The big picture
God continues questioning Job, the man who has demanded an answer about his suffering. The reply has moved from the making of the earth to the needs of living creatures. Now wild goats, deer, birds and strong beasts come into view. Some live far from human eyes; others refuse to serve human work. Their strength and strange habits do not fit one tidy plan built around people. Job must face a world he neither designed nor fully knows.
In this chapter
- Wild Young Grow Without Job Job 39:1-4
God asks whether Job knows when mountain goats give birth or can count the months for wild deer.
- Freedom Has a Place in Creation Job 39:5-8
Who set the wild ass free, God asks, or removed its bonds?
- Great Strength Does Not Mean Service Job 39:9-12
God next asks about the strong wild creature named here as a unicorn.
- The Ostrich Has Uneven Gifts Job 39:13-18
The account turns to the ostrich, whose wings and habits invite questions.
- The Horse Rushes Toward Battle Job 39:19-25
God asks if Job gave the horse its strength or the terror of its raised neck.
- Birds Follow Paths Job Did Not Set Job 39:26-30
The final questions concern a hawk's flight and an eagle's high nest.
Central truth
God shows Job wild lives whose births, strength and instincts continue without human oversight or control.
Scripture beside the summary
Job · King James Version · 30Job 39:1-4
Wild Young Grow Without Job
God asks whether Job knows when mountain goats give birth or can count the months for wild deer. Does he watch the moment when the mothers bend down and their young emerge? The young gain strength, grow in the open land and eventually leave. They do not come back to depend on the same care. These births occur outside the household herds that people manage. Job is asked about life that continues without his watch or help. The maker's questions include hidden beginnings as well as the strength of full-grown animals.
In everyday life
A hill walker finds fresh deer tracks beside a patch of flattened grass. She had passed the same place yesterday without seeing any animal. Somewhere beyond her view, a new life has begun and moved away. Job is asked by the maker of those lives, not by another observer trying to read tracks.
Notice
Job 39:4 The young grow and leave without returning. Their life is not presented as a herd that waits for a human keeper to direct each stage.
Job 39:1-4
King James Version1Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
2Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
3They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows.
4Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.
Job 39:5-8
Freedom Has a Place in Creation
Who set the wild ass free, God asks, or removed its bonds? God has given it the wilderness as a home. It lives in dry land, away from a city's noise, and does not obey a driver's shouts. The mountains give it room to roam as it searches for green plants. Freedom here is part of the creature's given life, not a defect that Job must fix. The animal survives without becoming useful as a load carrier. Its place in creation is not measured by service to a human owner.
In everyday life
The sanctuary keeper watches a rescued donkey move past an open gate into a wide field. She leaves the rope hanging on its hook instead of calling it back for a ride. Care does not require every animal to carry a load. God's wild ass has a freedom given at creation, not restored by a keeper.
Notice
Job 39:7 The animal ignores the driver's voice. The detail separates its wild life from the familiar work of beasts trained to follow human commands.
Job 39:5-8
King James Version5Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?
6Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings.
7He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver.
8The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing.
Job 39:9-12
Great Strength Does Not Mean Service
God next asks about the strong wild creature named here as a unicorn. Its exact identity is debated, but its refusal of farm work is clear. Will it stay beside Job's feeding trough or let him fasten it to a plough? Can he trust it to work the fields and carry grain into his barn? Strength by itself does not make a creature an obedient worker. Job cannot turn every force he admires into a servant. The questions press the gap between knowing that something is strong and being able to direct it.
In everyday life
A farm machinery buyer admires a huge engine in a salvage yard, then checks its broken controls. Power alone does not make it safe to pull a plough along a straight row. He leaves without placing an order. God's questions concern a living wild beast, not a machine built for human use.
Notice
Job 39:11 Great strength is not enough reason for trust in this question. The animal's great force gives no promise that it will perform the work Job assigns.
Job 39:9-12
King James Version9Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
10Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
11Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?
12Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?
Job 39:13-18
The Ostrich Has Uneven Gifts
The account turns to the ostrich, whose wings and habits invite questions. Its eggs rest in the ground, exposed to feet and wild beasts. The mother is described as harsh toward her young, lacking the wisdom God has not given her. Yet when she rises to run, horse and rider cannot keep up. The portrait sets lack of care beside remarkable speed. It does not present every creature as gifted in the same way. Job encounters a living world that cannot be reduced to one simple scale of skill or usefulness.
In everyday life
An athletics scout watches a runner outpace the field, then struggle to tie a damaged kit bag. Her gift on the track does not supply every other skill she needs. The scout records the speed without pretending it makes her complete. God's portrait concerns an animal's given instincts, not a human athlete's learned habits.
Notice
Job 39:17 The lack of wisdom is described as something God has not supplied. The later praise of speed shows that one missing gift does not mean no gift exists.
Job 39:13-18
King James Version13Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?
14Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,
15And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.
16She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;
17Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
18What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider.
Job 39:19-25
The Horse Rushes Toward Battle
God asks if Job gave the horse its strength or the terror of its raised neck. The horse paws the ground and moves eagerly toward armed men. Swords, rattling weapons and the call of battle do not turn it back. It seems to swallow the ground as it runs. The trumpet and the shouts of captains draw it forward rather than making it freeze. A creature people ride still has force they did not create. Job can witness its courage without claiming to have put that courage or strength within it.
In everyday life
A mounted patrol trainer steadies her reins as the horse beneath her steps toward a loud practice drum. She has trained with it for months, yet feels the great force in its shoulders. Riding does not mean she made its strength. The ancient horse runs into lethal combat, unlike this controlled training exercise.
Notice
Job 39:19 The opening question asks who gave the horse strength. Human use of an animal in battle is distinguished from the source of the life and power being used.
Job 39:19-25
King James Version19Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
20Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
21He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.
22He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.
23The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
24He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
25He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
Job 39:26-30
Birds Follow Paths Job Did Not Set
The final questions concern a hawk's flight and an eagle's high nest. Does the hawk spread its wings toward the south through Job's wisdom? Does the eagle rise because he gives an order? It lives on steep rock, watches for prey from far off and feeds its young with the flesh of the dead. The account does not soften the place of predation in wild life. These birds find food and make homes without human direction. Their height, sight and hunger belong to a world larger than Job's own needs.
In everyday life
A cliff volunteer removes a loose length of fishing line below an eagle's ledge. Above her, the bird returns with prey and lands where she cannot climb. She can remove one hazard without directing its hunt or nest. God asks about the source of these capacities, not only a helper's limited access.
Notice
Job 39:30 The feeding of young birds includes blood and dead prey. God's account presents wild life with its hard realities rather than turning every creature into a gentle image.
Job 39:26-30
King James Version26Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?
27Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?
28She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.
29From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off.
30Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Job 39:1 begins with “Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?”
Where the chapter turns
Job 39:13 forms a natural hinge: “Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?”
The final note
Job 39:30 leaves the reader with “Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Canst, ones, wild, young, rock, strength help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- hinds
- Female deer, whose births in the wild take place beyond human care.
- unicorn
- A strong wild animal in this account; its exact identification is debated.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
