Job 38:39
in Job 38Can you hunt the prey for a lioness or satisfy the hunger of young lions
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
KJV
Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
⋯
This verse in Job 38
Commentary
10 notes on this verseWilt thou hunt the prey for the lion?.... From meteors the Lord passes to animals, beasts, and birds, wherefore some here begin the thirty ninth chapter, which only treats of such; and he begins with the lion, the strongest among beasts, and most fierce; cruel, and voracious; and asks, who hunts his prey for him?
This site's exposition
hunt the prey for a lioness
on Job 38:39-41
“Who provides food for the raven” names the least likely creature for divine care, and Delitzsch notes that “its young cry out to God”. Henry reads the lion and raven as opposite ends, the fiercest hunter and the most despised scavenger, both fed by the hand Job has questioned.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Then he goes on to another property of the animals which is directed to the acquisition of food. There is something wonderful about this subject in the lioness. For when the lion needs a lot of food, it seems marvelous how she can capture in …
Wilt thou seize the prey for the lioness, and fill the soul of her whelps?
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Elihu had said, God speaks to men and they do not perceive it ( ch. xxxiii. 14 ); but this they could not but perceive, and yet we have a more sure word of prophecy, 2 Pet. i. When they had all had their saying, and yet had not gained their point, then it was time for God to interpose, whose judgment is according to truth.
Hunt - Is it by thy care that the lions who live in desert places are furnished with necessary provisions? This is another wonderful work of God.
And see its sovereignty, that it suffers some creatures to be killed for the support of other creatures. The harmless sheep are torn to pieces, to fill the appetite of the young lions, who yet sometimes are made to lack and suffer hunger, to punish them for their cruelty, while those that fear God want no good thing.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? - The appeal here is to the instincts with which God has endowed animals, and to the fact that he had so made them that they would secure their own food. He asks Job whether he would undertake to do what the lion did by instinct in finding his food, and by his power and skill in seizing his prey. There was a wise adaptation of the lion for this purpose which man could neither originate nor explain.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
At Job 38:39-39:30, the instincts of animals. Is it thou that givest it the instinct to hunt its prey? (Ps 104:21). appetite--literally, "life," which depends on the appetite" (Job 33:20).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? - Rather the lioness, or strong lion. Hast thou his instinct? Dost thou know the habits and haunts of such animals as he seeks for his food? Thou hast neither his strength, his instinct nor his cunning. In the best Hebrew Bibles, the thirty-ninth chapter begins with this verse, and begins properly, as a new subject now commences, relating to the natural history of the earth, or the animal kingdom; as the preceding chapter does to astronomy and meteorology.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲתָצ֣וּד | hatatzud | ¿ will you hunt | H6679 → | |
| לְלָבִ֣יא | lelavi' | for a lion | H3833 → | |
| טָ֑רֶף | taref | prey | H2964 → | 22 times |
| וְחַיַּ֖ת | vechaiyat | and [the] life of | H2416 → | 498 times |
| כְּפִירִ֣ים | kefirim | young lions | H3715 → | |
| תְּמַלֵּֽא׃ | temale' | will you fill? | H4390 → | 249 times |
הֲתָצ֣וּד¿ will you hunt
hatatzudH6679 →
לְלָבִ֣יאfor a lion
lelavi'H3833 →
טָ֑רֶףprey
tarefH2964 →22 times
וְחַיַּ֖תand [the] life of
vechaiyatH2416 →498 times
כְּפִירִ֣יםyoung lions
kefirimH3715 →
תְּמַלֵּֽא׃will you fill?
temale'H4390 →249 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 34:10Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
it leads to
- Psalms 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
- Matthew 6:32
For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
- Psalms 104:21
The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.
- Luke 1:51–53
He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
- Job 4:10–11
The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
- Psalms 84:11
Through
Psalms 104:21The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.
it leads to
- Joel 1:20
Even the beasts of the field pant for You, for the streams of water have dried up, and fire has consumed the open pastures.
- Psalms 34:10
Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
- Ezekiel 19:2–14
and say: ‘What was your mother? A lioness among the lions! She lay down among the young lions; she reared her cubs.
- Joel 1:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About Job
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XXX; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.