Giobbe 39:9 Commento

God proceeds here to show Job what little reason he had to charge him with unkindness who was so compassionate to the inferior creatures and took such a tender care of them, or to boast of himself, and his own good deeds before God, which were nothing to the divine mercies. He shows him also what great reason he had to be humble who knew so little of the nature of the creatures about him and had so little influence upon them, and to submit to that God on whom they all depend. He discourses particularly, I. Concerning the wild goats and hinds (Job 39:1-4). II. Concerning the wild ass (Job 39:5-8). III. Concerning the unicorn (Job 39:9-12). IV. Concerning the horse (Job 39:19-25). VII. Concerning the hawk and the eagle (Job 39:26-30).

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 39 This chapter treats of various creatures, beasts and birds, which Job had little knowledge of, had no concern in the making of them, and scarcely any power over them; as of the goats and hinds, Job 39:1; of the wild ass, Job 39:5; of the unicorn, Job 39:9; of the peacock and ostrich, Job 39:13; of the horse, Job 39:19; and of the hawk and eagle, Job 39:26.

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, besides, this must be a creature well known to Job, as it was to the Israelites; and must be a strong creature, from the account that gives of it, and not to be taken as here. And Solinus (c) speaks of such "monocerots" or unicorns, which may be killed, but cannot be taken, and were never known to be in any man's possession alive; and so Aelianus (d) says of the like creature, that it never was remembered that anyone of them had been taken. Some think the "rhinoceros" is meant; but that, though a very strong creature, and so may be thought fit for the uses after mentioned, yet may be tamed; whereas the creature here is represented as untamable, and not to be subdued, and brought under a yoke and managed; and besides, it is not very probable that it was known by Job. Bochart (e) takes it to be the "oryx", a creature of the goat kind; but to me it seems more likely to be of the ox kind, to be similar to them, and so might be thought to do the business of one; and the rather, because of its great strength, and yet could not be brought to do it, nor be trusted with it: for the questions concerning it relate to the work of oxen; and as the wild ass is opposed to the tame one in the preceding paragraph, so here the wild ox to a tame one. And both Strabo (f) and Diodorus Siculus (g) relate, that among the Troglodytes, a people that dwelt near the Red sea, and not far from Arabia, where Job lived, were abundance of wild oxen or bulls, and which far exceeded the common ones in size and swiftness; and the creature called the seem in the original, has its name from height. Now the question is, could Job take one of these wild bulls or oxen, and tame it, and make it willing to do any work or service he should choose to put it to? No, he could not; or abide by thy crib? manger or stall, as the tame or common ox will; who, when it has done its labour, is glad to be led to its stall and feed, and then lie down and rest, and there abide; see Isa 1:3; but not so the wild ox. (y) Navigat. l. 1. c. 19. (z) Vid. Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 26. (a) Nub. Clim. 1. par. 8. (b) Ludolf. Ethiop. Hist. l. 1. c. 10. Of this narhual, or sea unicorn, see the Philosoph. Transact. abridged, vol. 9. p. 71, 72. (c) Polyhistor. c. 65. (d) De Animal. l. 16. c. 20. (e) Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 3. c. 27. col. 969, &c. (f) Geograph. l. 16. p. 533. (g) Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 175.

“Is the unicorn willing to serve you?” This animal, as is reported, is similar to an ox and is found in the austral regions, armed with a single horn. In the unicorn, whoever is not subjected at all to the bondage of the world is covertly represented. It is said to be provided with a single horn, because there is only one truth for the righteous. Again the human soul is compared with the unicorn, and it must be defined as endowed with a single horn if it is led by a single movement to the top. Moreover, it is said that the unicorn cannot be caught as its strength and dangerousness are extreme. However, the virgin hunter can win it, after being captured by the pleasure of beauty. So the soul is caught by the things that it has loved.

Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve thee? 2. For the rhinoceros is quite of an untamed nature, so that, if it is ever taken, it cannot in any way be kept. For, as is said, it dies immediately from being unable to bear it. But its name when interpreted means in the Latin tongue, 'a horn on the nostril.' And what else is designated by the nostril, but folly; what by the horn, but pride? For that folly is usually understood by the nostril, we have learned on the evidence of Solomon, who says; As a ring of gold in a swine's nostrils, so is a beautiful and foolish woman. [Prov. 11, 22] For he saw heretical doctrine shining with brilliancy of eloquence, and yet not agreeing with the proper understanding of wisdom, and he says, A ring of gold in a swine's nostrils; that is, a beautiful and involved expression in the understanding of a foolish mind: from which gold depends, through its eloquence, but yet, through the weight of earthly intention, like a swine, it looks not upwards. And he proceeded to explain it, saying, A beautiful and foolish woman: that is, heretical teaching; beautiful in words, foolish in meaning. But, that pride is frequently understood by a horn, we have learned on the evidence of the Prophet, who says; I said to the wicked, deal not wickedly, and to the sinners, lift not up your horn. [Ps.75, 4] What is, therefore, designated by this rhinoceros, but the mighty of this world, or the supreme powers themselves of the kingdoms therein, who, elated by the pride of foolish boasting, whilst they are puffed up by false honour without, are made inwardly destitute by real miseries? To whom it is well said; Why boastest thou, O dust and ashes? [Ecclus. 10, 9] But at the very beginning of the rising Church, when the might of the wealthy was raising itself against her, and was panting for her death, with the unboundedness of so great cruelty, when, anxious from so many tortures, and pressed by so many persecutions, she was giving way; who could then believe that she would subdue those stiff and stubborn necks of the haughty, and would bind them, with the gentle bands of faith, when tamed by the yoke of holy fear? For she was tossed about, for a long while, in her beginnings, by the horn of this rhinoceros, and was struck by it, as though to be utterly destroyed. But by the dispensation of Divine grace, she both gained life and strength by death, and this rhinoceros, wearied with striking, bowed down his horn. And that which was impossible to men, was not difficult to God, who crushed the stubborn powers of this world, not by words, but by miracles. For behold we observe daily the rhinoceroses becoming slaves, when we see the mighty of this world, who had before, with foolish pride, relied on their own strength, now subject to God. The Lord was speaking, as it were, of a certain untamed rhinoceros, when He was saying; A rich man will hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. [Matt. 19, 23] And when it was replied to Him; And who will be able to be saved? He immediately added; With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. [ib. 25. 26.] As if He were saying; This rhinoceros cannot be tamed by human strength, but yet it can be subdued by Divine miracles. Whence it is here also fitly said to blessed Job, as representing Holy Church; Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve thee? Thou understandest, As Myself, Who bore for a long while with his resisting the preaching of men, but yet suddenly overpowered him with miracles, when thus I willed it. As if He said more plainly; Are they who are proud with foolish haughtiness, subjected to thy preaching, without My assistance? Consider therefore by Whom thou prevailest, and in every thing wherein thou prevailest bow down thy feeling of pride. Or certainly, what wondrous works are wrought at last by the Apostles, who subject the world to God, and bend the pride of the mighty of this world, when subdued to His power, is brought before the notice of blessed Job, to bring down his confidence, in order that blessed Job may think the less highly of himself, the more he beholds such stubborn souls gathered together to God by others, Let Him say then; Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve thee? Thou understandest, As it will serve Me, by means of those, whom I shall have sent.

Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve thee? [MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION] 29. But perhaps before we discuss this strength and neighing of the horse, some persons are desirous of having both the strength of the rhinoceros, and the folly of this ostrich explained in another way, putting aside their moral meaning. For the word of God is manna, and gives, in truth, that taste in the mouth of the eater, which the wish of him who partakes it rightly desires. The word of God is the earth, which produces fruit more abundantly, the more the labour of the enquirer demands. The meaning, therefore, of Holy Scripture should be sifted with manifold enquiry, for even the earth, which is often turned by the plough, is fitted to produce a more abundant crop. We therefore briefly touch upon our other view of the rhinoceros and ostrich, because we are hastening onward to unravel those questions which are more complicated. This rhinoceros, which is called also the 'monoceros' in Greek copies, is said to be of such great strength, as not to be taken by any skill of hunters. But, as those persons assert, who have striven with laborious investigation in describing the natures of animals, a virgin is placed before it, who opens to it her bosom as it approaches, in which, having put aside all its ferocity, it lays down its head, and is thus suddenly found as it were unarmed, by those by whom it is sought to be taken. It is also described as being of box colour, and whenever it engages with elephants, it is said to strike with that single horn, which it bears on its nostrils, the belly of its opponents, in order to easily overthrow its assailants, when it wounds their softer parts. By this rhinoceros, or certainly monoceros, that is, the unicorn, can therefore be understood that people, who when it adopted, not good works, but merely pride among all men, at its reception of the Law, carried, as it were, a singular horn among other beasts. Whence the Lord, foretelling His Passion by the voice of the Prophet, says; Save Me from the lion's mouth, and My humility from the horns of the unicorns. [Ps. 22, 21] For as many unicorns, or certainly rhinoceroses, existed in that nation, as many as were those who with singular and foolish pride confided in the works of the Law, in opposition to the preaching of the truth. It is said therefore to blessed Job, as a type of the Church; Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve thee? 30. As if it were said more plainly; Dost thou bend under the rule of thy preaching that people whom thou beholdest boasting, with its foolish pride, in the death of the faithful? Thou understandest, As Myself, Who both behold it raised against Me with its single horn, and yet subdue it to Myself, at once, whenever I will. But we set forth this point the better, if we pass from generals to particulars. Let that Paul therefore be brought before our notice, out of this people, both first in his pride, and afterward as a striking witness in his humility; who when he unwittingly exalted himself against God, as if on his keeping the Law, carried a horn on his nostril. Whence also, when afterwards he was bowing down this horn of his nostril by humility, he says; Who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor, and injurious, but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly. [1 Tim. 1, 13] He who trusted that he would please God by his cruelty, carried a horn on his nostrils, as he himself afterwards says, when condemning himself; And profited in the Jews' religion, above many my equals in years, in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. [Gal. l, 14] But every hunter feared the strength of this rhinoceros; because every preacher dreaded the cruelty of Saul. For it is written; Saul yet breathing threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that, if he found any of this way, men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. [Acts 9, 1. 2.] When a breath is drawn in by the nostril in order to be given back, it is called 'breathing,' and we often detect by its smell with our nostril that which we behold not with our eyes. This rhinoceros was therefore carrying a horn on his nostril, with which to strike; because, breathing threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, after he had killed those who were present, he was seeking for those who were absent. But behold every hunter hides himself before him; that is, every man, who savours of what is reasonable, is put to flight by his opinion of his terror. In order then that he may take this rhinoceros, let the virgin open her bosom, that is, let the Wisdom of God Itself, inviolate in the flesh, of Itself, disclose to him Its mystery. For it is written, that, when he was journeying to Damascus, suddenly there shone round him, at mid-day, a light from heaven, and a voice was uttered, saying, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? [Acts 9, 4] And he, prostrate on the earth, answered, Who art Thou, Lord? And it is immediately said to him, I am Jesus of Nazareth, Whom thou persecutest. [ib. 5] The Virgin doubtless opened her bosom to the rhinoceros, when the Uncorrupted Wisdom of God disclosed to Saul the mystery of His Incarnation by speaking from heaven and the rhinoceros lost its strength, because, prostrate on the ground, he lost all his swelling pride and when, having lost the sight of his eyes, he is led to Ananias, it is now discovered with what hands of God this rhinoceros is bound: because, namely, he is bound at once with blindness, with preaching, and with Baptism. And he abode by the manger of God, because he scorned not to ruminate on the words of the Gospel. For he says; I went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. But I went up by revelation, and communicated my Gospel with them. [Gal. 2, 1, 2] And he, who had first heard, when famished, It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks, [Acts 9, 5] having been afterwards tamed by the wonderful power of his rider, obtained strength from the food of the word, and lost the heel of pride.

Just as the ass serves man for carrying heavy loads, and the wild ass finds his habitat in wild places, so also among domesticated animals the ox serves man for plowing because of his strength. He is compared to the rhinoceros or unicorn among wild animals, a very strong and fierce four-footed animal with one horn in the middle of his forehead. This animal, because of his ferocity, cannot be as easily domesticated as the ox, and so he says, "Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve you," so that he willingly obeys you like a domesticated animal? Domesticated animals accept their food freely from men, and to show the rhinoceros does not he says, "Will he spend the night in your manger?" prepared to eat what is offered to him by you?

Several animals described: the wild goats and hinds, Job 39:1-4. The wild ass, Job 39:5-8. The unicorn, Job 39:9-12. The peacock and ostrich, Job 39:13-18. The war-horse, Job 39:19-25. The hawk, Job 39:26. And the eagle and her brood, Job 39:27-30.

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 honor 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 horn enables him to combat the latter with great success; for, by putting his nose under the elephant's belly, he can rip him up. His skin is like armor, and so very hard as to resist sabres, javelins, lances, and even musket-balls; the only penetrable parts being the belly, the eyes, and about the ears. Or abide by thy crib? - These and several of the following expressions are intended to point out his savage, untameable nature.

(Job 39:1-30) Even wild beasts, cut off from all care of man, are cared for by God at their seasons of greatest need. Their instinct comes direct from God and guides them to help themselves in parturition; the very time when the herdsman is most anxious for his herds. wild goats--ibex (Psa 104:18; Sa1 24:2). hinds--fawns; most timid and defenseless animals, yet cared for by God.

unicorn--PLINY [Natural History, 8.21], mentions such an animal; its figure is found depicted in the ruins of Persepolis. The Hebrew reem conveys the idea of loftiness and power (compare 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 ploughing (Job 39:10, Job 39:12). abide--literally, "pass the night." crib-- (Isa 1:3).

9 Will the oryx be willing to serve thee, Or will he lodge in thy crib? 10 Canst thou bind the oryx in the furrow with a leading rein, Or will he harrow the valleys, following thee? 11 Wilt thou trust him because his strength is great, And leave thy labour to him? 12 Wilt thou confide in him to bring in thy sowing, And to garner thy threshing-floor? In correct texts רים has a Dagesh in the Resh, and היאבה the accent on the penult., as Pro 11:21 ינּקה רע, and Jer 39:12 רּע מאוּמה. The tone retreats according to the rule, Ges. 29, 3, b; and the Dagesh is, as also when the second word begins with an aspirate, (Note: The National Grammarians call this exception to the rule, that the muta is aspirated when the preceding word ends with a vowel, אתי מרחיק (veniens e longinquo), i.e., the case, where the word ending with a vowel is Milel, whether from the very first, or, when the second word is a monosyllable or has the tone on the penult., on account of the accent that has retreated (in order to avoid two syllables with the chief tone coming together); in this case the aspirate, and in general the initial letter (if capable of being doubled) of the second monosyllabic or penultima-accented word, takes a Dagesh; but this is not without exceptions that are quite as regular. Regularly, the second word is not dageshed if it begins with ו, כ, ל, ב, or if the first word is only a bare verb, e.g., עשׂה לו, or one that has only ו before it, e.g., ועשׂה פסח; the tone of the first word in both these examples retreats, but without the initial of the second being doubled. This is supplementary, and as far as necessary a correction, to what is said in Psalter, i 392, Anm.) Dag. forte conj., which the Resh also takes, Pro 15:1 מענה־רּך, exceptionally, according to the rule, Ges. 20, 2, a. In all, it occurs thirteen times with Dagesh in the Old Testament - a relic of a mode of pointing which treated the ר (as in Arabic) as a letter capable of being doubled (Ges. 22, 5), that has been supplanted in the system of pointing that gained the ascendency. רים (Psa 22:22, רם) is contracted from ראם (Psa 92:11, plene, ראים), which (= ראם) is of like form with Arab. ri'm (Olsh. 154, a). (Note: Since ra'ima, inf. ri'mân, has the signification assuescere, ראם, רים, רימנא (Targ.) might describe the oryx as a gregarious animal, although all ruminants have this characteristic in common. On ראם, Arab. r'm, vid., Seetzen's Reise, iii. S. 393, Z 9ff., and also iv. 496.) Such, in the present day in Syria, is the name of the gazelle that is for the most part white with a yellow back and yellow stripes in the face (Antilope leucoryx, in distinction from Arab. ‛ifrı̂, the earth-coloured, dirty-yellow Antilope oryx, and Arab. ḥmrı̂, himrı̂, the deer-coloured Antilope dorcas); the Talmud also (b. Zebachim, 113b; Bathra, 74b) combines ראימא and אורזילא or ארזילא, a gazelle (Arab. gazâl), and therefore reckons the reêm to the antelope genus, of which the gazelle is a species; and the question, Job 39:10, shows that an animal whose home is on the mountains is intended, viz., as Bochart, and recently Schlottm. (making use of an academic treatise of Lichtenstein on the antelopes, 1824), has proved, the oryx, which the lxx also probably understands when it translates μονοκέρως; for the Talmud. קרש, mutilated from it, is, according to Chullin, 59b, a one-horned animal, and is more closely defined as טביא דבי עילאי, "gazelle (antelope) of Be (Beth)-Illi" (comp. Lewysohn, Zoologie des Talmuds, 1858, 146). The oryx also appears on Egyptian monuments sometimes with two horns, but mostly with one variously curled; and both Aristotle (Note: Vid., Sundevall, Die Thierarten des Aristoteles (Stockholm, 1863), S. 64f.) and Pliny describe it as a one-horned cloven-hoof; so that one must assent to the supposition of a one-horned variety of the oryx (although as a fact of natural history it is not yet fully established), as then there is really tolerably certain information of a one-horned antelope both in Upper Asia and in Central Africa; (Note: J. W. von Mller (Das Einhorn von gesch. u. naturwiss. Standpunkte betrachtet, 1852) believed that in a horn in the Ambras Collection at Vienna he recognised a horn of the Monocers (comp. Fechner's Centralblatt, 1854, Nr. 2), but he is hardly right. J. W. von Mller, Francis Galton (Narrative of an Explorer in Tropical South Africa, 1853), and other travellers have heard the natives speak ingenuously of the unicorn, but without seeing it themselves. On the other hand, Huc and Gabet (Journeyings through Mongolia and Thibet, Germ. edition) tell us "a horn of this animal was sent to Calcutta: it was 50 centimetres long and 11 in circumference; from the root it ran up to a gradually diminishing point. It was almost straight, black, etc ... . Hodgson, when English consul at Nepal, had the good fortune to obtain an unicorn ... . It is a kind of antelope, which in southern Thibet, that borders on Nepal, is called Tschiru. Hodgson sent a skin and horn to Calcutta; they came from an unicorn that died in the menagerie of the Raja of Nepal." The detailed description follows, and the suggestion is advanced that this Antilope Hodgsonii, as it has been proposed to call the Tschiru, is the one-horned oryx of the ancients. The existence of one-horned wild sheep (not antelopes), attested by R. von Schlagintweit (Zoologischer Garten, 1st year, S. 72), the horn of which consists of two parts gradually growing together, covered by one horn-sheath, does not depreciate the credibility of the account given by Huc-Gabet (to which Prof. Will has called my attention as being the most weighty testimony of the time). Another less minute account is to be found in the Arabic description of a journey (communicated to me by Prof. Fleischer) by Selm Bisteris (Beirt, 1856): In the menagerie of the Viceroy of Egypt he saw an animal of the colour of a gazelle, but the size and form of an ass, with a long straight horn between the ears, and what, as he says, seldom go together) with hoofs, viz. - and as the expression Arab. ḥâfr, horse's hoof (not Arab. chuff, a camel's hoof), also implies - proper, uncloven hoofs, - therefore an one-horned and at the same time one-hoofed antelope.) and therefore there is sufficient ground for seeking the origin of the tradition of the unicorn in an antelope, - perhaps rather like a horse, - with one horn rising out of the two points of ossification over the frontal suture. The proper buffalo, Bos bubalus, cannot therefore be intended, because it only came from India to Western Asia and Europe at a more recent date, but also not any other species whatever of this animal (Carey and others), which is recognisable by its flat horns, which are also near together, and its forbidding, staring, bloodshot eyes; for it is tameable, and is (even in modern Syria) used as a domestic animal. On the other hand there are antelopes which somewhat resemble the horse, others the ox (whence βούβαλος, βούβαλις, is a name for the antelope), others the deer and the ass. Schultens erroneously considers ראם to be the buffalo, being misled by a passage in the Divan of the Hudheilites, which gives the ri'm the by-name of dhu chadam, i.e., oxen-like white-footed, which exactly applies to the A. oryx or even the A. leucoryx; for the former has white feet and legs striped lengthwise with black stripes, the latter white feet and legs. Just as little reason is there for imagining the rhinoceros after Aquila (and in part Jerome); ῥινοκέρως is nothing but an unhappy rendering of the μονοκέρως of the lxx. The question in Job 39:10, as already observed, requires an animal that inhabits the mountains. On אבה, to be willing = to take up, receive. The "furrow (תּלם, sulcus, not porca, the ridge between the furrows) of his cord" is that which it is said to break up by means of the ploughshare, being led by a rein. אחריך refers to the leader, who goes just before or at the side; according to Hahn, to one who has finished the sowing which precedes the harrowing; but it is more natural to imagine the leader of the animal that is harrowing, which is certainly not left to itself. On כּי, Job 39:12, as an exponent of the obj. vid., Ew. 336, b. The Chethib here uses the Kal שׁוּב transitively: to bring back (viz., that which was sown as harvested), which is possible (vid., Job 42:10). גרנך, Job 39:12, is either a locative (into thy threshing-floor) or acc. of the obj. per synecd. continentis pro contento, as Rut 3:2; Mat 3:12. The position of the question from beginning to end assumes an animal outwardly resembling the yoke-ox, as the ראם is also elsewhere put with the ox, Deu 33:17; Psa 29:6; Isa 34:7. But the conclusion at length arrived at by Hahn and in Gesenius' Handwrterbuch, that on this very account the buffalo is to be understood, is a mistake: A. oryx and leucoryx are both (for this very reason not distinguished by the ancients) entirely similar to the ox; they are not only ruminants, like the ox, with a like form of the hoof, but also of a plump form, which makes them appear to be of the ox tribe.