God’s Word Translation
Job 39:9
9“Will the wild ox agree to serve you, or will it stay at night beside your feeding trough?
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?
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger?
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Will the wild ox be willing to serve you? Will he bed by your manger?
Context of Job 39:9
7It laughs at the noise of the city and doesn’t ⌞even⌟ listen to the shouting of its master. 8It explores the mountains for its pasture and looks for anything green. “Will the wild ox agree to serve you, or will it stay at night beside your feeding trough? 10Can you guide a wild ox in a furrow, or will it plow the valleys behind you? 11Can you trust it just because it’s so strong or leave your labor to it?
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 23:22The God who brought them out of Egypt has the strength of a wild bull.
- Deuteronomy 33:17They will be as majestic as a firstborn bull. Their horns will be like the horns of a wild ox. They will use them to push away nations including those at the ends of the earth. The tens of thousands from the tribe of Ephraim and the thousands from the tribe of Manasseh will be like this.”
- Psalms 22:21Save me from the mouth of the lion and from the horns of wild oxen. You have answered me.
- Psalms 92:10But you make me as strong as a wild bull, and soothing lotion is poured on me.
- Isaiah 1:3Oxen know their owners, and donkeys know where their masters feed them. But Israel doesn’t know ⌞its owner⌟. My people don’t understand ⌞who feeds them⌟.
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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