Job 39:5
in Job 39Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who hath sent out the wild ass free? Or who hath loosed the bonds of the swift ass,
KJV
Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?
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This verse in Job 39
Commentary
11 notes on this verse[ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE WILD ASS AS CHRIST] But all these things which have been said of the wild ass, can be understood in another way also. Which we explain, having repeated the former verse, in order to leave to the judgment of the reader what he believes is to be preferred. After, then, the dispensation of preachers has been described under the figure of hinds, to shew by Whom this same virtue of preaching is given, the mention of our Lord's Incarnation is immediately subjoined, so that it is said, Who hath sent out the wild ass free?
This site's exposition
Who set the wild donkey free
on Job 39:5-8
The wild donkey pictures a freedom Job knew. God names Himself the one who set him free, so the animal's liberty is a provision of God. Gill notes that “the salt flats” are salt land in the Hebrew, a country men call waste and God calls a home.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Then he adds, "Who has let the wild ass go free?" "Who has disposed things in this manner?" he says. "Who has established the laws of nature?" These are, he says, permanent laws that never change. This animal is strong and untamed. Even if you multiply your efforts, you will never have it under your control. "Who will destroy the decisions that God has taken?" You see that according to Providence and because God wants that, everything yields and obeys us. But if he does not want us to obtain obedience, we can use every means, and it will be of no use. We will gain nothing. Therefore, why is our effort useless, even though we want to get results? That is because when we see a domesticated animal we can admire the docility in which it has been established. But God has left things out of our reach in order that, before those things that are subjected to you, you may not admire your own wisdom and may not attribute to your capability the obedience of that animal.
The Medieval Church2 voices
When he has said these things which pertain to certain special properties of animals: knowledge, food and giving birth, he treats those things which pertain to conserving their lives as a whole. On this subject the first wonderful thing is that certain animals, when they …
Who hath sent out the wild ass free, and who hath loosed his bands? 50. Understand, Except Myself. For the wild ass, who dwells in solitude, signifies, not inaptly, the life of those who dwell far removed from the crowds of people. And it is fitly also called free, because great is the drudgery of secular pursuits, with which the mind is grievously wearied, though it toil therein of its own accord. And to be freed from the condition of this slavery is no longer to desire any thing in this world. For prosperity while sought for, and adversities also while dreaded, oppress, as it were, with a kind of servile yoke. But if any one has but once freed the neck of his mind from the dominion of temporal desires, he enjoys already a kind of liberty even in this life, whilst he is affected by no longing for happiness, and is constrained by no dread of adversity. The Lord beheld this heavy yoke of slavery set hard on the necks of worldly men, when He was saying, Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls: for My yoke is sweet, and My burden light. [Matt. 11, 28-30] For it is, as we have said, a rough yoke, and weight of heavy bondage, to be subject to temporal concerns, to court the things of earth, to retain things which are gliding away, to wish to stand in things which stand not, to seek after passing objects, but yet to be unwilling to pass away with what are passing. For while all things, contrary to our wish, fly away, those things which had previously distressed the mind from its longing to acquire them, oppress it afterwards with the fear of loss. He therefore is set free, who, having trampled down earthly desires, is exonerated, in security of mind, from seeking after temporal things. And who hath loosed his bands? […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Commentary on Chapter XXXIX 4. Young ones - Notwithstanding their great weakness caused by their hard entrance into the world. Grow up - As with corn, that is, as if they were fed with corn.
Who hath sent out the wild ass free?....
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The tame ass is bound to labour; the wild ass has no bonds on him. Note, Freedom from service, and liberty to range at pleasure, are but the privileges of a wild ass. It is a pity that any of the children of men should covet such a liberty, or value themselves on it.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Who hath sent out the wild ass free? - For a description of the wild ass, see the notes at Job 11:12. On the meaning of the word rendered “free” (חפשׁי chophshı̂y), see the notes at Isa 58:6. These animals commonly “inhabit the dry and mountainous parts of the deserts of Great Tartary, but not higher than about latitude 48 degrees. They are migratory, and arrive in vast troops to feed, during the summer, on the tracts to the north and east of the sea of Aral.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
wild ass--Two different Hebrew words are here used for the same animal, "the ass of the woods" and "the wild ass." (See on Job 6:5; Job 24:5; and Jer 2:24). loosed the bands--given its liberty to.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Who hath sent out the wild ass free? - פרא pere, which we translate wild ass, is the same as the ονος αγριος of the Greeks, and the onager of the Latins; which must not, says Buffon, be confounded with the zebra, for this is an animal of a different species from the ass. The wild ass is not striped like the zebra, nor so elegantly shaped. There are many of those animals in the deserts of Libya and Numidia: they are of a gray color; and run so swiftly that no horse but the Arab barbs can overtake them. Wild asses are found in considerable numbers in East and South Tartary, in Persia, Syria, the islands of the Archipelago, and throughout Mauritania. They differ from tame asses only in their independence and liberty, and in their being stronger and more nimble: but in their shape they are the same. See on Job 6:5 (note). The bands of the wild ass? - ערוד arod, the brayer, the same animal, but called thus because of the frequent and peculiar noise he makes. But Mr. Good supposes this to be a different animal from the wild ass, (the jichta or equus hemionus), which is distinguished by having solid hoofs, a uniform color, no cross on the back, and the tail hairy only at the tip. The ears and tail resemble those of the zebra; the hoofs and body, those of the ass; and the limbs, those of the horse. It inhabits Arabia, China, Siberia, and Tartary, in glassy saline plains or salt wastes, as mentioned in the following verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִֽי־ | mi- | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| שִׁלַּ֣ח | shilach | did he let loose | H7971 → | 845 times |
| פֶּ֣רֶא | pere' | [the] wild donkey | H6501 → | 10 times |
| חָפְשִׁ֑י | chafeshi | free | H2670 → | |
| וּמֹסְר֥וֹת | umoserot | and [the] fetters of | H4147 → | |
| עָ֝ר֗וֹד | arod | [the] wild ass | H6171 → | |
| מִ֣י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| פִתֵּֽחַ׃ | fiteach | did he loosen | H6605 → | 144 times |
מִֽי־who?
mi-H4310 →423 times
שִׁלַּ֣חdid he let loose
shilachH7971 →845 times
פֶּ֣רֶא[the] wild donkey
pere'H6501 →10 times
חָפְשִׁ֑יfree
chafeshiH2670 →
וּמֹסְר֥וֹתand [the] fetters of
umoserotH4147 →
עָ֝ר֗וֹד[the] wild ass
arodH6171 →
מִ֣יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
פִתֵּֽחַ׃did he loosen
fiteachH6605 →144 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
Job 11:12But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!
it leads to
- Job 39:5–8
Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- James 2:20
O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless?
- Psalms 73:22
I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.
- Job 39:5–8
Through
Jeremiah 2:24a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 14:6
Wild donkeys stand on barren heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of pasture.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 14:6
Through
Psalms 104:11They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
it leads to
- Psalms 145:16
You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
- Psalms 145:16
Through
Job 24:5Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.
it leads to
- Job 5:5
The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
- Job 39:5–7
Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
- Micah 2:1
Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
- Job 5:5
About Job
This page draws on 11 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 Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON JOB 39:5A; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.