Back to Job 39

Job 39:9-12

“Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?

Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?

Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave to him your labor?

Will you confide in him, that he will bring home your seed, and gather the grain of your threshing floor?

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    “Will the wild ox be content to serve you? Or will he stay by your feeding trough?

    Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?

    Will you trust him, because his strength is great? Or will you leave to him your labor?

    Will you confide in him, that he will bring home your seed, and gather the grain of your threshing floor?

  • KJV King James Version

    Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?

    Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?

    Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?

    Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?

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  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    Will the wild-ox be willing to serve thee? Or will he abide by thy crib?

    Canst thou bind the wild-ox with his band in the furrow? Or will he harrow the valleys after thee?

    Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? Or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?

    Wilt thou rely on him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather the corn of thy threshing-floor?

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Cross-references (31)

  • Numbers 23:22 (v9) God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.
  • Deuteronomy 33:17 (v9) Majesty belongs to the firstborn of his herd. His horns are the horns of the wild ox. With them he will push all the peoples to the ends of…
  • Psalms 92:10 (v9) But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox. I am anointed with fresh oil.
  • Psalms 22:21 (v9) Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.
  • Isaiah 1:3 (v9) The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel doesn’t know. My people don’t consider.”
Show all 31 cross-references
  • Genesis 1:26 (v11) God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky,…
  • Genesis 1:28 (v11) God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the…
  • Genesis 9:2 (v11) The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that moves along the…
  • Genesis 42:26 (v11) They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed from there.
  • Nehemiah 13:15 (v12) In those days I saw some men treading wine presses on the Sabbath in Judah, bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys; also with wine,…
  • Job 1:14 (v10) that there came a messenger to Job, and said, “The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them,
  • Job 39:5 (v10) “Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,
  • Job 39:7 (v10) He scorns the tumult of the city, neither does he hear the shouting of the driver.
  • Job 41:5 (v10) Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your girls?
  • Psalms 20:7 (v11) Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God.
  • Psalms 33:16-17 (v11) There is no king saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety,…
  • Psalms 129:3 (v10) The plowers plowed on my back. They made their furrows long.
  • Psalms 144:14 (v11) Our oxen will pull heavy loads. There is no breaking in, and no going away, and no outcry in our streets.
  • Psalms 147:10 (v11) He doesn’t delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
  • Proverbs 3:16 (v12) Length of days is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor.
  • Proverbs 14:4 (v11) Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of the ox.
  • Isaiah 30:6 (v11) The burden of the animals of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, of the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying…
  • Isaiah 30:16 (v11) but you said, “No, for we will flee on horses;” therefore you will flee; and, “We will ride on the swift;” therefore those who pursue you…
  • Isaiah 31:1-3 (v11) Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they…
  • Hosea 10:10-11 (v10) When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the nations will be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions.…
  • Amos 2:13 (v12) Behold, I will crush you in your place, as a cart crushes that is full of grain.
  • Micah 1:13 (v10) Harness the chariot to the swift steed, inhabitant of Lachish. She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; For the transgressions…
  • Haggai 2:19 (v12) Is the seed yet in the barn? Yes, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree haven’t produced. From today I will bless…
  • Matthew 3:2 (v12) “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”
  • Matthew 13:30 (v12) Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind…
  • Isaiah 46:1 (v11) Bel bows down. Nebo stoops. Their idols are carried by animals, and on the livestock. The things that you carried around are heavy loads, a…

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (17 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv9, 12 That is, the barren ground where no good fruits…

That is, the barren ground where no good fruits grow.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–12 Job 39:9 Will the unicorn be willing to serve…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9–12 It is much disputed among the learned, but is…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–12 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee,.... Whether…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v9 Unicorn - It is disputed whether this be the…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 12 Verse 9. Will the unicorn be willing to serve…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv9–10 Job 39:9. Will the unicorn be willing to serve…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv9–12 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee? -…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv9–10 Rhinoceros. See Deuteronomy xxxiii. 17., and Numbers xxiii. 22.…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9–12 unicorn--PLINY [Natural History, 8.21], mentions such an animal; its…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9–12 Second long strophe — JOB’S ATTENTION IS DIRECTED TO…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v9 9. will the unicorn] Rather, the wild ox (Heb.…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv9, 12 (9) The unicorn.—It is a mistake to identify this…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv9–12 Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v10 Will he harrow the valleys after thee?
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 11 Connecting Statement:
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v9 39:9-12 Now extinct and already rare by Moses’ time,…
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