English Standard Version
Job 39:9
9"Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger?
Job 39:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
- New International Version (NIV)“Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will it stay by your manger at night?
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Will the wild ox be willing to serve you? Will he bed by your manger?
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Will the wild ox consent to being tamed? Will it spend the night in your stall?
Context of Job 39:9
7He scorns the tumult of the city; he hears not the shouts of the driver. 8He ranges the mountains as his pasture, and he searches after every green thing. "Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger? 10Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes, or will he harrow the valleys after you? 11Will you depend on him because his strength is great, and will you leave to him your labor?
Read all of Job 39Job 39:9 word by word
הֲיֹ֣אבֶה רֵּ֣ים עָבְדֶ֑ךָ אִם־יָ֝לִ֗ין עַל־אֲבוּסֶֽךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 39:9
- Numbers 23:22God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.
- Deuteronomy 33:17A firstborn bull—he has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh."
- Psalms 22:21Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
- Psalms 92:10But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil.
- Isaiah 1:3The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand."
Commentaries on Job 39:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee? - The "fine elegant animal like a horse, with one long rich curled horn growing out of his forehead," commonly called the unicorn, must be given up as fabulous. The heralds must claim him as their own; place him in their armorial bearings as they please, to indicate the unreal actions, fictitious virtues, and unfought martial exploits of mispraised men. It is not to the honor of the royal arms of Great Britain…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee? - In the previous part of the argument, God had appealed to the lion, the raven, the goats of the rock, the hind, and the wild ass; and the idea was, that in the instincts of each of these classes of animals, there was some special proof of wisdom. He now turns to another class of the animal creation in proof of his own supremacy and power, and lays the argument in the great strength and in the independence of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9-12The wild ox now no longer exists and was already rare by the time of Moses. It was the strongest land animal in early Canaan. They never tamed this Old Testament symbol of strength (Numbers 23:22; 24:8; Deuteronomy 33:17; Psalms 29:6; 92:10; compare Genesis 1:28; 9:2; Psalm 8:5–6).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. unicorn--Pliny [Natural History, 8.21], mentions such an animal; its figure is found depicted in the ruins of Persepolis. The Hebrew reem conveys the idea of loftiness and power (compare Ramah; Indian, Ram; Latin, Roma). The rhinoceros was perhaps the original type of the unicorn. The Arab rim is a two-horned animal. Sometimes "unicorn" or reem is a mere poetical symbol or abstraction; but the buffalo is the animal referred to here, from the contrast…Read the comment
Topics related to Job 39:9
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