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 The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and feathers of love?
14 For she 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 hers: her labour is in vain without fear;
17 Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
18 When 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.
Job 39 Commentary
Chapter Overview
Job 39 continues the Lord’s answer from the whirlwind. In Job 38, God questioned Job about the foundations of the earth, the sea, weather, stars, lions, and ravens. Now the questions focus almost entirely on animals whose lives unfold beyond ordinary human supervision.
The wild goats give birth on remote cliffs, young deer mature without a farmer’s care, the wild donkey refuses the city, the wild ox will not pull Job’s plow, the ostrich survives despite behavior that appears foolish, the warhorse rushes toward battle, and birds navigate and nest by wisdom Job did not give them.
The chapter does not present nature as gentle. Birth involves pain, eggs can be crushed, battlefields contain blood, and predators feed on prey. Yet no creature lies outside God’s knowledge or providence.
Job cannot judge creation only by what he can domesticate, explain, or employ. If divine wisdom governs such hidden lives, he should hesitate before concluding that unexplained suffering proves God’s rule has failed.
Wild Goats and Deer Giving Birth
God begins with events Job cannot observe closely: wild goats bringing forth among the rocks and deer giving birth in the open country. Job cannot count their months by direct supervision, assist their labor, or guarantee that the young will survive.
God, however, knows the time. The question “Knowest thou?” is not merely about information. It asks whether Job watches over these hidden births as their keeper. The answer is no. Life continues in inaccessible places because divine care does not depend on human presence.
The young animals grow strong, go out, and do not return to their mothers. Their independence is not evidence of abandonment. God has equipped them for a life outside the protected patterns familiar to human households and livestock.
These creatures are unseen by people but not by God. Hiddenness from human eyes is not absence from divine attention.
The Freedom of the Wild Donkey
The wild donkey is defined by freedom. God has made the wilderness its home and loosened it from the “bands” of domesticated labor. It ignores the noise of the city and the commands of a driver because it was not created to live under the yoke.
A farmer might call such freedom wasteful, but God presents this independent life as intentional rather than defective.
The animal searches the mountains for pasture and accepts wilderness risks. Providence does not force every creature into the same pattern of safety and service.
The wild donkey challenges the assumption that order must look like human control. God can govern what no person commands.
The Untamable Wild Ox
The KJV uses “unicorn” for the powerful animal in verses 9–12. The picture is not of a mythical horse with a horn, but of a formidable wild creature commonly understood as a wild ox. Its strength is obvious, but its strength does not make it willing to serve.
Job cannot keep it beside his feeding trough, bind it to the furrow, trust it to plow the valleys, or send it to gather grain. Human beings may admire raw power, but usefulness requires more than power. Strength without willing submission cannot be safely assigned a farmer’s work.
Even during prosperity, Job never ruled every strong creature. Much of creation always remained beyond his command.
God does not need to domesticate everything in order to govern it. The wild ox’s refusal to serve Job does not mean it has escaped its Creator. Divine sovereignty is greater than ownership, harness, and immediate human benefit.
The Strange Wisdom of the Ostrich
The wording of verse 13 is difficult, but the following verses clearly describe the ostrich. She leaves her eggs on the ground, where they appear exposed to feet and wild animals. Her treatment of the young can seem hard, careless, and lacking in ordinary wisdom.
God says that He has not given her the kind of wisdom seen in other creatures. This does not mean the ostrich is an accidental failure. The same bird that appears foolish in one respect becomes astonishing when she runs, laughing at the horse and rider.
Not every animal displays every excellence. Creation’s abilities are distributed rather than concentrated in one pattern.
Job and his friends repeatedly tried to reduce moral government to one predictable rule: righteous people prosper and wicked people suffer. The ostrich is a living reminder that God’s world contains surprising combinations. Apparent weakness may exist beside extraordinary ability, and something that looks defective from one angle may still occupy a fitting place in the whole.
The Warhorse’s Courage
The speech turns from the awkward ostrich to the magnificent warhorse. It paws the ground and rejoices in its strength as armed men approach.
Unlike ordinary animals that flee danger, the trained warhorse rushes toward the sword. The rattling quiver, flashing spear, trumpet, captains, and shouting excite rather than paralyze it. Its courage appears almost irrational, yet it is perfectly fitted for the battlefield.
Human training can direct the horse, but it did not create its strength and fearlessness. The rider depends on gifts placed within the creature.
Divine providence includes dangerous powers, not only quiet pastures and tender births. The warhorse’s fierce energy also belongs to creation, though people may use it violently.
The Hawk and the Eagle
The hawk stretches its wings toward the south by a wisdom Job did not supply. The question may include seasonal movement or migration, but its main force is clear: birds follow patterns and abilities that exceed human instruction.
The eagle nests on the crag, sees prey from far away, and feeds its young where the slain are found. Sight, flight, hunting, and nesting work together.
The final image is severe: the young “suck up blood.” God does not hide the violence of animal life. Predators live because other creatures die. The chapter therefore does not offer a sentimental picture of nature; it presents a world whose full order includes realities Job finds disturbing and cannot govern.
That honesty matters for the book’s treatment of suffering. God is not asking Job to call every painful event pleasant. He is showing that Job cannot see enough of the whole to conclude that what is frightening, costly, or mysterious has no place within divine wisdom.
Why Does God Focus on Wild Animals?
These animals give birth unseen, reject domestication, move toward danger, or survive by hunting. Their wildness witnesses to providence beyond human management.
They also resist a narrow view of value. The wild donkey does not transport goods, the wild ox does not plow, and the eagle does not live by rules designed for human convenience. God’s delight and care extend beyond what people can turn into profit or service.
God enlarges Job’s perspective beyond his ruined life toward countless creatures with needs, dangers, and purposes he has never considered.
Important Questions
Does Job 39 teach that suffering should never be questioned? No. Job has lamented honestly, and God has chosen to answer him. The correction concerns Job’s confidence that his limited experience qualifies him to declare the whole administration of God unjust.
Why does God not simply explain Satan’s accusation? The readers know about the heavenly challenge, but Job does not. God builds Job’s trust on the Creator’s demonstrated wisdom rather than on Job receiving every hidden fact behind his trial.
Is the ostrich condemned as worthless? No. Its behavior appears deficient beside the tender care of other birds, yet its remarkable speed receives attention. The passage emphasizes differing gifts and designs rather than measuring every creature by one standard.
Does God approve of war because He describes the warhorse? The text admires the animal’s created strength and courage, not every human cause in which it might be used. Description of a creature’s battlefield qualities is not blanket approval of warfare.
What does the chapter say about God’s care? God knows unseen births, provides untamed habitats, and gives abilities humans did not invent. His care is not always protection from danger, but no life is outside His knowledge.
Application
Job 39 teaches believers to respect the difference between mystery and disorder. A life may appear uncontrolled because no human being can manage or explain it. That does not mean God is absent. The wild creatures flourish under forms of care that remain mostly invisible to people.
The chapter also challenges the habit of measuring worth by usefulness. People, animals, places, and seasons should not be valued only for what they produce for us. God’s attention to creatures that will never pull a plow or fill a barn reveals a wider standard of value.
The ostrich’s weakness does not erase its speed, and the wild ox’s strength does not make it cooperative. Wise judgment avoids reducing anyone to one visible trait.
Those counseling sufferers should learn from God’s refusal to repeat the friends’ formula. He does not tell Job that every pain proves a hidden crime. Instead, He restores perspective by revealing a world too complex for simplistic verdicts.
Finally, the chapter calls for humility without despair. Job cannot govern birth, wilderness, strength, instinct, battle, migration, or predation. Yet these are governed. In Job 40, God will press the question more directly: will Job condemn God in order to justify himself? Job 39 prepares him to answer by showing that the Creator’s wisdom is active far beyond the boundaries of Job’s sight.