THE BOOK OF JOB. racterized by unrestricted liberty, defying and mocking all human control and nurture. Ver. 5. Who hath sent out the wild ass free, and who hath loosed the bands of the fugitive?—The words N (Arab, ferâ; comp. above ch. vi. 5; xi. 12; xxiv. 5) and denote one and the same animal, the wild ass or T": Renan, Rodwell, Conant, Fürst, SMITH's Bib. Dict. Art. "Unicorn"], etc., to understand the buffalo or wild ox [bos bubalus) to be intended, seeing that this animal is still quite common in Palestine, and that here a contrast seems to be intended between this wild ox and the tame species (see ver. 10). But this particular buffalo of Palestine is an animal which is not particularly strong, or characterized by untamable Wildness, as is shown by the fact that it is frequently used in tilling the land (RUSSELL, Naturgesch. von Aleppo, II. 7) [THOMSON's Land and the Book, I. 386, 387]. As to the The μονοκέρως of the LXX. [E. V.: "unicorn"] (of which the Talmudic p is a mutilated form, and the pivoké pos of Aquila and Jerome is a misunderstanding) points to an animal which is, if not always, yet often, represented as having one horn, i. e., as sisting of two which have grown together. Such being armed with one horn on the forehead, conan animal seems in ancient times to have been somewhat common in Egypt and South-western Asia, the same being a species nearly related to the oryx-antelope (Antil. loucoryx) of to-day. It is represented on Egyptian monuments, now with two horns, and now with one. It is described by Aristotle and Pliny as a one-horned, cloven hoof (Aristotle, Hist. Anim. II. 1; De Partib. Anim. III. 2; Pliny, Hist. Nat. XI. 106); and in all probability it has been again discovered recently in the Tschiru, or the Antil. Hodgsonii of Southern Thibet (Huc and Gabet, Journeyings through Mongolia and Thibet, Germ. Edit., p. 323; see the passage quoted in Delitzsch, Ver. 8. He ranges through the mountains II, p. 834, n. 2). The name D' in the passage as his pasture.-So according to the reading before us is all the more suitably applied to such (Imperf. of ♫, investigare), which is at- fact that the corresponding Arabic word still an animal of the oryx species, in view of the tested by almost all the ancient versions, by the signifies a species of antelope among the SyroLXX, Vulg., Targum. The Masoretic reading Arabians of to-day, and that this same oryx-fais either (with the Pesh. Le Clerc, etc.) to mily embraces sub-species which are particube taken as a variant of, abundantia, or as a larly wild, largely and powerfully built, and alderivative of, with the meaning, "that most bovine in their characteristics. Accordwhich is searched out" (investigatum, investiga-ingly, Luther's translation of the word by "unibile). But the statement that "the abundance of the mountains is the pasture of the wild ass" would be at variance with the fact in respect to the life of these animals, which inhabit the bare mountain-steppes (comp. Oken in the work cited above). On the other hand we should expect the normal form, following the analogy of such words as Dp to have an active rather than a passive signification. however can scarcely mean "circle, compass," [E. V. "range"] here (Hahn). " Ver. 7. [He laughs at the tumult (E. V. "multitude,' but the parallelism favors "tumult") of the city], the driver's shouts he hears not; i. e., he flees from the control of the drivers, to which the tamed ass is subjected. On is, comp. ch. xxxvi. 29. ראס corn," in this passage, and probably in every other where DN occurs in the Old Testament, supported as it is by the LXX., might be justified this "unicorn" & fabulous animal like that of the without our being compelled to understand by Perso-Assyrian monuments, or of the English Bochart, Hierozoicon, II. 335 seq.; Rosenmüller, royal coat-of-arms. Comp. on the subject S. Bibl. Alterth. IV. 2, 288 seq.; Lichtenstein, Die Antilopen, 1824; Lewysohn, Zoologie des Talmud, 1858, 146, 174; Sundewall, Die Thierarten des Aristoteles, Stockholm, 1863, p. 64 seq.; also Ko B. The oryx and ostrich: vers. 9-18. Ver. 9. Will the oryx be pleased to ner's Zeitschr. für allgem. Erdkunde, 1862, II., serve thee? - D', contracted from H. 3, p. 227, where interesting information is (comp. the full written form D'N, Ps. xcii. man, W. B. Bailie, touching the existence of a given respecting the researches of the English11), assuredly denotes not the rhinoceros one-horned animal still to be found in the regions (Aq., Vulgate) [Good, Barnes], because the of Central Africa, south of the Sea of Tsad, difanimal intended must be one that was common fering both from the rhinoceros and from the in Western Asia, and especially in the regions unicorn of the British coat-of-arms, which is of Syria and Palestine. Comp. the reference to probably, therefore, an African variety of the it in Ps. xxii. 22 [21]; xxix. 6; Deut. xxxiii. oryx-antelope, and possibly the very same va17; Isa. xxxiv. 7. It would be more natural, riety as that represented on the old Egyptian with Schultens, Gesenius, De Wette, Umbreit, monuments. [See Robinson's Researches in PaHirzel [Robinson, Noyes, Carey, Wordsworth, | lestine, III. 306, 563; Wilson, Lands of the Bible, which is more mild in disposition, and is, in particular, more affectionate and careful in the treatment of its offspring-that the predicate at, pia, with its double meaning, refers (which Delitzsch accordingly translates storchfromm [stork-pious], pia instar circonia). This is evident from the description which follows. II., p. 167 seq.; and the remarks of Dr. Mason, head while lying beside it. Comp. Isa. i. 8 and ייגִיעַ On Ver. 11. Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great?-i. e., will the great strength which he possesses awake thy confidence, and not rather thy mistrust? "labor" ["wilt thou commit to him thy labor"], in the sense of the fruit of labor, the product of tilling, comp. Ps. lxxviii. 46: cxxviii. 2. The verse following is decisive in favor of this interpretation of the verse before us; otherwise the word might, in accordance with Gen. xxxi. 42, denote the labor or the toil itself. Ver. 14. Nay, she abandons her eggs to the earth.-'? here "nay, rather," as in chap. xxii. 2. The subj. of yn is the D' of ver. 13, construed here as Fem. Sing. The same construction obtains in the following verbs (Ew. ¿318 a). T Ver. 10. Dost thou bind the oryx to the furrow of his cord?-i. e., to the furrow (comp. chap. xxxi. 88) which he raises by means of the ploughshare, as he is led along by the Ver. 15. And forgets that the foot can cord. Or will he harrow the valleys (Ps. crush them.-, simply consecutive, and lxv. 14) after thee (T), i. e., while follow- hence present; comp. chap. iii. 21. On the ing thee, when thou seekest to lead him in the sing. suffix in, referring to the eggs, see act of ploughing [rather, as in the text, harrow-Gesenius, 146 [143], 3. The fact here deing,, to level]. scribed, to wit, that the mother ostrich easily forgets her eggs, at least while she is not yet through with laying them, as well as in the beginning of the period of incubation, and that she leaves them unprotected, especially on the approach of hunters, is true of this animal only in its wild condition. In that state it shares these and similar habits, proceeding from excessive wildness and fear of man, with many other birds, as, e.g., the partridge. In its tamed condition, the ostrich watches over its young very diligently indeed,-and, moreover, shows Ver. 12. Wilt thou trust to him that he it, and which has become proverbial (to which nothing of that stupidity popularly ascribed to bring home thy sowing?-Respecting as ver. 17 alludes). Comp. the Essay entitled: exponent of the object, see Ewald, 336, b. Die Zuchtung des Straussen als europäisches Haus, if we adhere to it, with the K'thibh, is used thier, in the Ausland, 1869, No. 13, p. 306. The in the transitive sense, as in chap. xlii. 10; Ps. opinion moreover, partially circulated among 1xxxv. 5. The K'ri, however, substitutes for it the ancients, that the ostrich does not at all inthe Hiphil, which, in this sense, is the form cubate its eggs, belongs to that class of scientific more commonly used. And that he gather mals the basilisk, the dragon, the unicorn, etc., fables which, as in the case of those strange ani(into) thy threshing floor.- is probably have been incorrectly imputed to the Old Testalocative (=). It may possibly, however, ment. The verse before us furnishes no support be taken as accusative of the object per synecdo- whatever to that opinion. [See Smith's Bib. chen continentis pro contento (threshing-floor-Dict., Art. "Ostrich." "The habit of the ostrich fruits of the threshing-floor, yield of the harvest), as in Ruth iii. 2; Matt. iii. 12. :T leaving its eggs to be matured by the sun's heat is usually appealed to in order to confirm the Scriptural account, she leaveth her eggs to the earth;' but this is probably the case only with the tropical birds; the ostriches with which the Jews were acquainted were, it is likely, birds of Syria, Egypt and North Africa; but even if they were acquainted with the habits of the tropical ostriches, how can it be said that she forgetteth that the foot may crush' the eggs, when they are covered a foot deep or more in sand? is to be found in the fact that the ostrich deWe believe the true explanation of this passage posits some of her eggs not in the nest, but around it; these lie about on the surface of the sand, to all appearance forsaken; they are however designed for the nourishment of the young birds, according to Levaillant and Bonjainville (Cuvier, An. King. by Griffiths and others, viii. 432)," and see below on ver. 16]. Vers. 13-18. The ostrich (lit. the female ostrich) introduced as an example of untamable wildness from among the birds. The wing of the (female) ostrich waves joyously. D', lit. "wailings, shrill cries of mourning" plur. abstr.) is a poetic designation of the ostrich here, or of the female ostrich, noted for its piercing cries. So correctly the Vulg., Bochart, and almost all the moderns. The Targ. arbitrarily understands the bird designated to be the "mountain-cock." Kimchi and Luther the "peacock" [and so E. V.: "Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the pea-cocks?"] As to Dy "to move itself joyously," comp. chap. xx. 18; also the Homeric expression, ayahλeovaι TEрúуeσow. Is it a pious pinion and plumage ?-i. e., is the wing of this bird, the waving of which is so powerful and wonderfully rapid, a pious Ver. 16. She deals hardly with her one, productive of mild and tender qualities, young, as though they were not hers; lit. like that of the stork? For it is to that bird-"for not to her' (i. e., belonging to her) which in its build resembles the ostrich, but, lit. "he deals hardly;" which, bearing in mind [the suffix in 71, and] the clause which among many similar ones is the most Hebrew the horse as a theme of description must splendid, it has been justly observed that to a seem all the more noble in that he was known not as a beast of draught, but only as a warhorse." Schlottmann]. , which immediately follows, gives a change of gender which is intolerably harsh, which we may perhaps obviate (with Ewald, etc.) by pointing up (Inf. Absol., comp Ewald, 280, a). Ver. 19. Dost thou give strength (77) The correction (Hirzel, Dillmann) [Merx] is less plausible. In vain is her labor used specially of warlike strength, fortitudo; without her being distressed; lit. "without comp. Judg. viii. 21; 2 Kings xviii. 20) dost thou clothe his neck with fluttering hair? fear" (5-3), i. c., her labor in laying her i. e., with quivering, waving mane? It is thus eggs is in vain (inasmuch as many of her eggs that most moderns explain the word, not are abandoned by her to destruction), without found elsewhere, from the root Dy", "to quake" her giving herself any trouble or anxiety on that (Ezek. xxvii. 35), by comparison with the Greek account. This unconcern and carelessness of póẞn (related to $630g). The signification the female ostrich touching the fate of her thunder, neighing" (Symmach., Theodot., Jeyoung, which stands in glaring contrast with the rome, Luther, Schlottmann) [E. V.] would intender anxiety of the stork-mother (ver. 13 b), deed be etymologically admissible, but it would is carried to such a length, that she herself not be suited to the words "neck," and "clothe." often stamps to pieces her eggs (the shelis of Umbreit and Ewald, ( 113, d) [the latter howwhich moreover are quite hard), when she obever in his Commentary as above-"quivering serves that men or beasts have been about; and mane"] explain it by "dignity;" but the ideneven uses the eggs which are left to lie un-tity of with is questionable, and hatched in feeding the young ones as they creep such words as forth. Comp. Wetzstein, in Delitzsch 11., p. 339 seq. Ver. 17. For God made her to forget wisdom, and gave her no share in understanding. Perf. Hiph. with the suffix from (comp. ch. xi. 6). 2 pn, "to give a share in understanding" (comp. ch. T vii. 13; xxi. 25). For parallel expressions as to the thought, to wit, Arabic proverbs about the stupidity of the ostrich, see Schultens and Umbreit on the passage. The only other passage in the Old Testament where the cruelty of the ostrich is set forth in proverbial form is Lam. iv. 3. Ver. 18. At the time when she lashes herself aloft, she laughs at the horse and his rider.-, here not "at this time, just now" (Gesen., Schlott,), but, and hence with an elliptical relative clause following: Respecting, which both in Kal. and Hiphil can signify "to lash, to beat," and which in Hebrew is found in this signification only here, see Gesenius in the Lexicon. The whole verse describes in a way which combines simplicity and terseness with vividness, the lightning-like swiftness of an ostrich, or a herd of such birds, fleeing before hunters on horseback, the running movement of the bird being aided by the vibration of the wings. At the same time the mention of "the horse and his rider" prepares the transition to the description which follows, the only one in this series which refers to a tamed animal. Vers. 19-25. The war-horse-a favorite subject of description also on the part of Arabian and other oriental poets; comp. the "Praise of the Horse" in v. Hammer-Purgstall's Duftkörner: Amrul-Keis, Moallakat, vers. 50,64, and other parallels to this passage cited by Umbreit. Of all these poetic descriptions which have come down from antiquity (to which also may be added Virgil, Georg. III, 75 seq.)., the present one is the oldest and most beautiful. ["In connection with this description of the war-horse, would have been שְׂאֵת or גָאוֹן more naturally used to express that idea. col, a word used in horsemanship, borrowed Ver. 21. They explore in the valley, then he rejoiceth in strength.-The subject of 19 can scarcely be the hoofs of the horse (Delitzsch ["the representation of the many pawing hoofs being blended with that of the thus far of the singular in speaking of the horse pawing horse"]), and the use throughout (so also again in ) makes it impossible that the plural here should refer to him. Hence the signification "pawing" preferred here by the ancient versions [and E. V.], and most of the moderns seems inadmissible, even admitting that is the word commonly used for the pawing of the horse (see Schultens on the passage). We must rather with Cocceius and Ewald understand the subject to be the riders, or the warriors; "they take observations," or "observations are taken in the valley (while it is uncertain whether the fighting should begin): then he rejoiceth in strength." The meaning "to paw" is to be retained only in case we adopt Ver. 24. With rushing and raging he swallows the ground; i. e. in sweeping over the ground at full gallop, he swallows it up as it were; a figure which is current also among Arabic poets (see Schultens and Delitzsch on the passage). The assonance of y may be represented by "rushing and raging."And he does not stand still when the trumpet sounds.-Lit. "he does not show himself fixed, does not stay fixed, does not contain himself:" accordingly in its primitive sensuous meaning; not "he believes not" (Kimchi, Aben Ezra) [E. V. i. e. for joy; it is too good to be true]. As to ip comp. Ewald, ¿ 286, ƒ [adverbial use of p here when the trumpet is loud]. As parallel in thought comp. beyond all other passages that of Virgil referred to above (Georg. III. 83 seq.): Tum, si qua sonum procul arma dedere, Stare loco nescit, micat auribus et tremil artus Collectumque fremens volvit sub naribus ignem. T: worthy characteristic of taking its flight southwards at the approach of winter (Pliny, N. H. x. 8). For it is to this that the apocop. Imperf. refers: assurgit, attollitur alis, not to the yearly Hiph. (denominative from 28, "wing") ward (Vulg.: plumescit; in like manner the moulting, which precedes the migration southTarg., Gregory the Great, Rosenm.). For this annual renewal of plumage (TTεpoovεiv, see LXX., cated elsewhere in the Old Testament only of Is. xl. 31) is common to all birds, and is predithe eagle (Ps. ciii. 5; Mic. i. 16; Is. xl. 31), not of the hawk. is Vers. 27-30. The eagle, as king of the birds, closing the series of native animals here described, in like manner as the lion, as king of the mammalia, had opened the series. in the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, like άɛróç in the New Testament (comp. Matt. xxiv. 28; Luke xvii. 37), a common designation of the eagle proper, and of the vulture: and the characteristic of carnivorousness which is here and often elsewhere referred to belongs in fact not only to the varieties of the vulture (such as the carrion-kite and lammergeyer), but also to the more common varieties of the eagle, such as the golden eagle and the osprey, which do not disdain to eat the carcasses of animals which have recently died. Comp. Winer's Real-Wörter-Buch, under Adler.-Doth the eagle soar at thy command? lit. make high (', scil. his nest on high? lit. "is it at thy command ) his flight; comp. ch. v. 7.-And build that he builds his nest on high?" Comp. Obad. 4; Jer. xlix. 16; Prov. xxx. 19. Ver. 28. With the phrase -, lit. "tooth of the rock," comp. the names Dent du midi, Dent-blanche, Dent de Moreles, etc. Ver. 30. And his young ones lap up blood. [The gender throughout is masculine, not fem. as in E. V.] y from yhy, an abbreviated secondary form of ,עוּל yy, Pilp. of "to suck." Possibly, however, we should read (with Gesen. and Olsh.) yy, from yys Ver. 25. As often as the trumpet (sounds), he says, Aha! i. e., he neighs, full of a joyous eagerness for the battle. On 7 quotiescunque (lit. "in sufficiency"), comp. Ewald, & 337, c.— And from afar he smells the battle, the thunder (comp. ch. xxxvi. 29) of the captains, and the shouting (the battle-cries of, deglutere. On the sucking of blood by the contestants; comp. Judg. vii. 18 seq.). the young eagles, comp. Elian, H. anim. x. 14: Similarly Pliny, N. H. VIII. 42: præsagiunt σαρκῶν ἤδεται βορᾷ καὶ πίνει αἷμα καὶ τὰ νεόττια pugnam and of moderns more particularly La- EKTрEQEL TOIÇ AVTOÏÇ. yard (New Discoveries, p. 330): “Although docile as a lamb, and requiring no other guide than the halter, when the Arab mare hears the warcry of the tribe, and sees the quivering spear of her rider, her eyes glitter with fire, her blood-red nostrils open wide, her neck is nobly arched, and her tail and mane are raised and spread out to the wind," etc. 7. Conclusion of the discourse, together with Job's answer: ch. xl. 1-5. Ver. 2. Will the censurer contend with Observe the the Almighty? to wit, after all that has here been laid before him in proof of the greatness and wonderful power of God. return to ch. xxxviii. 2, which this question brings about. Inf. absol. of (as in Ver. 26. The hawk, as the first example of Judg. xi. 25) here in the sense of a future. The birds of prey, distinguished by their strength, adoption of this construction in preference to lightning-like swiftness, and lofty flight.-Doth the finite verb gives a meaning that is particuthe hawk fly upward by thy understand-larly forcible. Comp. the well-known sentence: ing ?-? (the "high flyer") is, according to the unanimous testimony of the ancient versions, the hawk, a significant bird, as is well known, in the Egyptian hieroglyphics, which is here introduced on account of its mysteriously note mene incepto desistere victum? Also Ewald, 2 328, a.-He who hath reproved God, let him answer it; i. e. let him reply to all the questions asked from ch. xxxviii. 2 on. Ver. 4. Behold, I am too base; i. e. to solve the problem presented, I am not equal to it. I lay my hand on my mouth; i. e. I impose on myself absolute silence; comp. ch. xxi. 5; xxix. 9. again directed to the goodness of God, or to the Creator's fatherly care, which is most intimately united with His power and wisdom, and which in the exercise of them takes the most particular Ver. 5. Once have I spoken, and I will interest in the life of His earthly animate creanot again begin, will no more undertake to tion. For all that is advanced in this section in speak; see on ch. iii. 2. "Once-twice," as in the way of proof of the wonderful wisdom and Ps. Ixii. 12 [11], are used only because of the all-penetrative knowledge of the Most High in poetic parallelism for "often;" comp. Gesenius, the sphere of animal life, and of its ordinary as 120 [118], 5. The solemn formal retracta- well as its extraordinary phenomena is subordition which Job here makes of his former pre-nated to the teleological reference to His special sumptuous challenges of God marks the first providence, in view of which not one of His stage of his gradual return to a more becoming creatures is indifferent to Him. (Comp. Boposition toward God. It is God's purpose, how-chart's Remarks on ch. xxxix. 1-4: The knowever, to lead him forward from this first stage, ledge here spoken of is not passive and specuconsisting in true self-humiliation (in contrast lative simply, but that knowledge which belongs. to his former self-exaltation) to a still more to God, by which He not only knows all things, advanced stage-even the complete melting down but directs and governs them, etc.). That which of his heart in sincere penitence. It is the makes this survey of the most exalted attrirealization of this purpose which Jehovah seeks butes of God as reflected in the wonders of His in His second and last discourse. creation especially impressive is the accumulation of so many examples and illustrations from the domain of physical theology, and the wonderful art with which they are elaborated in the DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. As a magnificent specimen of physico-the-minutest detail, together with the striking harological demonstration in poetic form, the pre-mony and consistency which their arrangement sent discourse of God, the first and longest which He delivers, is incomparable. With wonderful symmetry of treatment, it makes first the inanimate, and then the animate creation the theme of profound contemplation; each of these domains being treated with about the same fulness, and with a homologous arrangement of strophes (see Exegetical Remarks, No. 1), in order thus to impress Job with the highest admiration of the divine power, wisdom and goodness, as these attributes are revealed in the entire world of nature. The First Long Strophe (ch. xxxviii. 4-15) which makes the creation of the heavens, the earth, and the sea, the theme of contemplation serves to illustrate principally the divine omnipotence, together with the attributes most immediately related to it, eternity, infinity and omnipresence, or the divine being as transcending space and time. Towards the close of this strophe the attribute of justice is also drawn into the circle of contemplation, it being one chief object of the whole description to represent the Almighty God as being also just in His vast activities, always and everywhere just (see vers. 13-15). The consideration of omnipotence is next followed by that of wisdom, together with the attribute of omniscience which stands most closely connected with it, the discussion having reference to the hidden heights and depths above and below the earth, from which the phenomena of the atmosphere and of light proceed (Second Long Strophe, ch. xxxviii. 16 seq.). Already toward the end of this description the attribute of God's goodness emerges into view, as it is shown in the beneficent effects of the rain-showers (vers. 25-27). Afterwards in the third Long Strophe (vers. 28-38) this attribute retires again to the background, while the power manifested in the heavens, and the wisdom revealed in the atmosphere, occupy the foreground. All the more decidedly however in the last three Long Strophes, or in the zoological and biological description constituting the section which we have marked d (ch. xxxviii. 39—xxxix. 30), is the discourse exhibits, notwithstanding all the flow and freedom of the poetic sweep of thought. Not one of these illustrations from the great book of creation is absolutely new. Job himself has more than once in his discourses introduced brief reflective descriptions of nature similar in kind, and scarcely inferior in beauty (ix. 4-10; xii. 710, 12-25; xxvi. 5-14); even Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar have at least occasionally described, not without skill and taste, the divine power and wisdom, as they are revealed in the works of His creation; and Elihu near the close of his discourses dwelt on this theme at length, and with powerful effect. The grandeur and superiority of that which Jehovah here advances, in part confirming, in part going beyond those utterances of the former speakers, consists in the way in which, alike with artless simplicity, and with harmonious and connected order, He has accumulated such an array of the most manifold and luminous evidences of His majesty as revealed in the wonders of nature. Comp. Julius Fürst, Geschichte der biblischen Literatur, etc., II., p. 418: "The poet has here artistically combined the utmost polish of diction, the greatest abundance of natural pictures, the most thrilling and winning vividness in the succinct descriptions given of the wonders of creation; and the effect on Job must have been really overpowering. The reader also finds the discourse distinguished by tone and harmony, by power, acuteness, and clearness, by method, order, and plan, so that it presents itself as the most beautiful discourse in the Old Testament Scriptures. In this discourse, cast in the form of questions, Jehovah exhibits the animate and inanimate creation, the manifold channels in which the forces of nature secretly operate, its wonderful and mysterious phenomena, as they are held together in glorious order by His creative hand, as they are ruled by His nod. The eternal creative energy, which bears witness to a wisdom that is unsearchable, to a providential love, to a wise moral order of the universe, appears to the weak human spirit |