Job 39:16

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

14For she abandons her eggs to the earth And warms them in the dust, 15And she forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild animal may trample them. She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers; Though her labor is for nothing, she is unconcerned, 17Because God has made her forget wisdom, And has not given her a share of understanding. 18When she rushes away on high, She laughs at the horse and his rider.

Job 39:16 word by word

הִקְשִׁ֣יחַ בָּנֶ֣יהָ לְּלֹא־לָ֑הּ לְרִ֖יק יְגִיעָ֣הּ בְּלִי־פָֽחַד׃Read the interlinear

• She treatsקָשַׁחqâshach · to hardenH7188
• her youngבֵּןbên · son: young animalH1121
• Though her laborיְגִיעַyegîya‛ · toilH3018
• unconcernedבְּלִיbelîy · withoutH1097
• unconcernedפַּ֫חַדpachad · dreadH6343

Cross-references for Job 39:16

• Lamentations 4:3Even jackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has proved herself cruel, Like ostriches in the wilderness.
• Deuteronomy 28:56The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and tenderness, will be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter,
• 1 Kings 3:26But the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son, and she said, “Pardon me, my lord! Give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” But the other woman was saying, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; cut him!”
• 2 Kings 6:28Then the king said to her, “What is on your mind?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son so that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’
• Lamentations 2:20See, Lord, and look! With whom have You dealt this way? Should women really eat their children, The little ones who were born healthy? Should priest and prophet really be killed In the sanctuary of the Lord?
• Romans 1:31without understanding, untrustworthy, unfeeling, and unmerciful;
• Ecclesiastes 10:15The labor of a fool makes him so weary that he does not even know how to go to a city.
• Habakkuk 2:13Is it not indeed from the Lord of armies That peoples labor merely for fire, And nations become weary 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

• Birds
• God
• Ostriches

In the dictionaries

• Abide
• Harrow
• Liking
• Mount
• Paw
• Wisdom
• Eagle
• Harden
• Job, Book of
• Labor

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