figuratively · interrogative particle + verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
strength
כֹּח֑וֹko.Cho
H3581
vigor · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
great
רַ֣בrav
H7227
abundant (in quantity · adjective, masculine singular absolute
leave
וְתַעֲזֹ֖בve.ta.'a.Zo
H5800
to loosen · conjunction + verb, qal, 2nd person masculine singular
labour
יְגִיעֶֽךָye.gi.'E.kha
H3018
toil · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
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
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of th…
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the…
Genesis 9:2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon t…
Genesis 42:26 And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.
Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
Psalms 33:16-17 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
Psalms 144:14 That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.
Psalms 147:10 He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 39:1-12
God here shows Job what little acquaintance he had with the untamed creatures that run wild in the deserts and live at large, but are the care of the divine Providence. As,
I. The wild goats and the hinds. That which is taken notice of concerning them is the bringing forth and bringing up of their young ones. For, as every individual is fed, so every species of animals is preserved, by the care of the divine Providence, and, for aught we know, none extinct to this day. Observe here, 1. Concerning the production of their young, (1.) Man is wholly ignorant of the time when they bring forth, Job 39:1, Job 39:2. Shall we pretend to tell what is in the womb of Providence, or what a day will bring…
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.
John Gill on Job 39:11
Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great?.... No; tame oxen are employed because they are strong to labour, Psalm 144:14; and they are to be trusted, in ploughing or treading out the corn, under direction, because they are manageable, and will attend to business with constancy; but the wild ox, though stronger, and so fitter for labour, is yet not to be trusted, because unruly and unmanageable: if that sort of wild oxen called "uri" could be thought to be meant, for which Bootius (h) contends, Caesar's account of them would agree with this character of the "reem", as to his great strength: he says of them (i), they are in size a little smaller than elephants, of the kind, colour, a…
"Did you trust him because his strength was changed? Because he does not seek in the Church what he sought in the world, the vain honors and praises of men. "Will you entrust him with your work? As he confides him who the Apostle calls the ambassador, when he exhorts in the name of Christ to be reconciled with God (1).
Wilt thou have confidence in his great strength, and wilt thou leave to him thy labours? [MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION] 33. The Lord had confidence in the strength of this rhinoceros; because the more He endured him cruelly inflicting hardships upon Him, the more firmly He foresaw him enduring adversities for His sake. To whom also He left the labours, which He Himself had endured in the flesh; because He led him when converted even to the imitation of His own Passion. Whence also it is said by the same rhinoceros, I fill up those things which are lacking of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh. [Col. 1, 24]
Wilt thou have confidence in his great strength, and wilt thou leave to him thy labours? 8. The Lord asserts that He has confidence in the strength of the rhinoceros; because He inclined the powers, which He had conferred for a temporal purpose on an earthly prince, to minister to His reverence, in order that by the power he had received, through which he had, heretofore, been puffed up against God, he might now bestow on God religious obedience. For the more powerful he is toward the world, the more does he prevail for the Creator of the world. For because he is himself dreaded by his subjects, he persuades them the more readily, the more he points out with his power, Who is truly to be feared. Let it be said then; Wilt thou have confidence in his great strength? As if it were said, As I, Who see, that the powers of earthly princes are about to submit to My worship. For I regard those things which thou art now doing, as of so much the less consequence, the more I now foresee, that I shall bend down to Myself even the greater powers of this world. But it is well subjoined; And wilt thou leave to him thy labours? For the Lord left His labours to this rhinoceros, because He entrusted to an earthly prince, on his conversion, that Church which He purchased by His own death, because, namely, He committed to his hand the great anxiety of preserving the peace of the faith.
Dictionary and topics
Unicorn · Described as: Of vast strength — Described as: Of vast strength
Unicorn (Wild Ox, R. V.) · Intractable — Intractable
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).
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 asp…
Now extinct and already rare by Moses’ time, the wild ox was the most powerful land animal in early Canaan. This Old Testament symbol of strength (Num 23:22; 24:8; Deut 33:17; Pss 29:6; 92:10) was never tamed (cp. Gen 1:28; 9:2; Ps 8:5-6).
Rashi on Job 39:11
Will you rely on him to gather your grain because his strength is great and he can bear great burdens?
or will you leave your toil for him to gather into the house?
