Discovery BoxJob 39:1-12 
Context39:1 “Are you acquainted with the way 1
the mountain goats 2 give birth?
Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young?
39:2 Do you count the months they must fulfill,
and do you know the time they give birth? 3
39:3 They crouch, they bear 4 their young,
they bring forth the offspring they have carried. 5
39:4 Their young grow strong, and grow up in the open; 6
they go off, and do not return to them.
39:5 Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who released the bonds of the donkey,
39:6 to whom I appointed the steppe for its home,
the salt wastes as its dwelling place?
39:7 It scorns the tumult in the town;
it does not hear the shouts of a driver. 7
39:8 It ranges the hills as its pasture,
and searches after every green plant.
39:9 Is the wild ox willing to be your servant?
Will it spend the night at your feeding trough?
39:10 Can you bind the wild ox 8 to a furrow with its rope,
will it till the valleys, following after you?
39:11 Will you rely on it because its strength is great?
Will you commit 9 your labor to it?
39:12 Can you count on 10 it to bring in 11 your grain, 12
and gather the grain 13 to your threshing floor? 14
Job 39:26-30
Context39:26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, 15
and spreads its wings toward the south?
39:27 Is it at your command 16 that the eagle soars,
and builds its nest on high?
39:28 It lives on a rock and spends the night there,
on a rocky crag 17 and a fortress. 18
39:29 From there it spots 19 its prey, 20
its eyes gaze intently from a distance.
39:30 And its young ones devour the blood,
and where the dead carcasses 21 are,
there it is.”
1 tn The text uses the infinitive as the object: “do you know the giving birth of?”
2 tn Or “ibex.”
3 tn Here the infinitive is again a substantive: “the time of their giving birth.”
4 tc The Hebrew verb used here means “to cleave,” and this would not have the object “their young.” Olshausen and others after him change the ח (khet) to ט (tet) and get a verb “to drop,” meaning “drop [= give birth to] young” as used in Job 21:10. G. R. Driver holds out for the MT, arguing it is an idiom, “to breach the womb” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 92-93).
5 tn Heb “they cast forth their labor pains.” This word usually means “birth pangs” but here can mean what caused the pains (metonymy of effect). This fits better with the parallelism, and the verb (“cast forth”). The words “their offspring” are supplied in the translation for clarity; direct objects were often omitted when clear from the context, although English expects them to be included.
6 tn The idea is that of the open countryside. The Aramaism is found only here.
7 sn The animal is happier in open countryside than in a busy town, and on its own rather than being driven by a herdsman.
8 tn Some commentators think that the addition of the “wild ox” here is a copyist’s error, making the stich too long. They therefore delete it. Also, binding an animal to the furrow with ropes is unusual. So with a slight emendation Kissane came up with “Will you bind him with a halter of cord?” While the MT is unusual, the sense is understandable, and no changes, even slight ones, are absolutely necessary.
9 tn Heb “leave.”
10 tn The word is normally translated “believe” in the Bible. The idea is that of considering something dependable and acting on it. The idea of reliability is found also in the Niphal stem usages.
11 tc There is a textual problem here: יָשׁוּב (yashuv) is the Kethib, meaning “[that] he will return”; יָשִׁיב (yashiv) is the Qere, meaning “that he will bring in.” This is the preferred reading, since the object follows it. For commentators who think the line too unbalanced for this, the object is moved to the second colon, and the reading “returns” is taken for the first. But the MT is perfectly clear as it stands.
12 tn Heb “your seed”; this must be interpreted figuratively for what the seed produces.
13 tn Heb “gather it”; the referent (the grain) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Simply, the MT has “and your threshing floor gather.” The “threshing floor” has to be an adverbial accusative of place.
15 tn This word occurs only here. It is connected to “pinions” in v. 13. Dhorme suggests “clad with feathers,” but the line suggests more the use of the wings.
16 tn Heb “your mouth.”
17 tn Heb “upon the tooth of a rock.”
18 tn The word could be taken as the predicate, but because of the conjunction it seems to be adding another description of the place of its nest.
19 tn The word means “search,” but can be used for a wide range of matters, including spying.
20 tn Heb “food.”
21 tn The word חֲלָלִים (khalalim) designates someone who is fatally wounded, literally the “pierced one,” meaning anyone or thing that dies a violent death.
