EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Job 39:16
16She does not take care of her babies, as if they did not belong to her. She does not worry that all her work might be useless.
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
14A mother ostrich leaves her eggs on the ground. She lets the sand cause them to be warm. 15She does not realize that people or wild animals might break the eggs with their feet. She does not take care of her babies, as if they did not belong to her. She does not worry that all her work might be useless. 17This is because I did not give wisdom to ostriches. I did not give them minds that understand things. 18But when an ostrich begins to run, it can run very fast. It can run faster than a horse and someone who rides on it.
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 the jackals feed their babies at their breasts. But Jerusalem's young women have become cruel. They are like ostriches that leave their eggs in the desert.
- Deuteronomy 28:56Even the best and kindest woman among you will turn against the husband that she loves. She will turn against her sons and daughters. She has been rich enough to have everything that she needs.
- 1 Kings 3:26Then the mother of the child who was alive spoke to the king. She loved her son very much. So she said to the king, ‘My lord, please do not kill the baby! Instead, give him to the other woman.’ But the other woman said, ‘Neither of us should have him. Cut him in two pieces!’
- 2 Kings 6:28Then the king asked her, ‘What is your problem?’ She answered, ‘This woman here said to me, “Let us take your son today, so that we can eat him. Tomorrow we will eat my son.”
- Lamentations 2:20‘Look at us, Lord,’ you should say. ‘You have done all this to your people. Women eat their own children now! They eat the children that they took care of. People have killed your own priests and prophets in your holy house!
- Romans 1:31They do not understand what is right. They do not do what they have promised to do. They do not love anyone and they are not kind to anyone.
- Ecclesiastes 10:15When a fool does any work, he quickly becomes tired. He is so tired that he forgets the way to town.
- Habakkuk 2:13Listen! The Lord Almighty has commanded this: All the work that people do to get things for themselves is useless. The things that the nations work so hard to get will become smoke!
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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