Click
here to show/hide instructions.
Instructions on how to use the page:
The commentary for the selected verse is is displayed below.
All commentary was produced against the King James, so the same verse from that translation may appear as well. Hovering your mouse over a commentary's scripture reference attempts to show those verses.
Use the browser's back button to return to the previous page.
Or you can also select a feature from the Just Verses menu appearing at the top of the page.
Selected Verse: Job 38:39 - Updated King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Job 38:39 |
Updated King James |
Will you hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, |
| |
King James |
Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
At Job 38:39-39:30, the instincts of animals. Is it thou that givest it the instinct to hunt its prey? (Psa 104:21).
appetite--literally, "life," which depends on the appetite" (Job 33:20). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? - The appeal here is to the instincts with which God has endowed animals, and to the fact that he had so made them that they would secure their own food. He asks Job whether he would undertake to do what the lion did by instinct in finding his food, and by his power and skill in seizing his prey. There was a wise adaptation of the lion for this purpose which man could neither originate nor explain.
Or fill the appetite of the young lions - Margin, as in Hebrew "life." The word life is used here for hunger, as the appetite is necessarily connected with the preservation of life. The meaning here is, "Wouldst thou undertake to supply his needs? It is done by laws, and in a manner which thou canst not explain. There are in the arrangement by which it is accomplished marks of wisdom which far surpass the skill of man to originate, and the instinct and power by which it is done are proof of the supremacy of the Most High." No one can study the subject of the instincts of animals, or become in the least acquainted with Natural History, without finding every where traces of the wisdom and goodness of God. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
39 Dost thou hunt for the prey of the lioness
And still the desire of the young lions,
40 When they couch in the dens,
Sit in the thicket lying in wait for prey?
41 Who provideth for the raven its food,
When its young ones cry to God,
They wander about without food?
On the wealth of the Old Testament language in names for the lion, vid., on Job 4:10. לביא can be used of the lioness; the more exact name of the lioness is לביּה, for לביא is = לבי, whence לבאים, lions, and לבאות, lionesses. The lioness is mentioned first, because she has to provide for her young ones (גּוּרים); then the lions that are still young, but yet are left to themselves, כּפירים. The phrase מלּא חיּה (comp. חיּה of life that needs nourishment, Job 33:20) is equivalent to מלּא נפשׁ, Pro 6:30 (Psychol. S. 204 ad fin.). The book of Psalms here furnishes parallels to every word: comp. on Job 38:39, Psa 104:21; on ישׁחוּ, Psa 10:10;
(Note: The Semitic is rich in such words as describe the couching posture of beasts of prey lying in wait for their prey, which then in general signify to lie in wait, lurk, wait (רצד, רבץ, Arab. rbṣ, lbd, wkkd); Arab. q‛d lh, subsedit ei, i.e., insidiatus est ei, which corresponds to ישׁבו, Job 38:40, also belongs here, comp. Psalter, i. 500 note.)
on מעונות, lustra, Psa 104:22 (compared on Job 37:8 already); on סכּה, סך, which is used just in the same way, Psa 10:9; Jer 25:38. The picture of the crying ravens has its parallel in Psa 147:9. כּי, quum, is followed by the fut. in the signif. of the praes., as Psa 11:3. As here, in the Sermon on the Mount in Luk 12:24 the ravens, which by their hoarse croaking make themselves most observed everywhere among birds that seek their food, are mentioned instead of the fowls of heaven. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Hunt - Is it by thy care that the lions who live in desert places are furnished with necessary provisions? This is another wonderful work of God. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? - Rather the lioness, or strong lion. Hast thou his instinct? Dost thou know the habits and haunts of such animals as he seeks for his food? Thou hast neither his strength, his instinct nor his cunning. In the best Hebrew Bibles, the thirty-ninth chapter begins with this verse, and begins properly, as a new subject now commences, relating to the natural history of the earth, or the animal kingdom; as the preceding chapter does to astronomy and meteorology. |
20 So that his life detests bread, and his soul dainty food.
21 The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.
24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them: how much more are all of you better than the fowls?
3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
9 He gives to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
38 He has forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
9 He lies in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lies in wait to catch the poor: he does catch the poor, when he draws him into his net.
8 Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places.
22 The sun arises, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.
40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
10 He crouches, and humbles himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.
21 The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.
39 Will you hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
20 So that his life detests bread, and his soul dainty food.
10 The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.