Christian Standard Bible
Job 39:16
16She treats her young harshly, as if they were not her own, with no fear that her labor may have been in vain.
Job 39:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;
- New International Version (NIV)She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain,
- English Standard Version (ESV)She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers; though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear,
- New King James Version (NKJV)She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without concern,
Context of Job 39:16
14She abandons her eggs on the ground and lets them be warmed in the sand. 15She forgets that a foot may crush them or that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly, as if they were not her own, with no fear that her labor may have been in vain. 17For God has deprived her of wisdom; he has not endowed her with understanding. 18When she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider.
Read all of Job 39Job 39:16 word by word
הִקְשִׁ֣יחַ בָּנֶ֣יהָ לְּלֹא־לָ֑הּ לְרִ֖יק יְגִיעָ֣הּ בְּלִי־פָֽחַד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 39:16
- Lamentations 4:3Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but my dear people have become cruel like ostriches in the wilderness.
- Deuteronomy 28:56The most sensitive and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her refinement and sensitivity, will begrudge the husband she embraces, her son, and her daughter,
- 1 Kings 3:26The woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she felt great compassion for her son. “My lord, give her the living baby,” she said, “but please don’t have him killed!” But the other one said, “He will not be mine or yours. Cut him in two!”
- 2 Kings 6:28Then the king asked her, “What’s the matter?” She said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him today. Then we will eat my son tomorrow.’
- Lamentations 2:20Lord, look and consider to whom you have done this. Should women eat their own children, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the Lord’s sanctuary?
- Romans 1:31senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.
- Ecclesiastes 10:15The struggles of fools weary them, for they don’t know how to go to the city.
- Habakkuk 2:13Is it not from the Lord of Armies that the peoples labor only to fuel the fire and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?
Commentaries on Job 39:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16She is hardened against her young - See before, and the extracts from Dr. Shaw at the end of the chapter, Job 39:30; (note). She neglects her little ones, which are often found half starved, straggling, and moaning about, like so many deserted orphans, for their mother.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16She is hardened against her young ones - The obvious meaning of this passage, which is a fair translation of the Hebrew, is, that the ostrich is destitute of natural affection for her young; or that she treats them as if she had not the usual natural affection manifested in the animal creation. This sentiment also occurs in Lamentations 4:3, “The daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.” This opinion is controverted by…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-16The ostrich symbolizes neglect for her young because she (Lamentations 4:3): Leaves her eggs on the ground. Seems to abandon her eggs when a predator comes near. She is probably trying to distract the predator from the nest. Lays her eggs with other female ostrich in a shared nest, so many eggs are not her own.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. On a slight noise she often forsakes her eggs, and returns not, as if she were "hardened towards her young." her labour--in producing eggs, is in vain, (yet) she has not disquietude (about her young), unlike other birds, who, if one egg and another are taken away, will go on laying till their full number is made up.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 39:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 39
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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