Job 39:4
in Job 39Their young ones thrive and grow up in the open field; they leave and do not return.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field; They go forth, and return not again.
KJV
Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.
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This verse in Job 39
Commentary
9 notes on this verseTheir young ones are in good liking,.... Plump, fat, and sleek, as fawns are: they grow up with corn; by which they grow, or without in the field, as the word also signifies; and their growth and increase is very quick, as Aristotle observes (l); they go forth, and return not unto them: they go forth into the fields, and shift and provide for themselves, and trouble their dams no more; and return not to them, nor are they known by them. (l) Ib. (Aristot. Hist. Animal.) l. 6. c. 29.
This site's exposition
mountain goats give birth
on Job 39:1-4
The list of creatures opens with births no man attends: the “mountain goats” and the doe keep their own times. Their young “leave and do not return”. Delitzsch notes the argument beneath every portrait, that God sustains whole orders of life that owe man nothing and lie outside his management.
This site's exposition
grow up in the open field
Their young grow up in the open field, where older versions read corn from the Hebrew bar. Barnes and Clarke follow the sense of open field, for fawns are born after harvest and feed on grass. They leave to find their own pasture.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Just as the mothers by natural aptitude prepare themselves for giving birth, so also their young by natural aptitude are divinely taught to search for the necessities of life for themselves, and so he says, "Their young separate," which is not the case with a …
Their young ones are weaned, and go to their pasture; they go forth, and return not unto them. 49. Holy Scripture terms 'pasture' that food of eternal verdure, where our refreshment will no longer waste away with any dryness of failing.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The wild ass, a creature we frequently read of in Scripture, some say untameable. Man is said to be born as the wild ass's colt, so hard to be governed.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
In good liking - After the fawns have sucked for some time, the dam leads them to the pastures, where they feed on different kinds of herbage; but not on corn, for they are not born before harvest-time in Arabia and Palestine, and the stag does not feed on corn, but on grass, moss, and the shoots of the fir, beech, and other trees: therefore the word בר bar, here translated corn, should be translated the open field or country. See Parkhurst. Their nurslings bound away - Mr. Good.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
are in good liking--in good condition, grow up strong. with corn--rather, "in the field," without man's care. return not--being able to provide for themselves.
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1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Their young ones are in good liking - Hebrew “they are fat;” and hence, it means that they are strong and robust. They grow up with corn - Herder, Gesenius, Noyes, Umbreit, and Rosenmuller render this, “in the wilderness,” or “field.” The proper and usual meaning of the word used here (בר bâr) is corn (grain); but in Chaldee it has the sense of open fields, or country. The same idea is found in the Arabic, and this sense seems to be required by the connection. The idea is not that they are nurtured with grain, which would require the care of man, but that they are nurtured under the direct eye of God far away from human dwellings, and even when they go away from their dam and return no more to the place of their birth. This is one of the instances, therefore, in which the connection seems to require us to adopt a signification that does not elsewhere occur in the Hebrew, but which is found in the cognate languages. They go forth, and return not unto them - God guards and preserves them, even when they wander away from their dam, and are left helpless. Many of the young of animals require long attention from man, many are kept for a considerable period by the side of the mother, but the idea here seems to be, that the young of the wild goat and of the fawn are thrown early on the providence of God, and are protected by him alone. The particular care of Providence over these animals seems to be specified because there are no others that are exposed to so many dangers in their early life. “Every creature then is a formidable enemy. The eagle, the falcon, the osprey, the wolf, the dog, and all the rapacious animals of the cat kind, are in continual employment to find out their retreat. […]
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יַחְלְמ֣וּ | yachlemu | they become strong | H2492 → | |
| בְ֭נֵיהֶם | veneihem | young their | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִרְבּ֣וּ | yirbu | they grow | H7235 → | 227 times |
| בַבָּ֑ר | vabar | in the open | H1250 → | |
| יָ֝צְא֗וּ | yatzeu | they go forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁ֥בוּ | shavu | they return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| לָֽמוֹ׃ | lamo | to them |
יַחְלְמ֣וּthey become strong
yachlemuH2492 →
בְ֭נֵיהֶםyoung their
veneihemH1121 →4930 times
יִרְבּ֣וּthey grow
yirbuH7235 →227 times
בַבָּ֑רin the open
vabarH1250 →
יָ֝צְא֗וּthey go forth
yatzeuH3318 →1067 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁ֥בוּthey return
shavuH7725 →1056 times
לָֽמוֹ׃to them
lamo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Job
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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.