Ayub 39:7

39:7 It scorns the tumult in the town;

it does not hear the shouts of a driver. ¹ 

Ayub 39:11

39:11 Will you rely on it because its strength is great?

Will you commit ²  your labor to it?

Ayub 39:13

39:13 ³ “The wings of the ostrich ⁴  flap with joy, ⁵ 

but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork? ⁶ 

Ayub 39:17-20

39:17 For God deprived her of wisdom,

and did not impart understanding to her.

39:18 But as soon as she springs up, ⁷ 

she laughs at the horse and its rider.

39:19 “Do you give the horse its strength?

Do you clothe its neck with a mane? ⁸ 

39:20 Do you make it leap ⁹  like a locust?

Its proud neighing ¹⁰  is terrifying!

Ayub 39:22

39:22 It laughs at fear and is not dismayed;

it does not shy away from the sword.

Ayub 40:4

40:4 “Indeed, I am completely unworthy ¹¹  – how could I reply to you?

I put ¹²  my hand over my mouth to silence myself. ¹³ 

Ayub 40:9-11

40:9 Do you have an arm as powerful as God’s, ¹⁴ 

and can you thunder with a voice like his?

40:10 Adorn yourself, then, with majesty and excellency,

and clothe yourself with glory and honor!

40:11 Scatter abroad ¹⁵  the abundance ¹⁶  of your anger.

Look at every proud man ¹⁷  and bring him low;

Ayub 40:14

40:14 Then I myself will acknowledge ¹⁸  to you

that your own right hand can save you. ¹⁹ 

Ayub 40:17

40:17 It makes its tail stiff ²⁰  like a cedar,

the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound.

Ayub 40:24

40:24 Can anyone catch it by its eyes, ²¹ 

or pierce its nose with a snare? ²² 

[39:7]  ¹ sn The animal is happier in open countryside than in a busy town, and on its own rather than being driven by a herdsman.

[39:11]  ² tn Heb “leave.”

[39:13]  ³ tc This whole section on the ostrich is not included in the LXX. Many feel it is an interpolation and should therefore be deleted. The pattern of the chapter changes from the questions being asked to observations being made.

[39:13]  ⁴ tn The word occurs only here and means “shrill cries.” If the MT is correct, this is a poetic name for the ostrich (see Lam 4:3).

[39:13]  ⁵ tn Many proposals have been made here. The MT has a verb, “exult.” Strahan had “flap joyously,” a rendering followed by the NIV. The RSV uses “wave proudly.”

[39:13]  ⁶ tn The point of this statement would be that the ostrich cannot compare to the stork. But there are many other proposals for this line – just about every commentator has a different explanation for it. Of the three words here, the first means “pinion,” the third “plumage,” and the second probably “stork,” although the LXX has “heron.” The point of this whole section is that the ostrich is totally lacking in parental care, whereas the stork is characterized by it. The Hebrew word for “stork” is the same word for “love”: חֲסִידָה (khasidah), an interpretation followed by the NASB. The most likely reading is “or are they the pinions and plumage of the stork?” The ostrich may flap about, but cannot fly and does not care for its young.

[39:18]  ⁷ tn The colon poses a slight problem here. The literal meaning of the Hebrew verb translated “springs up” (i.e., “lifts herself on high”) might suggest flight. But some of the proposals involve a reading about readying herself to run.

[39:19]  ⁸ tn The second half of the verse contains this hapax legomenon, which is usually connected with the word רַעְמָה (ra’mah, “thunder”). A. B. Davidson thought it referred to the quivering of the neck rather than the mane. Gray thought the sound and not the movement was the point. But without better evidence, a reading that has “quivering mane” may not be far off the mark. But it may be simplest to translate it “mane” and assume that the idea of “quivering” is part of the meaning.

[39:20]  ⁹ sn The same ideas are found in Joel 2:4. The leaping motion is compared to the galloping of the horse.

[39:20]  ¹⁰ tn The word could mean “snorting” as well (see Jer 8:16). It comes from the root “to blow.” If the horse is running and breathing hard, this could be the sense here.

[40:4]  ¹¹ tn The word קַלֹּתִי (qalloti) means “to be light; to be of small account; to be unimportant.” From this comes the meaning “contemptible,” which in the causative stem would mean “to treat with contempt; to curse.” Dhorme tries to make the sentence a conditional clause and suggests this meaning: “If I have been thoughtless.” There is really no “if” in Job’s mind.

[40:4]  ¹² tn The perfect verb here should be classified as an instantaneous perfect; the action is simultaneous with the words.

[40:4]  ¹³ tn The words “to silence myself” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[40:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “do you have an arm like God?” The words “as powerful as” have been supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.

[40:11]  ¹⁵ tn The verb was used for scattering lightning (Job 37:11). God is challenging Job to unleash his power and judge wickedness in the world.

[40:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the overflowings.”

[40:11]  ¹⁷ tn The word was just used in the positive sense of excellence or majesty; now the exalted nature of the person refers to self-exaltation, or pride.

[40:14]  ¹⁸ tn The verb is usually translated “praise,” but with the sense of a public declaration or acknowledgment. It is from יָדָה (yadah, in the Hiphil, as here, “give thanks, laud”).

[40:14]  ¹⁹ tn The imperfect verb has the nuance of potential imperfect: “can save; is able to save.”

[40:17]  ²⁰ tn The verb חָפַץ (khafats) occurs only here. It may have the meaning “to make stiff; to make taut” (Arabic). The LXX and the Syriac versions support this with “erects.” But there is another Arabic word that could be cognate, meaning “arch, bend.” This would give the idea of the tail swaying. The other reading seems to make better sense here. However, “stiff” presents a serious problem with the view that the animal is the hippopotamus.

[40:24]  ²¹ tn The idea would be either (1) catch it while it is watching, or (2) in some way disabling its eyes before the attack. But others change the reading; Ball suggested “with hooks” and this has been adopted by some modern English versions (e.g., NRSV).

[40:24]  ²² tn Ehrlich altered the MT slightly to get “with thorns,” a view accepted by Driver, Dhorme and Pope.