God’s Word Translation
Job 39:16
16It acts harshly toward its young as if they weren’t its own. It is not afraid that its work is for nothing
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
14It lays its eggs on the ground and warms them in the dust. 15It forgets that a foot may crush them or a wild animal may trample them. It acts harshly toward its young as if they weren’t its own. It is not afraid that its work is for nothing 17because God has deprived it of wisdom and did not give it any understanding. 18It laughs at the horse and its rider when it gets up to flee.
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 the women of my people are as cruel as wild ostriches.
- Deuteronomy 28:56The most tender and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and tender that she wouldn’t even step on an ant—will become stingy toward the husband she loves or toward her own son or daughter.
- 1 Kings 3:26Then the woman whose son was still alive was deeply moved by her love for the child. She said to the king, “Please, sir, give her the living child. Please don’t kill him!” But the other woman said, “He won’t be mine or yours. Cut him ⌞in two⌟.”
- 2 Kings 6:28Then the king asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “This woman told me, ‘Give up your son. Let’s eat him today. We’ll eat my son tomorrow.’
- Lamentations 2:20“O Lord, look and consider: Have you ever treated anyone like this? Should women eat their own children, the children they have nursed? Should priests and prophets be killed in the Lord’s holy place?
- Romans 1:31don’t have any sense, don’t keep promises, and don’t show love to their own families or mercy to others.
- Ecclesiastes 10:15Fools wear themselves out with hard work, because they don’t even know the way to town.
- Habakkuk 2:13Isn’t it from the Lord of Armies that people grow tired only to feed the flames and nations 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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