Job 6:5
in Job 6Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass, or an ox low over its fodder?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? Or loweth the ox over his fodder?
KJV
Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?
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This verse in Job 6
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Neither wild animals, as the wild ass, nor tame, as the ox, are dissatisfied when well-supplied with food. The braying of the one and the lowing of the other prove distress and want of palatable food. So, Job argues, if he complains, it is not without cause; namely, his pains, which are, as it were, disgusting food, which God feeds him with (end of Job 6:7).
This site's exposition
Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass
on Job 6:5-7
Job defends his complaint with two animal proverbs: "Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass, or an ox low over its fodder". A creature cries out only when it lacks what it needs, so his crying out proves real want. His suffering becomes food he cannot swallow.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church4 voices
The objection could be made: you certainly have cause for suffering, but you should not burst out in words of pain from it. Against this objection Job responds using examples which are found in other animals. For man is like other animals in sensitive nature, …
By mentioning the wild ass, the author speaks about all wild animals, and by referring to the ox, about all cattle. His point is that neither wild animals nor cattle complain when they have food to eat. Nor do humans complain when they can have …
MORAL INTERPRETATION Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? Or loweth the ox over his full manger? Who else are denoted by the term of 'the wild ass,' saving they who being set in the field of faith, are not bound by the reins of any ministration? Or whom does the designation of 'the ox' set forth, saving those, whom within the bounds of Holy Church, the yoke of Orders taken upon them constrains to the ministry of preaching? Now the 'grass' of the wild ass, and the ox's 'fodder,' is the inward refreshing of the faithful folk. For some within the pale of Holy Church are held after the manner of an ox by the bands of the employment taken upon them, others after the manner of a 'wild ass' know nothing of the stalls of Holy Orders, and pass their time in the field of their own will. But when any one in the secular life glows with aspirations after the interior vision, when he yearns for the food of the inward refreshing, when seeing himself starved in the darkness of this pilgrim state, he refreshes himself with what tears he may, it is as if 'the wild ass brayed,' not finding 'grass.' Another one too is subject to the obligation of the Order he has taken upon him, he spends himself in the labour of preaching, and longs to be henceforth refreshed by eternal contemplation; but forasmuch as he does not see the likeness of His Redeemer, it is as if the chained ox lowed at the empty manger. For because being set at the widest distance from the interior wisdom, we see nothing of the verdure of the eternal inheritance, like brute animals we go hungering after the longed for grass. Of which same grass it is said by the voice of our Redeemer, By Me if any man enter in, he shall be sated, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. […]
Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox at his full manger? ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION For what is denoted by 'the onager,' that is, the wild ass, saving the Gentile people, which, as nature has produced it without the stalls of training, so has continued roaming abroad in the field of its pleasures? What is represented by 'the ox,' saving the Jewish people, which being bowed down to the yoke of the dominion above, in gathering together proselytes unto hope, drew the ploughshare of the Law through all the hearts that it was able?
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Doth, &c. - Even the brute beasts, when they have convenient food, are quiet and contented. So it is no wonder that you complain not, who live in ease and prosperity, any more than I did, when I wanted nothing.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Doth the wild ass - פרא pere, translated onager, by the Vulgate, from the ονος αγριος of the Septuagint, which we properly enough, translate wild ass. It is the same with the tame ass; only in a wild state it grows to a larger size, is stronger, and more fleet. The meaning of Job appears to be this: You condemn me for complaining; do I complain without a cause? The wild ass will not bray, and the ox will not low, unless in want. If they have plenty of provender, they are silent. Were I at rest, at ease, and happy, I would not complain.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? - On the habits of the wild ass, see the notes at Job 11:12. The meaning of Job here is, that he did not complain without reason; and this he illustrates by the fact that the wild animal that had a plentiful supply of food would be gentle and calm, and that when its bray was heard it was proof that it was suffering. So Job says that there was a reason for his complaining.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲיִֽנְהַק־ | hayinhak- | ¿ does it bray | H5101 → | |
| פֶּ֥רֶא | pere' | a wild donkey | H6501 → | 10 times |
| עֲלֵי־ | ʾalei- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| דֶ֑שֶׁא | deshe' | grass | H1877 → | |
| אִ֥ם | ʾim | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יִגְעֶה־ | yigeho- | does it low | H1600 → | |
| שּׁ֝֗וֹר | shor | an ox | H7794 → | 79 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בְּלִילֽוֹ׃ | belilo | fodder its | H1098 → |
הֲיִֽנְהַק־¿ does it bray
hayinhak-H5101 →
פֶּ֥רֶאa wild donkey
pere'H6501 →10 times
עֲלֵי־on
ʾalei-H5921 →5755 times
דֶ֑שֶׁאgrass
deshe'H1877 →
אִ֥םor?
ʾimH518 →1069 times
יִגְעֶה־does it low
yigeho-H1600 →
שּׁ֝֗וֹרan ox
shorH7794 →79 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בְּלִילֽוֹ׃fodder its
beliloH1098 →
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 42:1As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.
it leads to
- Psalms 63:1–2
O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water.
- Psalms 143:6–7
I stretch out my hands to You; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land. Selah
- Psalms 119:131
I open my mouth and pant, longing for Your commandments.
- Isaiah 26:8–9
Yes, we wait for You, O LORD; we walk in the path of Your judgments. Your name and renown are the desire of our souls.
- Psalms 84:1–2
How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts!
- Psalms 63:1–2
Through
Psalms 104:14He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:
it leads to
- Psalms 136:25
He gives food to every creature. His loving devotion endures forever.
- Psalms 147:8–9
who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the hills.
- Psalms 145:15–16
The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season.
- Psalms 136:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book VII; Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON JOB 6:5; 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 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.
