Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? _or_ canst thou mark when the hinds do calve? Knowest thou the time - To know time, etc., only, was easy, and has nothing extraordinary in it; but the meaning of these questions is, to know the circumstances, which have something pec... [ Continua a leggere ]
Canst thou number the months _that_ they fulfil? or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?... [ Continua a leggere ]
They bow themselves, they bring forth their young ones, they cast out their sorrows. They bow themselves - In order to bring forth their young ones. They cast out their sorrows - חבליהם chebleyhem; the placenta, afterbirth, or umbilical cord. So this word has been understood.... [ Continua a leggere ]
Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them. In good liking - After the fawns have sucked for some time, the dam leads them to the pastures, where they feed on different kinds of herbage; but not on corn, for they are not born before harvest-t... [ Continua a leggere ]
Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? Who hath sent out the wild ass free? - פרא pere, which we translate wild ass, is the same as the ονος αγριος of the Greeks, and the onager of the Latins; which must not, says Buffon, be confounded with the zebra, for... [ Continua a leggere ]
Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. Whose house - Habitation, or place of resort. The barren land - מלחה melechah, the salt land, or salt places, as in the margin. See above.... [ Continua a leggere ]
He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. He scorneth the multitude - He is so swift that he cannot be run or hunted down. See the description in Giobbe 39:5 (note).... [ Continua a leggere ]
The range of the mountains _is_ his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing. The range of the mountains - The mountains and desert places are his peculiar places of pasture; and he lives on any thing that is green, or any kind of vegetable production.... [ Continua a leggere ]
Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? 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 t... [ Continua a leggere ]
Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee? Canst thou bind the unicorn - in the furrow? - He will not plough, nor draw in the yoke with another? nor canst thou use him singly, to harrow the ground.... [ Continua a leggere ]
Wilt thou trust him, because his strength _is_ great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?... [ Continua a leggere ]
Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather _it into_ thy barn? That he will bring home thy seed - Thou canst make no domestic nor agricultural use of him.... [ Continua a leggere ]
_Gavest thou_ the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? The goodly wings unto the peacocks? - I believe peacocks are not intended here; and the Hebrew word רננים renanim should be translated ostriches; and the term חסידה chasidah, which we translate ostrich, should... [ Continua a leggere ]
Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust, Which leaveth her eggs in the earth - This want of parental affection in the ostrich is almost universally acknowledged. Mr. Jackson, in his Account of Morocco, observes: "The ostrich, having laid her eggs, goes away, forgetting or forsa... [ Continua a leggere ]
And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.... [ Continua a leggere ]
She is hardened against her young ones, as though _they were_ not hers: her labour is in vain without fear; She is hardened against her young - See before, and the extracts from Dr. Shaw at the end of the chapter, Giobbe 39:30 (note). She neglects her little ones, which are often found half starved,... [ Continua a leggere ]
Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding. God hath deprived her of wisdom - Of this foolishness we have an account from the ancients; and here follow two instances: 1. It covers its head in the reeds, and thinks itself all out of sight because itself ca... [ Continua a leggere ]
What time she lifteth up herself on high, she scorneth the horse and his rider. She lifteth up herself - When she raiseth up herself to run away. Proofs of the fleetness of this bird have already been given. It neither flies nor runs distinctly, but has a motion composed of both; and, using its wing... [ Continua a leggere ]
Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Hast thou given the horse strength? - Before I proceed to any observations, I shall give Mr. Good's version of this, perhaps inimitable, description: - Giobbe 39:19 Hast thou bestowed on the horse mettle?Hast thou clothed... [ Continua a leggere ]
Puoi farlo spaventare come una cavalletta? la gloria delle sue narici _è_ terribile.... [ Continua a leggere ]
He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in _his_ strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He paweth in the valley - יחפרו yachperu, "they dig in the valley," i.e., in his violent galloping, in every pitch of his body, he scoops up sods out of the earth. Virgil has seized this idea also, in his ca... [ Continua a leggere ]
He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.... [ Continua a leggere ]
The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.... [ Continua a leggere ]
He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that _it is_ the sound of the trumpet.... [ Continua a leggere ]
He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha - The original is peculiarly emphatical: האח Heach! a strong, partly nasal, partly guttural sound, exactly resembling the first note which the... [ Continua a leggere ]
Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, _and_ stretch her wings toward the south? Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom - The hawk is called נץ nets, from its swiftness in darting down upon its prey; hence its Latin name, nisus, which is almost the same as the Hebrew. It may very probably mean the falcon, observ... [ Continua a leggere ]
Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? Doth the eagle mount up - The eagle is said to be of so acute a sight, that when she is so high in the air that men cannot see her, she can discern a small fish in the water! See on Giobbe 39:29 (note).... [ Continua a leggere ]
She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. Upon the crag of the rock - שן סלע shen sela, the tooth of the rock, i.e., some projecting part, whither adventurous man himself dares not follow her. And the strong place - ומצודה umetsudah. Mr. Good translates... [ Continua a leggere ]
From thence she seeketh the prey, _and_ her eyes behold afar off. Her eyes behold afar off - The eagle was proverbial for her strong and clear sight. So Horace, lib. i., sat. iii., ver. 25: - Cum tua pervideas oculis mala lippus inunctis, Cur in amicorum vitas tam cernis acutum, Quam aut aquila,... [ Continua a leggere ]
Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain _are_, there _is_ she. Her young ones also suck up blood - The eagle does not feed her young with carrion, but with prey newly slain, so that they may suck up blood. Where the slain are, there is she - These words are quoted by our Lord. "Where... [ Continua a leggere ]