Job 39:9

_WILL THE UNICORN BE WILLING TO SERVE THEE, OR ABIDE BY THY CRIB?_ Unicorn. Pliny ('Natural History,' 8:21) mentions such an animal: its figure is found depicted in the ruins of Persepolis. The Hebrew х_ REEYM_ (H7214)] conveys the idea of loftiness and power (cf. 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 to the tame ox used in plowing, etc. (Job 39:10; Job 39:12.) Many animals have become extinct where once they abounded. Thus the wild bison or urus, described by Caesar, is now only found in Lithuania, but was then spread over

Verse Job 39:9. _WILL 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 honour of the royal arms of Great Britain that this fabulous animal should be one of their supporters. The animal in question, called רים _reim_, is undoubtedly the _rhinoceros_, who has the latter name from the _horn_ that grows on his _nose_. The rhinoceros is known by the name of _reim_ in Arabia to the present day. He is allowed to be a savage animal, showing nothing of the intellect of the elephant. His hor

WILL 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 the animal, and in the fact that man had not been able to subject his great strength to the purposes of husbandry. In regard to the animal here referred to, there has been great diversity of opinion among interpreters, nor is there as yet any one prevailing sentiment. Jerome renders it “rhinoceros;” the Septuagint, μονόκερως _monokerōs_, the “unicorn;” the Chaldee and the Syraic retain the Hebrew word; Gesenius, Herder, Umbreit, and Noye

EXPOSITION JOB 39:1 This chapter completes the survey of animate nature begun at Job 38:39. The habits and instincts of the wild goat, the wild ass, and wild cattle are first noticed (Job 38:1); then a transition is made to the most remarkable of birds, the ostrich (Job 38:13). Next, the horse is described, and, as it were, depicted, in a passage of extraordinary fire and brilliancy (Job 38:19-18). Finally, a return is made to remarkable birds, and the habits of the hawk and eagle obtain mention ...

WILL THE UNICORN BE WILLING TO SERVE THEE,.... Whether there is or ever was such a creature, as described under the name of an unicorn, is a question: it is thought the accounts of it are for the most part fabulous; though Vartomannus y says he saw two at Mecca, which came from Ethiopia, the largest of which had a horn in his forehead three cubits long. There are indeed several creatures which may be called "monocerots", who have but one horn; as the "rhinoceros", and the Indian horses and asses z. The Arabic geographer a speaks of a beast in the Indies, called "carcaddan", which is lesser than an elephant and bigger than a buffalo; having in the middle of the forehead an horn long and thick, as much as two hands can grasp: and not only on land, but in the sea are such, as the "nahr whal", or Greenland whale b; but then they do not answer to the creature so called in Scripture: and, besi...

CHAPTER S 38:39--39:30 _ 1. The beasts of prey (Job 38:39)_ 2. The wild goats, the ass, the unicorn and the ostrich (Job 39:1) 3. The horse, the hawk and the eagle (Job 39:19) Job 38:39. God's own wisdom and power in nature, as witnessed to by Himself, is followed by His witness as to the sustenance of His creatures, how mercifully He provides for their need. This section begins with the query, “Knowest thou?” Could he hunt the prey of the lion, or fill the ravenous appetite of their young? God considers the young, even so unclean a bird as the raven has its food provided by God. Wonderful it is to read that the young rave

Job 38:39 Ch. Job 39:30. The manifoldness of the Divine Mind as displayed in the world of animal life The instances chosen are the lion and the raven (Job 38:39); the wild goats and the hinds (ch. Job 39:1-4); the wild ass (Job 38:5; the wild ox (Job 38:9); the ostrich (Job 38:13); the war horse (Job 38:19); the hawk and the eagle ...

WILL THE UNICORN, &C.— See Numbers 24:8. Schultens is of opinion, that the animal here mentioned is the Arabian _buffaloe,_ of the bull species, but absolutely untameable, and which the Arabians frequently hunt. See the authorities which this learned writer has produced, in his note on the place....

2. And of the animal world (Job 39:1, Job 40:2) TEXT 39:1-30 to Job 40:2 39 KNOWEST THOU THE TIME WHEN THE WILD GOATS OF THE ROCK BRING FORTH? _Or_ canst thou mark when the hinds do calve? 2 Canst thou number the months that they fulfil? Or knowest thou the time when they bring forth? 3 They bow themselves, they bring forth their young, They cast out their pains. 4 Then- young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field; They go forth and return not again. 5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? Or who hath loosed the bonds of the swift ass, 6 Whose home I have made the wilderness, And the salt land his dwelling place? 7 He scorneth the tumult of the

39:9 buffalo (c-3) Or 'great gazelle.'...