properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
raven
לָעֹרֵ֗בla.'o.Rev
H6158
a raven (from its dusky hue) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
food
צֵ֫יד֥וֹtzei.Do
H6718
the chase · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
ones
יְ֭לָדָיוye.la.dov
H3206
something born · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
cry
יְשַׁוֵּ֑עוּye.sha.Ve.'u
H7768
properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
God
אֵ֣ל'el
H410
strength · noun, common masculine singular absolute
wander
יִ֝תְע֗וּyit.'U
H8582
to vacillate · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
lack
לִבְלִיliv.li-
H1097
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
meat
אֹֽכֶל'O.khel
H400
food · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 12:24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye bette…
Psalms 147:9 He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
Matthew 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye no…
Psalms 104:27-28 These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 38:25–end
Hitherto God had put such questions to Job as were proper to convince him of his ignorance and short-sightedness. Now he comes, in the same manner, to show his impotency and weakness. As it is but little that he knows, and therefore he ought not to arraign the divine counsels, so it is but little that he can do, and therefore he ought not to oppose the proceedings of Providence. Let him consider what great things God does, and try whether he can do the like, or whether he thinks himself an equal match for him.
I. God has thunder, and lightning, and rain, and frost, at command, but Job has not, and therefore let him not dare to compare himself with God, or to contend with him. Nothing is more…
job 38:41Luk 12:24. Transition from the noble lioness to the croaking raven. Though man dislikes it, as of ill omen, God cares for it, as for all His creatures.
Next: Job Chapter 39
Adam Clarke on Job 38:41
Who provideth for the raven - This bird is chosen, perhaps, for his voracious appetite, and general hunger for prey, beyond most other fowls. He makes a continual cry, and the cry is that of hunger. He dares not frequent the habitations of men, as he is considered a bird of ill omen, and hated by all. This verse is finely paraphrased by Dr. Young: -
"Fond man! the vision of a moment made!
Dream of a dream, and shadow of a shade!
What worlds hast thou produced, what creatures framed,
What insects cherish'd, that thy God is blamed?
When pain'd with hunger, the wild raven's brood
Calls upon God, importunate for food,
Who hears their cry? Who grants their hoarse request,
And stills the glamours…
Who provideth for the raven his food?.... Not man, but God; he feeds the ravens, creatures very voracious, mean, and useless, Luke 12:24;
when his young ones cry unto God; cry for want of food; which is interpreted by the Lord as a cry unto him, and he relieves them, Psalm 147:9; when deserted by the old ones; either left in their nests through forgetfulness, as some (z); or because they are not, till fledged, black like them, as others (a); when God feeds them, as some say (b), with a kind of dew from heaven, or with flies that fly about them, and fall into their mouths; or with worms bred out of their dung but these things are not to be depended on; it may rather respect them when cast ou…
The Church Fathers
"Who hath prepared the raven for his food, while his little ones roam here and there, and they seek to eat, and cry unto the Lord? This is exactly the thought contained in these words of a Psalm: "The little ones of the raven cries out to him." 3 This passage can not be taken in a bad way, since they invoke the Lord. They are black, represent them. sinners who are not yet bleached by the remission of sins; small, because they are humble; wandering here and there, they do not yet know the truth they seek with piety since they cry out to the Lord. Food can be prepared for the raven itself, for the divine prescience can discover the future conversion of the one who. do not humble themselves yet; but it is the little ones, that is to say the humble ones, who cry to the Lord.
Who prepareth for the raven his food, when his young ones cry to God, wandering because they have not meat? 28. For what is designated by the name of the raven, and its young ones, but the Gentile world blackened with sin? Of which it is said by the Prophet; Who giveth to beasts their food, and to the young ravens which call on Him. [Ps. 147, 9] For the beasts receive food, when minds before brutal, are satiated with the food of Holy Scripture. But food is given to the young ravens, namely, to the sons of the Gentiles, when their longing is refreshed by our conversion. This raven was food, while Holy Church was seeking for it. But it now receives food, because it seeks out others for conversion. 29. And its young, that is, the holy preachers which are sprung from it, truly trust not in themselves, but in the strength of their Redeemer. Whence it is well said: When his young ones cry to God. For they know that they can do nothing by their own strength. And though in their pious wishes they hunger for the gain of souls, yet they desire these effects to be wrought by Him Who works all things within. For they understand by true faith, that neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth, but God Who giveth the increase. [1 Cor. 3, 7] 30. But in that which is said, Wandering because they have no meat, nothing else is designated by this wandering but the wishes of eager preachers. For while they desire to receive people into the bosom of the Church, being kindled with great warmth, they put forth their desire now to gather in these, and now those. For this very agitation of thought is, as it were, a kind of wandering; and they pass over as if to different places, with change of will, whilst they run here and there with ravenous mind, in numberless ways, and into different parts, for uniting souls together. 31. This wandering the young ones of the ravens, that is the sons of the Gentiles, learned from the teacher of the Gentiles himself. For in proportion to the strong love with which he burns, does he pass with rapid wandering from place to place; he wishes to pass from one place to another, because the love itself which fills him, urges him on. For when placed far away from the Romans, he writes, I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come…
Dictionary and topics
Job, Book of — A great diversity of opinion exists as to the authorship of this book. From internal evidence, such as the similarity of sentiment and language to those in the Psalms and Proverbs (see Ps. 88 and…
Raven — Heb. ‘orebh, from a root meaning “to be black” (comp. Cant. 5:11); first mentioned as “sent forth” by Noah from the ark (Gen. 8:7). “Every raven after his kind” was forbidden as food (Lev. 11:15;…
Animals · God’s — God’s
Birds · Divine — Divine
Raven, The · God provides food for — God provides food for
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
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…
heart . . . mind: These words can also be translated ibis . . . rooster. The Egyptians thought the ibis was wise about the flooding of the Nile, the most important seasonal event in Egypt; and Israel’s rabbis thought the rooster could forecast rain or that its crow distinguished day from night. The idea would then be Who taught the ibis and the rooster? See also Ps 51:6; Prov 2:6; Jas 1:5, 17.
Rashi on Job 38:41
they wander for lack of food for their own fathers hate them, and the Holy One, blessed be He, prepares gnats for them, which are created from their dung, and they enter their mouths.
