand still, or firm (as this Verb and the derivative from it is used, not only in the Chaldee and Syriack Dialect, but also in the Hebrew, as Deut. 28. 59. 1 Sam. 2. 35.) when the Trumpet soundeth: His Rider can hardly keep him still, but he strives and longs to run to the fight.

He says among the trumpets, ha, ha An Expression of Joy and Alacrity, declared by his proud neighings, whereby he does in some sort answer the sound of the Trumpets, in way of scorn and challenge.; and he smelleth i. e. He perceiveth, as this Phrase is used, Iudg. 16. 19. the battle afar off At some distance, either of place, or rather of time, as the word is most frequently used. He perceives by the motion of the Souldiers, and the clattering of the Arms, that the Battle is at hand, which is very welcome to him., the thunder of the captains By which he understands either the military Orations which the Captains make and deliver with a loud voice to animate their Souldiers to the Battle: Or rather, the loud and joyful clamour begun by the Commanders, and followed by the Souldiers when they are ready to join Battle, that thereby they may both daunt their Enemies, and encourage themselves., and the shouting.

Does the hawk flie In so singular a manner, so strongly and steddily, so constantly and unweariedly, so swiftly and speedily, so regularly and cunningly to catch her Prey. by thy wisdom Didst thou inspire her with that Wisdom?, and stretch her wings toward the south Which she does either 1. when she casts her old Feathers, and gets new ones, which is furthered either by the warmth of Southerly Winds, or by the heat of the Sun, which was Southward from Iob's Country, as it is from ours. Whence it is, that as wild Hawks do this by natural Instinct, so the places which Men build for the keeping of tame Hawks are built towards the South. Or in, or towards Winter, when wild Hawks flie into warmer Countries, as being impatient of cold weather.?

Does the Eagle mount up Flies directly upward till she be out of thy sight; which no other Bird can do. at thy command, and make her nest on high In the highest and inaccessible Rocks. Compare Ier. 49. 16. Obad. v. 4.?

She dwelleth and abideth upon the rock, upon the crag of the rock Which she does, partly for the security of her self and her Young: and partly that she may thence have the better prospect to discern her Prey, as it followeth., and the strong place.

From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off Her sight is exceeding sharp and strong, so that she is able to look upon the Sun with open Eyes, and to behold the smallest prey upon the Earth or Sea, when she is mounted out of our sight; which when she spies, she flies to it, with incredible swiftness, even like an Arrow out of a Bow..

Her young ones also suck up blood Either of the Prey which the Eagle has brought to her Nest for them, or of that which themselves catch and kill, being betimes inured to this work by their Dams. Naturalists note of the Eagle, that she drinketh no Water but Blood only.: and where the slain are Where any dead Carkasses are, yea, or are like to be: For natural Historians write of the Eagles, that they can presage or smell a Battle some days before it be fought. And although some Writers affirm, that there are divers Eagles who do not feed upon Carkasses, and will not meddle with them, yet that many Eagles do feed on them is sufficiently evident by the Testimony both of Scripture as Mat. 24. 28. and of divers both ancient and later Writers., there is she To wit, in an instant, flying thither with admirable celerity..