Job 39

Job 39:5-7

the wild donkey … scorns the tumult of the city: This is the first example in a series of animals that think little of other animals not their equal (compare 39:18, 22; 41:29). These images show how God scorns the opposition of a person like Job (see Psalm 2:4).

Job 39:9-12

The wild ox now no longer exists and was already rare by the time of Moses. It was the strongest land animal in early Canaan. They never tamed this Old Testament symbol of strength (Numbers 23:22; 24:8; Deuteronomy 33:17; Psalms 29:6; 92:10; compare Genesis 1:28; 9:2; Psalm 8:5–6).

Job 39:13-18

In the ancient Near East, people believed the ostrich was a bird that God had not given wisdom.

Job 39:14-16

The ostrich symbolizes neglect for her young because she (Lamentations 4:3):

1. Leaves her eggs on the ground.

2. Seems to abandon her eggs when a predator comes near. She is probably trying to distract the predator from the nest.

3. Lays her eggs with other female ostrich in a shared nest, so many eggs are not her own.

Job 39:18

laughs at the horse and its rider: See 39:7, 22; 41:29.

Job 39:24

They blew the ram's horn in battle to signal the attack (Joshua 6:4–6).

Job 39:30

Where there is a dead body, you will find the eagle feeding on the remains (Ezekiel 39:17–19; Matthew 24:28; Luke 17:37).

Aquifer Open Study Notes © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Study Notes © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.