TRV
Translation
King James Version
Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.
Complete Jewish Bible
Their young become strong, growing up in the open; they leave and never return.
Berean Standard Bible
Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field; they leave and do not return.
American Standard Version
Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field; They go forth, and return not again.
World English Bible Messianic
Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They go out, and don’t return again.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Knowest thou the time when the wilde goates bring foorth yong? or doest thou marke when the hindes doe calue?
Young's Literal Translation
Safe are their young ones, They grow up in the field, they have gone out, And have not returned to them.
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In the KJVVerse 13,839 of 31,102
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Commentary on Job 39 verses 1–12
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?
God here shows Job what little acquaintance he had with the untamed creatures that run wild in the deserts and live at large, but are the care of the divine Providence. As,
I. The wild goats and the hinds. That which is taken notice of concerning them is the bringing forth and bringing up of their young ones. For, as every individual is fed, so every species of animals is preserved, by the care of the divine Providence, and, for aught we know, none extinct to this day. Observe here, 1. Concerning the production of their young, (1.) Man is wholly ignorant of the time when they bring forth, Job 39:1, Job 39:2. Shall we pretend to tell what is in the womb of Providence, or what a day will bring forth, who know not the time of the pregnancy of a hind or a wild goat? (2.) Though they bring forth their young with a great deal of difficulty and sorrow, and have no assistance from man, yet, by the good providence of God, their young ones are safely produced, and their sorrows cast out and forgotten, Job 39:3. Some think it is intimated (Psa 29:9) that God by thunder helps the hinds in calving. Let it be observed, for the comfort of women in labour, that God helps even the hinds to bring forth their young; and shall he not much more succour them, and save them in child-bearing, who are his children in covenant with him? 2. Concerning the growth of their young, (Job 39:4): They are in good liking; though they are brought forth in sorrow, after their dams have suckled them awhile they shift for themselves in the corn-fields, and are no more burdensome to them, which is an example to children, when they have grown up, not to be always hanging upon their parents and craving from them, but to put forth themselves to get their own livelihood and to requite their parents.
II. The wild ass, a creature we frequently read of in Scripture, some say untameable. Man is said to be born as the wild ass's colt, so hard to be governed. Two things Providence has allotted to the wild ass: - 1. An unbounded liberty (Job 39:5): Who but God has sent out the wild ass free? He has given a disposition to it, and therefore a dispensation for it. The tame ass is bound to labour; the wild ass has no bonds on him. Note, Freedom from service, and liberty to range at pleasure, are but the privileges of a wild ass. It is a pity that any of the children of men should covet such a liberty, or value themselves on it. It is better to labour and be good for something than ramble and be good for nothing. But if, among men, Providence sets some at liberty and suffers them to live at ease, while others are doomed to servitude, we must not marvel at the matter: it is so among the brute-creatures. 2. An unenclosed lodging (Job 39:6): Whose house I have made the wilderness, where he has room enough to traverse his ways, and snuff up the wind at his pleasure, as the wild ass is said to do (Jer 2:24), as if he had to live upon the air, for it is the barren land that is his dwelling. Observe, The tame ass, that labours, and is serviceable to man, has his master's crib to go to both for shelter and food, and lives in a fruitful land: but the wild ass, that will have his liberty, must have it in a barren land. He that will not labour, let him not eat. He that will shall eat the labour of his hands, and have also to give to him that needs. Jacob, the shepherd, has good red pottage to spare, when Esau, a sportsman, is ready to perish for hunger. A further description of the liberty and livelihood of the wild ass we have, Job 39:7, Job 39:8. (1.) He has no owner, nor will he be in subjection: He scorns the multitude of the city. If they attempt to take him, and in order to that surround him with a multitude, he will soon get clear of them, and the crying of the driver is nothing to him. He laughs at those that live in the tumult and bustle of cities (so bishop Patrick), thinking himself happier in the wilderness; and opinion is the rate of things. (2.) Having no owner, he has no feeder, nor is any provision made for him, but he must shift for himself: The range of the mountains is his pasture, and a bare pasture it is; there he searches after here and there a green thing, as he can find it and pick it up; whereas the labouring asses have green things in plenty, without their searching for them. From the untameableness of this and other creatures we may infer how unfit we are to give law to Providence, who cannot give law even to a wild ass's colt.
III. The unicorn - rhem, a strong creature (Num 23:22), a stately proud creature, Psa 112:10. He is able to serve, but not willing; and God here challenges Job to force him to it. Job expected every thing should be just as he would have it. "Since thou dost pretend" (says God) "to bring every thing beneath thy sway, begin with the unicorn, and try thy skill upon him. Now that thy oxen and asses are all gone, try whether he will be willing to serve thee in their stead (Job 39:9) and whether he will be content with the provision thou usedst to make for them: Will he abide by thy crib? No;" 1. "Thou canst not tame him, nor bind him with his band, nor set him to draw the harrow," Job 39:10. There are creatures that are willing to serve man, that seem to take a pleasure in serving him, and to have a love for their masters; but there are such as will never be brought to serve him, which is the effect of sin. Man has revolted from his subjection to his Maker, and is therefore justly punished with the revolt of the inferior creatures from their subjection to him; and yet, as an instance of God's good-will to man, there are some that are still serviceable to him. Though the wild bull (which some think is meant here by the unicorn) will not serve him, nor submit to his hand in the furrows, yet there are tame bullocks that will, and other animals that are not ferae naturae - of a wild nature, in whom man may have a property, for whom he provides, and to whose service he is entitled. Lord, what is man, that thou art thus mindful of him? 2. "Thou darest not trust him; though his strength is great, yet thou wilt not leave thy labour to him, as thou dost with thy asses or oxen, which a little child may lead or drive, leaving to them all the pains. Thou wilt never depend upon the wild bull, as likely to come to thy harvest-work, much less to go through it, to bring home thy seed and gather it into thy barn," Job 39:11, Job 39:12. And, because he will not serve about the corn, he is not so well fed as the tame ox, whose mouth was not to be muzzled in treading out the corn; but therefore he will not draw the plough, because he that made him never designed him for it. A disposition to labour is as much the gift of God as an ability for it; and it is a great mercy if, where God gives strength for service, he gives a heart; it is what we should pray for, and reason ourselves into, which the brutes cannot do; for, as among beasts, so among men, those may justly be reckoned wild and abandoned to the deserts who have no mind either to take pains or to do good.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–12. Public domain.
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John ChrysostomAD 407
COMMENTARY ON JOB 39:1B-3B
He is right in saying, “Have you protected the calving of the hinds?” Since flight, fear and anxiety are usual in this kind of animal, which never ceases from leaping and galloping, how, he says, can it not abort, so do you know how its young can be given birth at the right time? “Say if you have numbered the full months of their being with young, and if you have relieved their pangs. [Speak out if you] have reared their young without fear. Will you loosen their pangs?” This animal is timorous. How may its young ones, which cannot count on the speed of their legs, be devoid of fear? Who watches them? You see that nature never abandons them, neither the lion rules through its strength, nor is the hind abandoned.
Gregory the DialogistAD 604
MORALS ON THE BOOK OF JOB 30.49
“Their young ones leave and go to pasture.” Holy Scripture calls “pasture” that green place of eternity where our nourishment will never be spoiled by any drought. About this pasture the psalmist says, “The Lord is my shepherd, and I will never lack anything. In a green place, there he gave me rest.” And again, “We are his people and herd of his pasture.” And the Truth himself says about these pastures, “If one enters through me, he will be saved and will get out and will find pasture.” They go to pasture because, after going out of their body, they find the eternal green pastures. They go out and do not go back to them, because, after being received in that joyful contemplation, they do not need to hear the words of those who teach. And so, after going out they do not go back to them, because after escaping the afflictions of life, they do not seek to receive any longer from the doctors the doctrine of life.
Gregory the DialogistAD 604
49. Holy Scripture terms ‘pasture’ that food of eternal verdure, where our refreshment will no longer waste away with any dryness of failing. Of which pasture it is said by the Psalmist, The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing; He hath placed me there in a place of pasture. [Ps. 23, 1] And again, But we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. [Ps. 96, 7] And of these pastures, doubtless, the Truth says, by Itself; By Me, if any one hath entered in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture. [John 10, 9] They go therefore to the pasture; because, on going forth from their bodies, they find those refreshments of eternal verdure. They go forth, and return not unto them; because, when they have been caught up in that contemplation of joys, they no longer need to hear the words of teachers. Having gone forth, therefore, they do not return to them; because, escaping the difficulties of this life, they require no longer to receive from teachers the preaching of life. For then that is fulfilled which is written, Each man shall no longer teach his neighbour, and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know Me, from the least of them even unto the greatest, saith the Lord. [Jer. 31, 34] Then is fulfilled that which the Truth says in the Gospel, I shall declare to you plainly of My Father. [John 16, 25] For the Son in truth plainly declares of the Father; because, as we have said before, in that He is the Word, He enlightens us by the nature of the Godhead. For men seek not then for the words of teachers, which are streamlets, as it were, from the tongue of man, when they are themselves already derived from the fount of Truth Itself.
After much then had been said, under the figurative bending down of hinds, concerning the virtue of teachers, His words are now directed to the conduct of those, who seek for the secresy of retired conversation; to whom, since they obtain their very rest of cessation by the Divine aid, and not by their own strength, it is said by the Lord.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Job 39:4, a profound declaration from God's whirlwind discourse to Job, unveils the divine wisdom and meticulous providence extended to the untamed natural world. This verse specifically describes the robust health, rapid maturation, and inherent independence of the young wild asses (onagers). It highlights their self-sufficiency and swift departure from parental care, serving as a powerful testament to God's sovereign design and continuous provision for all creation, especially those creatures beyond human domestication or comprehension.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: This verse is intricately woven into God's extended rhetorical challenge to Job, spanning Job 38 through Job 41. Following Job's lamentations and questioning of divine justice, God responds by systematically revealing His unparalleled wisdom and power, which far exceed human understanding. Having established His cosmic dominion and the mysteries of the natural world in Job 38, God transitions in Job 39 to the animal kingdom, focusing on creatures that defy human control or domestication. The verses immediately preceding Job 39:4 (Job 39:1-3) speak of the wild goats and hinds, setting a precedent for God's intimate knowledge of even the most elusive animals. Job 39:4 then specifically introduces the offspring of the wild ass, a creature whose fierce independence and freedom are central to the subsequent verses (Job 39:5-8). The verse emphasizes the vigor and self-reliance of these young animals, implicitly posing the question: Who but God could orchestrate such a perfectly self-sustaining design?
Historical & Cultural Context: In the ancient Near East, the wild ass, or onager (Equus hemionus), was widely recognized for its untamed nature, remarkable speed, and ability to thrive in harsh, desolate environments. Unlike domesticated animals that were crucial to human survival and economy, the wild ass symbolized freedom, an untamable spirit, and complete independence from human intervention. This made it an exceptionally fitting example for God to use in demonstrating His unique and absolute sovereignty over creation. The term "corn" in the King James Version, in this context, refers generally to grain or natural vegetation, not specifically to maize (which is a New World crop). This highlights the natural, uncultivated sustenance readily available to these wild creatures in their arid habitats. The ancient listener would have readily perceived the stark contrast between the human struggle for provision and the seemingly effortless thriving of these wild animals, all under God's unseen and unfailing hand. This cultural understanding amplifies the divine message of God's universal and meticulous care, extending even to the most independent and seemingly unmanaged elements of His creation.
Key Themes: Job 39:4 powerfully contributes to several overarching themes in the book of Job and the broader biblical narrative. Firstly, it profoundly underscores Divine Providence and Care, implicitly affirming God's continuous and detailed provision for all life, even the wild animals that roam free from human intervention. Their inherent "good liking" and ability to "grow up with corn" are direct testaments to His sustaining hand, a theme beautifully echoed in passages like Psalm 104:27-28, which speaks of all creatures looking to God for their food. Secondly, the phrase "they go forth, and return not unto them" highlights the Natural Independence and Self-Sufficiency inherent in God's creation, particularly in the wild. This design demonstrates that God's world is not dependent on human management but is perfectly crafted to thrive according to His wisdom. Lastly, by showcasing the unique life cycles and characteristics of wild creatures, God impresses upon Job—and all readers—the depth of His Unfathomable Wisdom. He knows and cares for every detail, from the mightiest beast to its smallest offspring, underscoring His ultimate authority and knowledge, which far transcend human comprehension, as seen in the broader context of Job 38.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Job 39:4, as an integral part of God's grand discourse, employs several literary devices to convey its profound message. Imagery is prominently used, painting a vivid and concrete picture of strong, healthy young wild asses, thriving independently in their natural environment. The description of them being "in good liking" and "growing up with corn" evokes a clear mental image of robust vitality and natural abundance, appealing to the reader's senses. Symbolism is also at play, with the wild ass serving as a powerful symbol of untamed nature, inherent freedom, and self-sufficiency, all of which God alone controls and sustains. By focusing on such a creature, God emphasizes His absolute sovereignty over all creation, including that which is beyond human domestication or understanding. While not a direct rhetorical question, the verse contributes to the broader Rhetorical Question structure of God's speech, implicitly challenging Job's limited understanding of divine wisdom and control by presenting an undeniable example of God's meticulous design and provision in the natural world. The self-sufficient nature of the young onagers serves as a silent, yet potent, argument for God's omniscient and omnipotent care.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Job 39:4, in its description of the independent and thriving young wild ass, serves as a powerful testament to God's universal and meticulous providence. It underscores the theological truth that God's care extends to every corner of creation, not just humanity or domesticated animals. This verse challenges human anthropocentrism, reminding us that God's wisdom is displayed not only in grand cosmic designs but also in the intricate details of the animal kingdom, ensuring the self-perpetuation and flourishing of even the most untamed creatures. It invites humility before the Creator, acknowledging that His ways and knowledge far surpass our own, fostering a deep trust in His sovereign hand over all aspects of life.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Job 39:4 invites us to pause and marvel at the divine design and unfailing care evident throughout all creation. If God so meticulously provides for the young of the wild ass, ensuring their robust health, rapid growth, and complete independence in the untamed wilderness, how much more will He attend to the needs of His beloved children, created in His image? This verse offers a profound source of encouragement and comfort, fostering a deeper trust in God's sovereign hand over every detail of our lives. It challenges us to release anxieties about provision and control, recognizing that the same God who sustains the wild onager also holds our future. Furthermore, it cultivates a greater appreciation for the intricate beauty and self-sufficiency of the natural world, seeing it not merely as a resource, but as a living testament to God's glory, wisdom, and continuous, active presence. It calls us to a posture of humility, acknowledging our limited understanding in the face of God's boundless wisdom, and to find rest in His all-encompassing care.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why does God focus on wild animals like the wild ass in His discourse to Job?
Answer: God focuses on wild animals like the wild ass (onager) in His discourse to Job (Job 38-41) for several profound reasons. Primarily, these creatures exemplify aspects of creation that are beyond human control, domestication, or even full comprehension. Unlike livestock that humans manage and rely upon, the wild ass thrives independently in desolate places, relying solely on God's provision and design. By highlighting such creatures, God demonstrates the vastness of His wisdom and power, which extends far beyond what Job—or any human—can grasp or influence. It serves to humble Job, showing him that if he cannot understand or control the simple life cycle of a wild animal, how much less can he comprehend the complexities of divine justice or the governance of the cosmos. This display of God's intimate knowledge of the untamed world underscores His ultimate sovereignty and challenges Job's limited perspective, ultimately leading Job to a place of deeper reverence and trust, as seen in Job 42:1-6.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
While Job 39:4 speaks of God's general providence over creation, its themes find their ultimate and most profound fulfillment in Jesus Christ. He is the very Wisdom of God incarnate (1 Corinthians 1:24), through whom all things were created and by whom all things hold together (Colossians 1:16-17). The meticulous care God shows for the young wild ass, ensuring its robust health and independent thriving, foreshadows the even greater, personal, and redemptive care that God, in Christ, extends to humanity. Jesus himself taught extensively on God's providential care, urging his disciples not to worry about food or clothing, pointing to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, which God clothes and feeds (Matthew 6:25-34). If God provides so abundantly for creatures of the wild that "go forth, and return not," how much more will He provide for His children, for whom Christ gave His life on the cross (John 3:16)? The untamed nature of the wild ass, subject only to God's design, also subtly points to Christ's ultimate dominion over all creation, including that which seems wild or uncontrollable to human eyes (Matthew 28:18). In Christ, God's wisdom, power, and providential care are not just observed in nature but are personally experienced and eternally secured for those who believe, culminating in the promise of His constant presence and provision, ensuring that His people lack no good thing (Philippians 4:19).