Job 39 is the 39th chapter of the Book of Job in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Old Testament of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012. The book is anonymous; most scholars believe it was written around 6th century BCE. This chapter records the speech of God to

Job Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and wants of themselves, others, or a wider community. In the context of economics, work can be viewed as the human activity that contr ...

, which belongs to the "Verdicts" section of the book, comprising Job 32:1– 42:6.

Text

The original text is written in

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. This chapter is divided into 30 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and

Codex Leningradensis The Leningrad Codex ( la, Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book]; he, כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colopho ...

(1008). There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(S; BHK:

\mathfrak

^S; 4th century), and

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century).

Analysis

The structure of the book is as follows: *The Prologue (chapters 1–2) *The Dialogue (chapters 3–31) *The Verdicts (32:1–42:6) *The Epilogue (42:7–17) Within the structure, chapter 39 is grouped into the Verdict section with the following outline: *Elihu's Verdict (32:1–37:24) *God's Appearance (Yahweh Speeches) and Job's Responses (38:1–42:6) **God's First Speech (38:1–40:2) ***Theme Verse and Summons (38:1–3) ***The Physical World (38:4–38) ***The Physical Earth (38:4–7) ***The Sea (38:8–11) ***The Morning (38:12–15) ***The Outer Limits of the Earth (38:16–18) ***Light and Darkness (38:19–21) ***The Waters – Snow, Hail, Rain, Frost, Ice (38:22–30) ***The Heavenly Bodies (38:31–33) ***Storms (38:34–38) **The Animal World (38:39–40:2) ***God Provides for the Lions and Ravens (38:39–41) ***The Mountain Goats (39:1–4) ***The Wild Donkey (39:5–8) ***The Wild Ox (39:9–12) ***The Ostrich (39:13–18) ***The Warhorse (39:19–25) ****The Hawk and the Eagle (39:26–30) ***Brief Challenge to Answer (40:1–2) **Job's First Reply – An Insufficient Response (40:3–5) **God's Second Speech (40:6–41:34) **Job's Second Reply (42:1–6) God's speeches in chapters 38–41 can be split in two parts, both starting with almost identical phrases and having a similar structure: The revelation of the Lord to Job is the culmination of the book of Job, that the Lord speaks directly to Job and displays his sovereign power and glory. Job has lived through the suffering—without cursing God, holding his integrity, and nowhere regretted it – but he was unaware of the real reason for his suffering, so God intervenes to resolve the spiritual issues that surfaced. Job was not punished for sin and Job’s suffering had not cut him off from God, now Job sees the end the point that he cannot have the knowledge to make the assessments he made, so it is wiser to bow in submission and adoration of God than to try to judge him.Note on Job 38:1 in

NET Bible The New English Translation (NET Bible) is a free, "completely new" online English translation of the Bible, "with 60,932 translators' notes" sponsored by the Biblical Studies Foundation and published by Biblical Studies Press. History and text ...

Chapter 39 completes the survey of animals that began at Job 38:39 (feeding of the lions and the ravens) with the habits and instincts of the "wild goat", the "wild donkey", and "wild ox" (verses 1–12); then a transitionto the most remarkable of birds, the ostrich (verses 13–18), followed by the horse in a passage of extraordinary fire and brilliancy (verses 19–25), closed by the depiction of remarkable birds, the hawk and eagle (verses 26–30).Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors)
On "Job 39".
In: ''The Pulpit Commentary''. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019. LB100fol165

Verse 1

: HWH said:''"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?'' ::''Do you observe the calving of the does?"'' *"Mountain goats": or "wild goats"; identified with Nubian ibex (''Capra nubiana'' or ''Capra sinaitica'' *"Does": or "hinds" (female deer); in parallel to the first statement, here may refer to 'the females of the species of ibex'. The ibex can only be observed from distance in the En Gedi area of Israel as the animals resist domestication by humans, but manage to survive with the instinct that God has given.

Verse 9

: HWH said:''"Will the wild ox be willing to serve you'' ::''or spend the night by your manger?"'' *"Wild ox": generally identified with Aurochs (''Bos primigenius''), now extinct cattle species (considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle), one of the largest herbivores in the Holocene. The last known aurochs herd in the world, which lived in a

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...

y woodland in Poland's Jaktorów Forest, died in 1627 from natural causes. Art depictions of aurochs exist since as early as the Paleolithic period (such as cave paintings in

Lascaux Lascaux ( , ; french: Grotte de Lascaux , "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of ...

) also in Egyptian, Ugaritic and Mesopotamian paintings, reliefs and literature (including in the hunting scenes).

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

translations: *
Iyov - Job - Chapter 39 (Judaica Press)
translation ith_Rashi's_commentary.html"_;"title="Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentary">Rashi.html"_;"title="ith_Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentaryat_Chabad.org *__Christian_translations: *
''Online_Bible''_at_GospelHall.org
(ESV,_KJV,_Darby,_American_Standard_Version,_Bible_in_Basic_English)
Book_of_Job_Chapter_39
_Various_versions *__Various_versions {{DEFAULTSORT:Job_39 Book_of_Job_chapters.html" ;"title="Job_39.html" ;"title="Rashi">ith_Rashi's_commentary.html" ;"title="Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentary">Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentaryat Chabad.org * Christian translations: *
''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Book of Job Chapter 39
Various versions * Various versions {{DEFAULTSORT:Job 39 Book of Job chapters">39