“Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?
Parallel Translations
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“Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?
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Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
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Hast thou given the horse his strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with fierceness?
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Job 39:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 93:1 Yahweh reigns! He is clothed with majesty! Yahweh is armed with strength. The world also is established. It can’t be moved.
- Psalms 104:1 Bless Yahweh, my soul. Yahweh, my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty.
- Psalms 147:10 He doesn’t delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
- Exodus 15:1 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said, “I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously. He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea.
- Job 39:25 As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, ‘Aha!’ He smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
- Mark 3:17 James the son of Zebedee; and John, the brother of James, (whom he called Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder);
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain If he should take care of them.
If he should take care of them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 39:19 Hast thou given the horse strength? hast…
Job 39:19 Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Ver. 19. Hast thou given the horse strength?] Having mentioned the horse, he comes next to show his nature; and here we have a most elegant description of a generous horse, such as Dubartas maketh Cain to manage, and as the Greeks call φρυσγματιαν, fremebundum.
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-Quod siqua sonum procul arms dedere
Stare loco nescit, micat auribus, et tremit artus;
Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem
(Virg. Georg.).
In this creature therefore we have a clear instance of the wonderful power and wisdom of God. If the horse be so strong and warlike, what is the Almighty, that man of war? Exo 15:3, and victor in battle, as the Chaldee there calleth him? This is one way whereby we may conceive of God, sc. per viam eminentiae, for if there be such and such excellence in the creature, what is there in the Creator, since all that is in us is but a spark of his fame, a drop of his ocean? How then wilt thou, O Job, dare to contend with him, who art not able to stand before this creature of his? Wonderful things are reported concerning Bucephalus, and the horse of Julius Caesar, of Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, of the Sybarites’ war horses, Qui ad symphoniae cantum saltatione quadam movebantur (Pausan.). The Persians dedicated a horse to the sun, so did the idolatrous Israelites, 2Ki 23:11, as the swiftest creature to the swiftest God. Very serviceable he is for drawing and carrying, but especially in battle, whereof only here, De equis militaribus et cataphractis; of war horses, the use whereof appeareth to be very ancient, even in Job’s days. The Israelites made little or no use of them in the conquest of Canaan; but their enemies there did, and Pharaoh before them, Exo 14:6-10 Let it be held that "a horse is a vain thing for safety, neither shall he deliver any by his great strength," Psa 33:17. The Jews are sharply reproved and heavily threatened for trusting to the horses of Egypt, Isa 31:1; Yεος ουκ εστι φιλιππος (Plut. in Numa).
Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?] That is, with neighing and snorting, answerable to his strength, and which soundeth terribly from within his neck, till his very eyes sparkle, as if he did both thunder and lighten. The apostles and other ministers of God are called Christ’s white horses, Rev 6:1-2, upon which he rideth about the world, conquering and to conquer; horses, for their courage and constance, and white, for their purity of doctrine, discipline, and conversion: they thunder in their doctrine and lighten in their lives (as Nazianzen, saith Basil, did), to the subduing of souls to the obedience of faith.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Strength; either strength of body; or rather, courage and…
Strength; either strength of body; or rather, courage and generous confidence, for which the horse is highly commended.
With thunder, i.e. with snorting and neighing; in the making of which nereid the neck, in regard of the throat, which is within it, and a part of it, is a principal instrument; which noise may not unfitly be called thunder, because of the great vehemency and rage wherewith it is attended, and the great terror which it causeth, especially in war and battle, of which see Jer 8:16; and compare 1Sa 12:17,18, where this very term of thundering is ascribed to a far lower and less terrible noise. Nor is this, as some allege, an improper speech, because this thunder or neighing is rather clothed with the neck, as being within it, than the neck with it; for nothing is more common in Scripture than to say that men are clothed with righteousness, humility, and other graces, which yet are in strictness of speech within the man, and not he within them. But because this word in this form is not elsewhere extant, some render it otherwise, with a mane, with a thick, and full and deep mane, as the phrase of being clothed with it implies; for this is mentioned by all writers of horses as a notable mark of a generous horse; which therefore they conceive would not be omitted here, where so many several properties and excellencies are described. And the verb raam, whence this comes, in the Syriac language signifies not only to thunder, but also to be high or lofty; which fitly agrees to the mane, which is in the highest part of the horse.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain God, having displayed his own power in those creatures…
God, having displayed his own power in those creatures that are strong and despise man, here shows it in one scarcely inferior to any of them in strength, and yet very tame and serviceable to man, and that is the horse, especially the horse that is prepared against the day of battle and is serviceable to man at a time when he has more than ordinary occasion for his service. It seems, there was, in Job's country, a noble generous breed of horses. Job, it is probable, kept many, though they are not mentioned among his possessions, cattle for use in husbandry being there valued more than those for state and war, which alone horses were then reserved for, and they were not then put to such mean services as with us they are commonly put to. Concerning the great horse, that stately beast, it is here observed, 1. That he has a great deal of strength and spirit (v. 19): Hast thou given the horse strength? He uses his strength for man, but has it not from him: God gave it to him, who is the fountain of all the powers of nature, and yet he himself delights not in the strength of the horse (Psa 147:10), but has told us that a horse is a vain thing for safety, Psa 33:17. For running, drawing, and carrying, no creature that is ordinarily in the service of man has so much strength as the horse has, nor is of so stout and bold a spirit, not to be made afraid as a grasshopper, but daring and forward to face danger. It is a mercy to man to have such a servant, which, though very strong, submits to the management of a child, and rebels not against his owner. But let not the strength of a horse be trusted to, Hos 14:3; Psa 20:7; Isa 31:1, Isa 31:3. 2. That his neck and nostrils look great. His neck is clothed with thunder, with a large and flowing mane, which makes him formidable and is an ornament to him. The glory of his nostrils, when he snorts, flings up his head, and throws foam about, is terrible, Job 39:20. Perhaps there might be at that time, and in that country, a more stately breed of horses than any we have now. 3. That he is very fierce and furious in battle, and charges with an undaunted courage, though he pushes on in imminent danger of his life. (1.) See how frolicsome he is (Job 39:21): He paws in the valley, scarcely knowing what ground he stands upon. He is proud of his strength, and he has much more reason to be so as using his strength in the service of man, and under his direction, than the wild ass that uses it in contempt of man, and in a revolt from him Job 39:8. (2.) See how forward he is to engage: He goes on to meet the armed men, animated, not by the goodness of the cause, or the prospect of honour, but only by the sound of the trumpet, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting of the soldiers, which are as bellows to the fire of his innate courage, and make him spring forward with the utmost eagerness, as if he cried, Ha! ha! Job 39:25. How wonderfully are the brute-creatures fitted for and inclined to the services for which they were designed. (3.) See how fearless he is, how he despises death and the most threatening dangers, (Job 39:22): He mocks at fear, and makes a jest of it; slash at him with a sword, rattle the quiver, brandish the spear, to drive him back, he will not retreat, but press forward, and even inspires courage into his rider. (4.) See how furious he is. He curvets and prances, and runs on with so much violence and heat against the enemy that one would think he even swallowed the ground with fierceness and rage, Job 39:24. High mettle is the praise of a horse rather than of a man, whom fierceness and rage ill become. This description of the war-horse will help to explain that character which is given of presumptuous sinners, Jer 8:6. Every one turneth to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. When a man's heart is fully set in him to do evil, and he is carried on in a wicked way by the violence of inordinate appetites and passions, there is no making him afraid of the wrath of God and the fatal consequences of sin. Let his own conscience set before him the curse of the law, the death that is the wages of sin, and all the terrors of the Almighty in battle-array; he mocks at this fear, and is not affrighted, neither turns he back from the flaming sword of the cherubim. Let ministers lift up their voice like a trumpet, to proclaim the wrath of God against him, he believes not that it is the sound of the trumpet, nor that God and his heralds are in earnest with him; but what will be in the end hereof it is easy to foresee.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Hast thou given the horse strength?.... Not only to…
Hast thou given the horse strength?.... Not only to bear burdens and draw carriages, but for war; for it is the war horse that is here spoken of, as what follows shows, and his strength denotes; not strength of body only, but fortitude and courage; for which, as well as the other, the horse is eminent, and both are the gift of God, and not of men;
hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? or with strength, as the Targum; the horse having particularly great strength in its neck, as well as in other parts; or with strength of voice, as Ben Gersom explains it; and it has been generally understood of the neighing of horses, which comes through and out of their neck, and makes a vehement sound: some render it, "with a mane" (p); and could it be made to appear that the word is so used in any other place, or in any other writings, or in any of the dialects, it would afford a very good sense, since a fine large mane to a horse is a great ornament and recommendation: the Septuagint render it by "fear", and Jarchi interprets it of "terror"; and refers to the sense of, he word in Eze 27:35; and it may signify such a tremor as thunder makes, from whence that has its name; and it may be observed that between the neck and shoulder bone of an horse there is a tremulous and quavering motion; and which is more vehement in battle, not from any fearfulness of it, but rather through eagerness to engage in it; and therefore Schultens translates the words, "hast thou clothed his neck with a cheerful tremor?"
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(p) Bochart, Bootius, &c.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Thunder - A strong metaphor, to denote force and…
Thunder - A strong metaphor, to denote force and terror.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 19. Hast thou given the horse strength?] Before…
Verse 19. Hast thou given the horse strength?] Before I proceed to any observations, I shall give Mr. Good's version of this, perhaps inimitable, description: -
Ver. 19. Hast thou bestowed on the horse mettle?
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Hast thou clothed his neck with the thunder flash?
Ver. 20. Hast thou given him to launch forth as an arrow?
Terrible is the pomp of his nostrils.
Ver. 21. He paweth in the valley, and exulteth.
Boldly he advanceth against the clashing host:
Ver. 22. He mocketh at fear, and trembleth not:
Nor turneth he back from the sword.
Ver. 23. Against him rattleth the quiver,
The glittering spear, and the shield:
Ver. 24. With rage and fury he devoureth the ground;
And is impatient when the trumpet soundeth.
Ver. 25. He exclaimeth among the trumpets, Aha!
And scenteth the battle afar off,
The thunder of the chieftains, and the shouting.
In the year 1713, a letter was sent to the GUARDIAN, which makes No. 86 of that work, containing a critique on this description, compared with similar descriptions of Homer and Virgil. I shall give the substance of it here:-
The great Creator, who accommodated himself to those to whom he vouchsafed to speak, hath put into the mouths of his prophets such sublime sentiments and exalted language as must abash the pride and wisdom of man. In the book of Job, the most ancient poem in the world, we have such paintings and descriptions as I have spoken of in great variety. I shall at present make some remarks on the celebrated description of the horse, in that holy book; and compare it with those drawn by Homer and Virgil.
Homer hath the following similitude of a horse twice over in the Iliad, which Virgil hath copied from him; at least he hath deviated less from Homer than Mr. Dryden hath from him: -
Ὡς δ' ὁτε τις στατος ἱππος, ακοστησας επι φατνη,
Δεσμον απορῥηξας θειει πεδιοιο κροαινων,
Ειωθως λουεσθαι εΰρῥειος ποταμοιο,
Κυδιοων· ὑψου δε καρη εχει, αμοι δε χαιται
Ωμοις αΐσσονται· ὁ δ' αγλαΐῃφι πεποιθως
Ῥιμφα ἑ γουνα φερει μετα τ' ηθεα και νομον ἱππων.
HOM. Il. lib. vi., ver. 506; and lib. xv., ver. 263.
Freed from his keepers, thus with broken reins
The wanton courser prances o'er the plains,
Or in the pride of youth o'erleaps the mound,
And snuffs the female in forbidden ground;
Or seeks his watering in the well-known flood,
To quench his thirst, and cool his fiery blood;
He swims luxuriant in the liquid plain,
And o'er his shoulders flows his waving mane;
He neighs, he snorts, he bears his head on high;
Before his ample chest the frothy waters fly.
Virgil's description is much fuller than the foregoing, which, as I said, is only a simile; whereas Virgil professes to treat of the nature of the horse: -
______ Tum, si qua sonum procul arma dedere,
Stare loco nescit: micat auribus, et tremit artus
Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem:
Densa juba, et dextro jactata recumbit in armo.
At duplex agitur per lumbos spina, cavatque
Tellurem, et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu.
VIRG. Georg. lib. iii., ver. 83.
Which is thus admirably translated: -
The fiery courser, when he hears from far
The sprightly trumpets, and the shouts of war,
Pricks up his ears; and, trembling with delight,
Shifts pace, and paws, and hopes the promised fight.
On his right shoulder his thick mane reclined,
Ruffles at speed, and dances in the wind.
His horny hoofs are jetty black and round;
His chin is double: starting with a bound,
He turns the turf, and shakes the solid ground.
Fire from his eyes, clouds from his nostrils flow;
He bears his rider headlong on the foe.
Now follows that in the Book of Job, which, under all the disadvantages of having been written in a language little understood, of being expressed in phrases peculiar to a part of the world whose manner of thinking and speaking seems to us very uncouth; and, above all, of appearing in a prose translation; is nevertheless so transcendently above the heathen descriptions, that hereby we may perceive how faint and languid the images are which are formed by human authors, when compared with those which are figured, as it were, just as they appear in the eye of the Creator. God, speaking to Job, asks him: -
[To do our translators as much justice as possible, and to help the critic, I shall throw it in the hemistich form, in which it appears in the Hebrew, and in which all Hebrew poetry is written.]
Ver. 19. Hast thou given to the HORSE strength?
Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Ver. 20. Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper?
The glory of his nostrils is terrible!
Ver. 21. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in strength:
He goeth on to meet the armed men.
Ver. 22. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted:
Neither turneth he back from the sword.
Ver. 23. Against him rattleth the quiver,
The glittering spear and the shield.
Ver. 24. He swalloweth the ground with rage and fierceness:
Nor doth he believe that it is the sound of the
trumpet.
Ver. 25. He saith among the trumpets, Heach!
And from afar he scenteth the battle,
The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
Here are all the great and sprightly images that thought can form of this generous beast, expressed in such force and vigour of style as would have given the great wits of antiquity new laws for the sublime, had they been acquainted with these writings.
I cannot but particularly observe that whereas the classical poets chiefly endeavour to paint the outward figure, lineaments, and motions, the sacred poet makes all the beauties to flow from an inward principle in the creature he describes; and thereby gives great spirit and vivacity to his description. The following phrases and circumstances are singularly remarkable: -
Ver. 19. Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Homer and Virgil mention nothing about the neck of the horse but his mane. The sacred author, by the bold figure of thunder, not only expresses the shaking of that remarkable beauty in the horse, and the flakes of hair, which naturally suggest the idea of lightning; but likewise the violent agitation and force of the neck, which in the oriental tongues had been flatly expressed by a metaphor less bold than this.
Ver. 20. Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper?
There is a twofold beauty in this expression, which not only marks the courage of this beast, by asking if he can be scared; but likewise raises a noble image of his swiftness, by insinuating that, if he could be frightened, he would bound away with the nimbleness of a grasshopper.
The glory of his nostrils is terrible.] This is more strong and concise than that of Virgil, which yet is the noblest line that was ever written without inspiration: -
Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem.
And in his nostrils rolls collected fire.
GEOR. iii., ver. 85.
Ver. 21. He rejoiceth in his strength.
Ver. 22. He mocketh at fear.
Ver. 24. Neither believeth he that it is the sound of the
trumpet.
Ver. 25. He saith among the trumpets, Ha! ha!
These are signs of courage, as I said before, flowing from an inward principle. There is a peculiar beauty in his not believing it is the sound of the trumpet: that is, he cannot believe it for joy; but when he is sure of it, and is among the trumpets, he saith, Ha! ha! He neighs, he rejoices.
His docility is elegantly painted in his being unmoved at the rattling quiver, the glittering spear, and the shield, Job 39:23, and is well imitated by Oppian, - who undoubtedly read Job, as Virgil did, - in his Poem on Hunting: -
Πως μεν γαρ τε μαχαισιν αρηΐος εκλυεν ἱππος
Ηχον εγερσιμοθον δολιχων πολεμηΐον αυλων;
Η πως αντα δεδορκεν ασκαρδαμυκτοισιν οπωπαις
Αιζηοισι λοχον πεπυκασμενον ὁπλιτησι;
Και χαλκον σελαγευντα, και αστραπτοντα σιδηρον;
Και μαθεν ευτε μενειν χρειω, ποτε δ' αυτις αρουειν.
OPPIAN CYNEGET, lib. i., ver. 206.
Now firm the managed war-horse keeps his ground,
Nor breaks his order though the trumpet sound!
With fearless eye the glittering host surveys,
And glares directly at the helmet's blaze.
The master's word, the laws of war, he knows;
And when to stop, and when to charge the foes.
He swalloweth the ground, Job 39:24, is an expression for prodigious swiftness in use among the Arabians, Job's countrymen, to the present day. The Latins have something like it: -
Latumque fuga consumere campum.
NEMESIAN.
In flight the extended champaign to consume.
Carpere prata fuga.
VIRG. GEORG. III., Ver. 142.
In flight to crop the meads.
__________Campumque volatu
Cum rapuere, pedum vestigia quaeras.
When, in their fight, the champaign they have snatch'd,
No track is left behind.
It is indeed the boldest and noblest of images for swiftness; nor have I met with any thing that comes so near it as Mr. Pope's, in Windsor Forest: -
Th' impatient courser pants in every vein,
And pawing, seems to beat the distant plain;
Hills, vales, and floods, appear already cross'd;
And ere he starts, a thousand steps are lost.
He smelleth the battle afar off, and what follows about the shouting, is a circumstance expressed with great spirit by Lucan: -
So when the ring with joyful shouts resounds,
With rage and pride th' imprison'd courser bounds;
He frets, he foams, he rends his idle rein,
Springs o'er the fence, and headlong seeks the plain.
This judicious and excellent critique has left me little to say on this sublime description of the horse: I shall add some cursory notes only. In Job 39:19 we have the singular image, clothed his neck with thunder. How thunder and the horse's neck can be well assimilated to each other, I confess I cannot see. The author of the preceding critique seems to think that the principal part of the allusion belongs to the shaking of this remarkable beauty (the mane) in a horse; and the flakes of hair, which naturally suggest the idea of lightning. I am satisfied that the floating mane is here meant. The original is רעמה ramah, which Bochart and other learned men translate as above. How much the mane of a horse shaking and waving in the wind adds to his beauty and stateliness, every one is sensible; and the Greek and Latin poets, in their description of the horse, take notice of it. Thus Homer: -
______Αμφι δε χαιται
Ωμοις αΐσσονται.
ILIAD vi., ver. 509.
"His mane dishevell'd o'er his shoulders flies."
And Virgil: -
Luduntque per colla, per armos.
AEN. xi., ver. 497.
The verb רעם raam signifies to toss, to agitate; and may very properly be applied to the mane, for reasons obvious to all. Virgil has seized this characteristic in his fine line, Georg. iii. ver. 86:-
Densa juba, et dextro jactata recumbit in armo.
"His toss'd thick mane on his right shoulder falls."
Naturally, the horse is one of the most timid of animals; and this may be at once accounted for from his small quantity of brain. Perhaps there is no animal of his size that has so little. He acquires courage only from discipline; for naturally he starts with terror and affright at any sudden noise. It requires much discipline to bring him to hear the noise of drums and trumpets, and especially to bear a pair of kettle drums placed on each side his neck, and beaten there, with the most alarming variety of sounds. Query, Does the sacred text allude to any thing of this kind? I have been led to form this thought from the following circumstance. In some ancient MSS. of the Shah Nameh, a most eminent heroic poem, by the poet Ferdoosy, the Homer of India, in my own collection, adorned with paintings, representing regal interviews, animals, battles, c., there appear in some places representations of elephants, horses, and camels, with a pair of drums, something like our kettle drums, hanging on each side of the animal's neck, and beaten, by a person on the saddle, with two plectrums or drumsticks the neck itself being literally clothed with the drums and the housings on which they are fixed. Who is it then that has framed the disposition of such a timid animal, that by proper discipline it can bear those thundering sounds, which at first would have scared it to the uttermost of distraction? The capacity to receive discipline and instruction is as great a display of the wisdom of God as the formation of the bodies of the largest, smallest, or most complex animals is of his power. I leave this observation without laying any stress upon it. On such difficult subjects conjecture has a lawful range.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 39:19-25. Hast thou given the horse strength? —…
Job 39:19-25. Hast thou given the horse strength? — Hebrew, גבורה, geburah, his fortitude, the courage and generous confidence for which the horse is highly commended. The reader will observe, that all the great and sprightly images which thought can form of this noble animal are expressed in this paragraph with such force and vigour of style as (to use the words of an elegant writer) “would have given the great wits of antiquity new laws for the sublime, had they been acquainted with these writings.” It is true, in the third book of Virgil’s Georgics, we find a fine description of a horse, chiefly copied from Homer, of which Dryden has given us the following admirable translation:
The fiery courser, when he hears from far
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The sprightly trumpets and the shouts of war,
Pricks up his ears; and, trembling with delight,
Shifts place, and paws, and hopes the promised fight
On his right shoulder his thick mane reclined
Ruffles at speed, and dances in the wind.
His horny hoofs are jetty black and round;
His chine is double; starting with a bound
He turns the turf, and shakes the solid ground.
Fire from his eyes, clouds from his nostrils flow;
He bears his rider headlong on the foe.
But, if the reader will compare with this the present passage, he will find that, “under all the disadvantages of having been written in a language little understood; of being expressed in phrases peculiar to a part of the world whose manner of thinking and speaking seems strange to us; and, above all, of appearing in a prose translation, it is so transcendently above the heathen description, that hereby we may perceive how faint and languid the images are which are formed by mortal authors, when compared with that which is figured, as it were, just as it appears in the eye of the Creator. He will observe in particular, that, whereas the classical poets chiefly endeavour to paint the outward figure, lineaments, and motions, the sacred poet makes all the beauties to flow from an inward principle in the creature he describes, and thereby gives great spirit and vivacity to his description.” Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? — A strong metaphor to denote force and terror. “Homer and Virgil mention nothing about the neck of the horse, but his mane; the sacred author, by the bold figure of thunder, not only expresses the shaking of that remarkable beauty in the horse, and the flakes of hair, which naturally suggest the idea of lightning; but likewise the violent agitation and force of the neck, which, in the oriental tongues, had been flatly expressed by a metaphor less bold than this.” Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? — Which is easily affrighted, and chased away by the least noise of a man. But, as the verb רעשׁ, ragnash, here used, signifies to prance or move briskly, as well as to fear and tremble, many prefer rendering the clause, Hast thou made him to move like a grasshopper? or, rather, like a locust, n as ארבה, arbeh, is generally translated. Thus S. Jarchi and Bochart, An feciti ut moveretur sicut locusta? Is it to be ascribed to thee that the horse hath such particular motions, leaping and prancing as the locusts do? Hence the saying, common among the Arabians, The horse acts the locust. The expression contains a two-fold beauty, as it not only marks the courage of this animal, by asking if he can be affrighted, but likewise raises a noble image of his swiftness, intimating that, if that were possible, he would bound away, with the nimbleness of the locust or grasshopper. The glory of his nostrils is terrible — Hebrew, הוד נחרו אימה, hod nachro eimah, literally, The majesty, or magnificence, of his snorting is terror. Thus Jer 8:16, The snorting of his horses was heard, the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones. “This is more strong and concise than that of Virgil, which yet is the noblest line which was ever written without inspiration:
Collectumque premens, volvit sub naribus ignem.
And in his nostrils rolls collected fire.
He paweth in the valley — Hebrew, he diggeth; through courage and wantonness, he cannot stand still, but is continually beating, and, as it were, digging up the earth with his feet. And rejoiceth — Glories, manifests great pride and complacency; in his strength. He goeth on to meet the armed men — He goes on with great readiness and undaunted courage to meet the weapons that oppose him. He mocketh at fear — At all instruments and objects of terror: he despises what other creatures dread; neither turneth he back from the sword — Or, because of the sword, or, for fear of the sword, as מפני חרב, mippenee chereb, often signifies. The quiver rattleth against him — The quiver is here put for the arrows contained in it, which, being shot against the horse and rider, make a rattling noise. He swalloweth the ground with rage — He is so full of rage and fury that he not only champs his bridle, but is ready to tear and devour the very ground on which he goes. Or rather, his eagerness to start, and his rage for the fight, are such that he, as it were, devoureth the intermediate space, and can scarcely wait for the signal for the battle, because of his impatience. Neither believeth he, &c. — He is so pleased with the approach of the battle, and the sound of the trumpet calling to engage in it, that he can scarcely believe, for gladness, that the trumpet hath sounded. Or, the words may be interpreted, He cannot stand still when the trumpet soundeth: his rider can hardly restrain or keep him still, through his eagerness to run to the fight. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha! — An expression of joy and alacrity, declared by his proud neighings. He smelleth the battle afar off — He perceiveth, and has a kind of instinctive sense of the battle at some distance, either of place or time; the thunder of the captains — The loud and joyful clamour begun by the commanders, and continued by the soldiers, when they are ready to join battle, and when, with terrific shouts, they are marching to the attack. All these expressions, “He rejoiceth in his strength — He mocketh at fear — Neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet — He saith among the trumpets, Ha! ha! — are signs of courage, flowing, as was said before, from an inward principle. His docility is elegantly painted in his being unmoved at the rattling quiver, the glittering spear: and the shield. He swalloweth the ground, is an expression of prodigious swiftness, in use among the Arabians, Job’s countrymen, at this day: it is the boldest and noblest of images for swiftness. The Latins have something like it; but it is not easy to find any thing that comes so near it as Pope’s lines in his Windsor Forest:
“Th’ impatient courser pants in every vein,
And, pawing, seems to beat the distant plain;
Hills, vales, and floods, appear already cross’d,
And, ere he starts, a thousand steps are lost.”
See Guardian, No. 86, and Lowth’s Prelectiones 34.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Hast thou given the horse strength? - The incidental…
Hast thou given the horse strength? - The incidental allusion to the horse in comparison with the ostrich in the previous verse, seems to have suggested this magnificent description of this noble animal - a description which has never been surpassed or equalled. The horse is an animal so well known, that a particular description of it is here unnecessary. The only thing which is required is an explanation of the phrases used here, and a confirmation of the particular qualities here attributed to the war-horse, for the description here is evidently that of the horse as he appears in war, or as about to plunge into the midst of a battle. The description which comes the nearest to this before us, is that furnished in the well known and exquisite passage of Virgil, Georg. iii. 84ff:
- Turn, si qua sonum procul arma dedere,
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Stare loco nescitedmientauribns, et tremitartus,
Collectumq; premens volvit sub naribusignem.
Densa. iuba, et dextrojuctata recumbat in armo.
At duplex agitur, per lumbos spina; cavatque
Tellurem, et solidograviter sonat ungulacornu.
“But at the clash of arms, his ear afar
Drinks the deep sound, and vibrates to the war;
Flames from each nostril roll in gathered stream,
His quivering limbs with restless motion gleam;
O’er his right shoulder, floating full and fair,
Sweeps his thick mane, and spreads his pomp of hair;
Swift works his double spine; and earth around
Rings to his solid hoof that wears the ground.”
Sotheby
Many of the circumstances here enumerated have a remarkable resemblance to the description in Job. Other descriptions and correspondences between this passage and the Classical writers may be seen at length in Bochart, “Hieroz.” P. i. L. i. c. viii.; in Scheutzer, “Physica Sacra, in loc.;” and in the “Scriptorum variorum Sylloge (Vermischte Schriften,” Goetting. l 82), of Godofr. Less. A full account of the habits of the horse is also furnished by Michaelis in his “Dissertation on the most ancient history of horses and horse-breeding,” etc. Appendix to Art. clxvi. of the Commentary of the Laws of Moses, vol. ii. According to the results of the investigations of Michaelis, Arabia was not, as is commonly supposed, the native country of the horse, but its origin is rather to be sought in Egypt; and in the account which is given of the riches of Job, Job 1:3; Job 42:12, it is remarkable that the horse is not mentioned. It is, therefore, in a high degree probable that the horse was not known in his time as a domestic animal, and that, in his country at least, it was employed chiefly in war.
Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? - There seems to be something incongruous in the idea of making thunder the clothing of the neck of a horse, and there as been considerable diversity in the exposition of the passage. There is evidently some allusion to the mane, but exactly in what respect is not agreed. The Septuagint renders it, “Hast thou clothed his neck with terror” - φόβον phobon? Jerome refers it to the “neighing” of the horse - ”aut circumdabis collo ejus hinnitum” Prof. Lee renders it, “Clothest thou his neck with scorn?” Herder, “And clothed its neckwith its flowing mane.” Umbreit, “Hast thou clothed his neck with loftiness?” Noyes, “Hast thou clothed his neck with its quivering mane?” Schultens, “convestis cervicem ejus tremore alacri” - “with rapid quivering;” and Dr. Good, “with the thunder-flash.” In this variety of interpretation, it is easy to perceive that the common impression has been that the mane is in some way referred to, and that the allusion is not so much to a sound as of thunder, as to some motion of the mane that attracted attention.
The mane adds much to the majesty and beauty of the horse, and perhaps it was in some way decorated by the ancients so as to set it off with increased beauty. The word which is used here, and which is rendered “thunder” (רעמה ra‛mâh), is from the verb רעם râ‛am, meaning to rage, to roar, as applied to the sea, Psa 96:11; Psa 98:7, and then to thunder. It has also the idea of trembling or quaking, Eze 27:35, and also of provoking to anger, 1Sa 1:6. The verb and the noun are more commonly referred to thunder than anything else, Job 37:4-5; Job 40:9; 2Sa 22:14; 1Sa 2:10; 1Sa 7:10; Psa 18:13; Psa 29:3; Psa 77:18; Psa 104:7; Isa 29:6. A full investigation of the meaning of the passage may be seen in Bochart, “Hieroz.” P. i. Lib. ii. c. viii. It seems to me to be very difficult to determine its meaning, and none of the explanations given are quite satisfactory. The word used requires us to understand the appearance of the neck of the horse as having some resemblance to thunder, but in what respect is not quite so apparent.
It may be this; the description of the war-horse is that of an animal fitted to inspire terror. He is caparisoned for battle; impatient of restraint; rushing forward into the thickest of the fight; tearing up the earth; breathing fire from his nostrils; and it was not unnatural, therefore, to compare him with the tempest. The majestic neck, with the erect and shaking mane, is likened to the thunder of the tempest that shakes everything, and that gives so much majesty and tearfulness to the gathering storm, and the description seems to be this - that his very neck is fitted to produce awe and alarm, like the thunder of the tempest. We are required, therefore, it seems to me, to adhere to the proper meaning of the word; and though in the coolness of criticism there may appear to be something incongruous in the application of thunder to the neck of the horse, yet it might not appear to be so if we saw such a war-horse - and if the thought, not an unnatural one, should strike us, that in majesty and fury he bore a strong resemblance to an approaching tempest.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Neighing. Hebrew, "thunder," to denote the fierceness of the…
Neighing. Hebrew, "thunder," to denote the fierceness of the horse; or "with a mane," (Bochart) "armour," (Syriac) or "terror." (Septuagint) (Calmet) --- Wilt thou enable the horse to neigh, (Menochius) when he appears so terrible? (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The allusion to "the horse" (Job 39:18), suggests the…
The allusion to "the horse" (Job 39:18), suggests the description of him. Arab poets delight in praising the horse; yet it is not mentioned in the possessions of Job (Job 1:3; Job 42:12). It seems to have been at the time chiefly used for war, rather than "domestic purposes."
thunder--poetically for, "he with arched neck inspires fear as thunder does." Translate, "majesty" [UMBREIT]. Rather "the trembling, quivering mane," answering to the "vibrating wing" of the ostrich (see on Job 39:13) [MAURER]. "Mane" in Greek also is from a root meaning "fear." English Version is more sublime.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain Third long strophe — FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE BRUTE…
Third long strophe — FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE BRUTE CREATION, OF THE WONDROUS WORKING OF GOD. THE MAJESTIC HORSE DISPLAYS A TASTE FOR WAR; THE HAWK, LED BY UNERRING INSTINCT, MIGRATES TO DISTANT LANDS; WHILE THE KING OF BIRDS DEVOTES HIS KEENNESS OF VISION TO SEEKING CARRION FOR HIS PREY, Job_39:19-30.
α. The allusion to the horse in the preceding description of the ostrich (camel-bird) leads to a magnificent description of a noble animal useful to man everywhere, even on his fields of blood. Job is asked whether it was he who endowed it with its noblest qualities, Job_39:19-25.
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19. Thunder — The rendering by Gesenius and others of “terror” — “terror-striking mane,” and by Ewald and Zockler of “quivering mane,” is not so justifiable and vastly more prosaic than that of “thunder.” This masterly touch — clothing the neck with thunder — by the very indefiniteness of the image gives to the description a recognised element of sublimity. The monuments of antiquity abound with pictorial representations of the war-horse, in every age the pride of the East. Next to man, the most important agent on the battlefield, he was prized too highly to be made a beast of draught. For descriptions of the horse by Homer and Virgil, see Dr. Clarke.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 19, 20. The verbs are better put in the…
19, 20. The verbs are better put in the present.
19. Dost thou give strength to the horse?
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Dost thou clothe his neck with trembling?
20. Dost thou make him leap like the locust?
The glory of his snorting is terrible.
19. The word “trembling” hardly refers to the mane alone, but rather describes the quivering of the neck, when the animal is roused, which erects the mane.
19–25. The war horse.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (19) Thunder—i.e., with terror, such as thunder causes. Some…
(19) Thunder—i.e., with terror, such as thunder causes. Some refer it to the moving or shaking of the mane.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Hast thou given the horse strength?. (comp. Psa_147:10) Geburah…
Hast thou given the horse strength?. (comp. Psa_147:10) Geburah means, however, more than "strength." It includes courage and all martial excellence. Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Many objections have been taken to this expression; and endeavours have been made to show that the word used (hmd) does not mean "thunder," but" a tremulous motion," "quivering muscles and a tossing mane," or else "scorn," "indignation." But as always means "thunder", (Job_26:14 Job_39:25 Psa_77:19:81:8 Psa_145:7 Isa_29:6) it seems unlikely that hmr means anything else. To the objection that the metaphor is "incongruous" (Professor Lee), it would appear to be enough to reply that one of our greatest prose-poets has seen in it peculiar fitness. So true every way says Carlyle, on the passage: "true eyesight and vision for all things; material things, not less than spiritual; "the horse Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? ("Lectures on Heroes," p. 78).
Vers. 19-25. The war-horse.
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This magnificent picture of the horse shows him to us as he is about to rush into battle. Whilst asses, oxen, and camels were employed for peaceable work on the farm and as beasts of burden, the horse was almost confined to war. He was rarely used excepting to dash with the charioteer into the thick of the fight. In the poet"s picture he is scenting the battle from afar. Let us look at his striking features.
I STRENGTH. There are two kinds of strength mere brute strength of muscle, and the strength that is vitalized by nervous and mental influences. The urus is an instance of the former. In simple contractility of muscle he may exceed the horse. But the strength of the horse is nervous strength. It cannot well be measured, for it is continually fluctuating. It varies in degree according to the extent to which the sensitive animal is excited. We meet with the two kinds of strength in men, and especially in women. When the mind fires the body, unheard-of feats are performed. In moments of heroism naturally feeble people seem to have the strength of a giant. God gives strength through spiritual influences.
II COURAGE. We may be surprised to meet with this characteristic in a description of the horse. Is he not a timid creature, shying at any unusual object by the wayside? This is true when he is dull and subdued. But our picture shows him to us as the war-horse rushing in to battle. Then he is brave as a lion. His courage is not the dull indifference to danger that is a trait of stupidity, but the fiery courage of intense excitement. It is difficult to be brave in cold blood. It is not easy to face the troubles and dangers of life without some inspiring influence. The Spirit of God in him makes the most timid brave.
III ENTHUSIASM. The life of the picture is its enthusiasm. The horse is impatient for the rage of the battle, excited by the distant sound of it to a strong desire to rush into it. That is the spirit which will give him strength and courage to go right into the midst of the danger. Nothing succeeds like enthusiasm. Nothing is so beautiful, so inspiriting, so full of life and hope. It needs guidance or it may plunge into disaster; it is not enough without the direction of wisdom. But wisdom is vain without enthusiasm. In the Christian life men are uplifted and borne onward when they are reached by a wave of enthusiasm. Christ inspires the "enthusiasm of humanity," because he first inspires an enthusiasm for himself. Now, the first essential in a worthy enthusiasm is the perception of a worthy object. The horse scents the battle, and the horse knows its master. We see the great battle of sin and misery, and we have a glorious Captain of salvation. The need of the world calls us to the fight; the presence of our Lord gives us strength and courage, and ensures the victory. W.F.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Hast thou given the horse strength?
Job_39:19-30
Hast thou given the horse strength?
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The higher teaching of Nature
The intent of all these beautiful references to the works of Nature is to teach us, from the wisdom, skill, and curious designs discoverable in the formation and the instincts of various birds and beasts, to impress ourselves with a worthy notion of the riches of the wisdom of Him that made and sustaineth all things. These impressions we are to carry with us when we consider the dealings of God in the way of Providence, and in His ordering of all events, as the great Governor of the universe. Can we suppose that there is anything wrong here, or without the design of the most consummate wisdom, when He has put forth so much of His skill and contrivance in the formation and ordering of these inferior animals? May He not be trusted to do all things well, concerning the destiny of man, the greatest of His works? In this higher economy, are we to suppose there is less wisdom and design to be manifested, than in this, which displays itself so visibly in these inferior works of His hand? Thus would our blessed Lord increase the confidence of His disciples in His providential care of them, by observing, Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and not one of them falleth to the ground without your Father? Fear not, are ye not much better than they?--of more value than many sparrows. It was the want of such due impressions concerning the designing wisdom of God, ever present, and ever operating in all things, that had led Job to think and speak unworthily of that dispensation of Providence under which he now lived, as being altogether arbitrary, discovering no design and discriminating wisdom, nor manifesting the righteous Governor of all things. His despairing mind seemed to think that the Lord had forsaken the earth; and such confusion and misrule permitted that the wisdom and justice and goodness of God could only be manifested in what was hereafter to take place in a future state. Therefore had Job despaired of life, and longed for death. And we remember what it was that led Job into this unhappy state of mind. On account of his moral and religious attainments, he had been so lifted up with pride, that when it pleased God, in His secret wisdom, to suffer him to be afflicted, he dared to say he did not deserve it: and in order to reconcile the possibility of that, with the notions that he held in common with his friends, respecting the Providence of God,--as certainly willing and accomplishing all things which come to pass,--he was led to express those unworthy notions of the present dispensation of things which we have seen exposed, first by His messenger Elihu, and now by Jehovah Himself. (John Fry, B. A.)
The horse
As the Bible makes a favourite of the horse, the patriarch, and the prophet, and the evangelist, and the apostle, stroking his sleek hide, and patting his rounded neck, and tenderly lifting his exquisitely-formed hoof, and listening with a thrill to the champ of his bit, so all great natures in all ages have spoken of him in encomiastic terms. Virgil in his Georgics almost seems to plagiarise from this description in the text, so much are the descriptions alike--the description of Virgil and the description of Job. The Duke of Wellington would not allow anyone irreverently to touch his old war horse Copenhagen, on whom he had ridden fifteen hours without dismounting at Waterloo; and when old Copenhagen died, his master ordered a military salute to be fired over his grave. John Howard showed that he did not exhaust his sympathies in pitying the human race, for when ill he writes home, Has my old chaise horse become sick or spoiled? There is hardly any passage of French literature more pathetic than the lamentation over the death of the war charger Marchegay. Walter Scott had so much admiration for this Divinely honoured creature of God, that, in St. Ronans Well, he orders the girth to be slackened and the blanket thrown over the smoking flanks. Edmund Burke, walking in the park at Beaconsfield, musing over the past, throws his arms around the worn-out horse of his dead son Richard, and weeps upon the horses neck, the horse seeming to sympathise in the memories. Rowland Hill, the great English preacher, was caricatured because in his family prayer he supplicated for the recovery of a sick horse; but when the horse got well, contrary to all the prophecies of the farriers, the prayer did not seem quite so much of an absurdity. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
Horses in battle
In time of war the cavalry service does the most execution; and as the battles of the world are probably not all past, Christian patriotism demands that we be interested in equinal velocity. We might as well have poorer guns in our arsenals and clumsier ships in our navy than other nations, as to have under our cavalry saddles and before our parks of artillery slower horses. From the battle of Granicus, where the Persian horses drove the Macedonian infantry into the river, clear down to the horses on which Philip Sheridan and Stonewall Jackson rode into the fray, this arm of the military service has been recognised. Hamilcar, Hannibal, Gustavus Adolphus, Marshal Ney were cavalrymen. In this arm of the service Charles Martel at the battle of Poictiers beat back the Arab invasion. The Carthaginian cavalry, with the loss of only seven hundred men, overthrew the Roman army with the loss of seven thousand. In the same way the Spanish chivalry drove back the Moorish hordes. Our Christian patriotism and our instruction from the Word of God demand that first of all we kindly treat the horse, and then, after that, that we develop his fleetness, and his grandeur, and his majesty, and his strength. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Yahweh continues to challenge Job.
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General Information:
Yahweh uses three questions to emphasize that Job is not like Yahweh because Job cannot control the wild horse. (See: Rhetorical Question)
Have you given the horse his strength?
This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "You have never given the horse his strength." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Did you clothe his neck with his flowing mane?
This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "You cannot clothe his neck with his flowing mane." (See: Rhetorical Question)
clothe his neck with his flowing mane
The horse's "mane" is spoken of as if it was clothing for the neck of the horse. AT: "made his flowing main to cover his neck like clothes" (See: Metonymy)
flowing mane
the long hair on the top of the neck of a horse
Have you ever made him jump like a locust?
This question can be translated as a statement. AT: "You are not able to make him jump like a locust." (See: Rhetorical Question)
a locust
a large kind of grasshopper that can jump very far and very quickly
snorting
a very loud sound that horses make with their nose
translationWords
horse
clothe
locust
majesty
fear
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.