The Pulpit Commentary on Job 39:1-30

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

The creatures not dependent upon man.

We truly know that of man it is written, "Thou hast put all things under his feet;" and "We see not yet all things put under him." The creatures over whom dominion was given to man are not wholly submissive. And man must learn his littleness in presence of the great creatures of God whom he fails to subdue. "The wild goats" and "the hinds" and "the wild ass," "the unicorn," even "the ostrich," "the horse" and the birds of the air, "the hawk" and "the eagle," are all alike independent of man. They have neither their beauty nor their strength, their flight nor their instinct, from him. With all his knowledge, his skill, his inventiveness, his cunning, still the creatures are independent of him, though he is not independent of them. They can do without him, but not he without them. It is another step in the course of the humiliation through which the Lord is leading Job. Man may sling with the stone, or shoot with the arrow, or entrap with his skill, or train and conquer by his superior wisdom, yet is he miserably impotent in their presence. And most certainly they derive neither their life nor any of their powers from him. Shall vain man, then, contend with the Creator of all? Shall he whose are all things find him to whom none belong entering the lists with him? Shall he contend? shall he instruct? shall he reprove? and answer? Nay, verily. His place is tire dust, and to the dust God will humble him; and in doing so, he brings man into the presence of his many and beautiful and powerful creatures, and shows him how independent they are of him. This is the teaching of the entire chapter. Humility, therefore, is due—

I. BECAUSE MAN CANNOT CREATE ANY ONE OF THEM.

II. BECAUSE THEY ARE INDEPENDENT OF MAN FOR THEIR CONTINUANCE AND SUSTENANCE.

III. BECAUSE IN MANY OF THEIR POWERS THEY EXCEED THE MIGHT OF MAN, who cannot give them their speed, their strength, or their great beauty. How little is man amidst the wonders of the Divine hands! and how truly wise is be who, in presence of the divinely wrought creatures, bows down confessing, "How wonderful are all thy works, O Lord!"—R.G.

HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY

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commentaryMatthew Henry on Job 39:1-30—In these questions the Lord continued to humble Job. In this chapter several animals are spoken of, whose nature or situation particularly show the power, wisdom, and manifold works of God. The wild ass. It is better t…Matthew Henry commentaryMan's Ignorance of the Animal Creation; Description of the Wild Goat, Hind, Wild Ass, and Unicorn. (b. c. 1520.)MAN'S IGNORANCE OF THE ANIMAL CREATION; DESCRIPTION OF THE WILD GOAT, HIND, WILD ASS, AND UNICORN. (B. C. 1520.) God here shows Job what little acquaintance he had with the untamed creatures that run wild in the deserts…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Job 39:1-30Jehovah to Job: the first answer-the examination: 6. Concerning certain wild animals. I. THE MOUNTAIN GOAT AND THE HIND. (Verses 1-4.) 1. The creatures intended. It is generally agreed that these are the steinbock, or i…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Job 39:1-30EXPOSITIONJoseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Job 39:1-30This chapter completes the survey of animate nature begun at Job 38:39. The habits and instincts of the wild goat, the wild ass, and wild cattle are first noticed (Job 38:1-12); then a transition is made to the most rem…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Job 39:1Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? The wild goats of Western Asia are of two kinds, the Capra segagrus, and the Asiatic ibex, or Capra Sinaitica. The latter is probably the animal hero in…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Job 39:4Their young ones are in good liking; i.e. healthy and strong (comp. Daniel 1:10). They grow up with corn; rather, they grow up out of doors, or in the open air. They go forth, and return not unto them. They quit their d…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Job 39:5-8The wild ass. The special characteristic of the wild ass is said to be untractability. While no animal is more tame than the poor, ill-treated donkey of the London street, no animal is more essentially untamable than th…Joseph S. Exell and contributors