English Standard Version
Job 39:13
13"The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love?
Job 39:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?
- New International Version (NIV)“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, But are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s?
- New Living Translation (NLT)“The ostrich flaps her wings grandly, but they are no match for the feathers of the stork.
Context of Job 39:13
11Will you depend on him because his strength is great, and will you leave to him your labor? 12Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain and gather it to your threshing floor? "The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love? 14For she leaves her eggs to the earth and lets them be warmed on the ground, 15forgetting that a foot may crush them and that the wild beast may trample them.
Read all of Job 39Job 39:13 word by word
כְּנַף־רְנָנִ֥ים נֶעֱלָ֑סָה אִם־אֶ֝בְרָ֗ה חֲסִידָ֥ה וְנֹצָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 39:13
- 1 Kings 10:22For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
- 2 Chronicles 9:21For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
- Job 30:29I am a brother of jackals and a companion of ostriches.
- Leviticus 11:19the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
- Psalms 104:17In them the birds build their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees.
- Jeremiah 8:7Even the stork in the heavens knows her times, and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming, but my people know not the rules of the Lord.
- Zechariah 5:9Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.
Commentaries on Job 39:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13The goodly wings unto the peacocks? - I believe peacocks are not intended here; and the Hebrew word רננים renanim should be translated ostriches; and the term חסידה chasidah, which we translate ostrich, should be, as it is elsewhere translated, stork; and perhaps the word נצה notsah, rendered here feathers, should be translated hawk, or pelican. The Vulgate has, Penna struthionis similis est pennis herodii et accipitris; "the feather of the ostrich is…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? - In the previous verses the appeal had been to the wild and untamable animals of the desert. In the prosecution of the argument, it was natural to allude to the feathered tribes which resided there also, and which were distinguished for their strength or fleetness of wing, as proof of the wisdom and the superintending providence of God. The idea is, that these animals, far away from the abodes of man, where…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-18In the ancient Near East, people believed the ostrich was a bird that God had not given wisdom.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. Rather, "the wing of the ostrich hen"--literally, "the crying bird"; as the Arab name for it means "song"; referring to its night cries (Job 30:29; Mi 1:8) vibrating joyously. "Is it not like the quill and feathers of the pious bird" (the stork)? [Umbreit]. The vibrating, quivering wing, serving for sail and oar at once, is characteristic of the ostrich in full course. Its white and black feathers in the wing and tail are like the stork's. But, unlike…Read the comment
Topics related to Job 39:13
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries