Job 39:18

39:1-30 God inquires of Job concerning several animals. - In these questions the Lord continued to humble Job. In this chapter several animals are spoken of, whose nature or situation particularly show the power, wisdom, and manifold works of God. The wild ass. It is better to labour and be good for something, than to ramble and be good for nothing. From the untameableness of this and other creatures, we may see, how unfit we are to give law to Providence, who cannot give law even to a wild ass's colt. The unicorn, a strong, stately, proud creature. He is able to serve, but not willing; and God challenges Job to force him to it. 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. Those gifts are not always the most valuable that make the finest show. Who would not rather have the voice of the nightingale, than the tail of the peacock; the eye of the eagle and her soaring wing, and the natural affection of the stork, than the beautiful feathers of the ostrich, which can never rise above the earth, and is without natural affection? The description of the war-horse helps to explain the character of presumptuous sinners. Every one turneth to his course, as the horse rushes into the battle.

When a man's heart is fully set in him to do evil, and he is carried on in a wicked way, by the violence of his appetites and passions, there is no making him fear the wrath of God, and the fatal consequences of sin. Secure sinners think themselves as safe in their sins as the eagle in her nest on high, in the clefts of the rocks; but I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord, #Jer 49:16". All these beautiful references to the works of nature, should teach us a right view of the riches of the wisdom of Him who made and sustains all things. The want of right views concerning the wisdom of God, which is ever present in all things, led Job to think and speak unworthily of Providence.

(18) She lifteth up herself. —That is, either from the nest when she comes to maturity, or when she sets out to run. The ostrich has a habit of running in a curve, which alone enables horsemen to overtake and kill or capture her. As in Job 39:13 a comparison seems to be drawn between the ostrich and the stork, so here, probably, the subject spoken of is the stork. Swift and powerful as the ostrich is, yet no sooner does the stork, on the contrary, rise on high into the air than she—as, indeed, any bird—can baffle the pursuit of horsemen.

Job 39:18 . What time she lifteth up herself on high — Or, as Dr. Shaw more properly renders this clause, When she raiseth herself up to run away, namely, from her pursuers. For which purpose she stretches out her neck and legs, both which are very tall, lifts up her head and body, and spreads her wings; she scorneth the horse and his rider — She despiseth them on account of her greater swiftness; for though she cannot fly, because of her great bulk, yet by the aid of her wings she runs so fast, that horsemen cannot overtake her. Xenophon says, Cyrus’s horsemen, who were able to run down wild asses and wild goats, could never take ostriches. See Bochart. “When these birds are surprised,” says Dr. Shaw, “by persons coming suddenly upon them, while feeding in some valley, or behind some rocky or sandy eminence in the deserts, they will not stay to be curiously viewed and examined. Neither are the Arabs ever dexterous enough to overtake them, even when they are mounted upon their jinse, or horses. They afford them an opportunity only of admiring at a distance their extraordinary agility, and the stateliness, likewise, of their motions, the richness of their plumage, and the great propriety there was of ascribing to them an expanded, quivering wing. Nothing, certainly, can be more beautiful and entertaining than such a sight.

The wings, by their repeated, though unwearied, vibrations, equally serving them for sails and oars, while their feet, no less assisting in conveying them out of sight, are no less insensible of fatigue.” We have mentioned their great bulk, as unfitting them for flying, and shall here observe, from the Encyclop. Brit., that the “ostrich is, without doubt, the largest of all birds, being nearly eight feet in length, and, when standing upright, from six to eight feet in height. We are told, in the Gentleman’s Magazine, (vol. 20. page 356,) that two ostriches were shown in London in the year 1750, the male of which was ten feet in height, and weighed 3 cwt. and 1 qr. But, though usually seven feet high from the top of the head to the ground, from the back it is only four, so that the head and neck are above three feet long. One of the wings, without the feathers, is a foot and a half; and being stretched out with the feathers is three feet.”

18 . lifteth up herself on high ] That is, in flight. The flying of the ostrich is properly a very swift running, in which she is helped by her outspread wings and tail. “Its speed has been calculated at twenty-six miles an hour by Dr Livingstone, and yet the South African ostrich is smaller than the northern species; and I have myself, in the Sahara, measured its stride, when bounding at full speed, from twenty-two to twenty-eight feet” (Tristram, p. 237). The cruel disposition of the ostrich and her foolishness have been implanted in her by God, yet in strange contradiction to these qualities are others which He has bestowed on her, such as her swiftness when pursued, which enables her to laugh at the horse and his rider. This singular union of dissimilar qualities, as if it were the work of creative power at play, shews both the inconceivable freedom and resource of the Mind that operates in creation.

Verse 18. - What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider . The ostrich sometimes tries to elude pursuit by crouching and hiding behind hillocks or in hollows, making itself as little conspicuous as possible; but, when these attempts fail, and it starts off to run in the open, then it "lifts itself up" to its full elevation, beats the air with its wings, and scours along at a pace that no horse can equal. The Greeks with Xenophon, though well mounted, failed to catch a single ostrich ('Anab.,' 1:5. § 3). Job 39:18

18. Notwithstanding her deficiencies, she has distinguishing excellences. lifteth … herself—for running; she cannot mount in the air. Gesenius translates: "lashes herself" up to her course by flapping her wings. The old versions favor English Version, and the parallel "scorneth" answers to her proudly "lifting up herself."

She lifteth up herself on high, to flee from her pursuer; to which end she lifteth up her head and body, and spreads her wings. She scorneth the horse and his rider she despiseth them in regard of her greater swiftness; for though she cannot fly because of her great bulk, being said to be as big as a new-born camel, yet by the aid of her wings she runs so fast that horsemen cannot reach her, as both Greek and other authors have noted.

What time she lifteth up herself on high - In the previous verses reference had been made to the fact that in some important respects the ostrich was inferior to other animals, or had special laws in regard to its habits and preservation. Here the attention is called to the fact that, notwithstanding its inferiority in some respects, it had properties such as to command the highest admiration. Its lofty carriage, the rapidity of its flight, and the proud scorn with which it would elude the pursuit of the fleetest coursers, were all things that showed that God had so endowed it as to furnish proof of his wisdom. The phrase "what time she lifteth up herself," refers to the fact that she raises herself for her rapid flight. It does not mean that she would mount on her wings, for this the ostrich cannot do; but to the fact that this timid and cowardly bird would, when danger was near, rouse herself, and assume a lofty courage and bearing. The word here translated "lifteth up" (תמריא tamâriy') means properly "to lash, to whip," as a horse, to increase its speed, and is here supposed by Gesenius to be used as denoting that the ostrich by flapping her wings lashes herself up as it were to her course. All the ancient interpretations, however, as well as the common English version, render it as if it were but another form of the word רום rûm, to raise oneself up, or to rise up, as if the ostrich aroused herself up for her flight.

Herder renders it, "At once she is up, and urges herself forward." Taylor (in Calmet) renders it: "Yet at the time she haughtily assumes courage; She scorneth the horse and his rider." The leading idea is, that she rouses herself to escape her pursuer; she lifts up her head and body, and spreads her wings, and then bids defiance to anything to overtake her. She scorneth the horse and his rider - In the pursuit. That is, she runs faster than the fleetest horse, and easily escapes. The extraordinary rapidity of the ostrich has always been celebrated, and it is well known that she can easily outstrip the fleetest horse. Its swiftness is mentioned by Xenophon, in his Anabasis; for, speaking of the desert of Arabia, he says, that ostriches are frequently seen there; that none could overtake them; and that horsemen who pursued them were obliged soon to give over, "for they escaped far away, making use both of their feet to run, and of their wings, when expanded, as a sail, to waft them along." Marmelius, as quoted by Bochart (see above), speaking of a remarkable kind of horses, says, "that in Africa, Egypt, and Arabia, there is but one species of that kind which they call the Arabian, and that those are produced only in the deserts of Arabia.