New King James Version
Job 39:16
16She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without concern,
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 Living Translation (NLT)She is harsh toward her young, as if they were not her own. She doesn’t care if they die.
Context of Job 39:16
14For she leaves her eggs on the ground, And warms them in the dust; 15She forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may break them. She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without concern, 17Because God deprived her of wisdom, And did not endow her with understanding. 18When she lifts herself on high, She scorns the horse and its rider.
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 the jackals present their breasts To nurse their young; But the daughter of my people is cruel, Like ostriches in the wilderness.
- Deuteronomy 28:56The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter,
- 1 Kings 3:26Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”
- 2 Kings 6:28Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’
- Lamentations 2:20“See, O Lord, and consider! To whom have You done this? Should the women eat their offspring, The children they have cuddled? Should the priest and prophet be slain In the sanctuary of the Lord?
- Romans 1:31undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;
- Ecclesiastes 10:15The labor of fools wearies them, For they do not even know how to go to the city!
- Habakkuk 2:13Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts That the peoples labor to feed the fire, And nations weary themselves in vain?
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries