to turn back (hence · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
seed
זַרְעֶ֑ךָzar.'E.kha
H2233
seed · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
gather
יֶאֱסֹֽףye.'e.Sof
H622
to gather for any purpose · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
barn
וְֽגָרְנְךָ֥ve.ga.re.ne.Kha
H1637
a threshing-floor (as made even) · conjunction + noun, common feminine 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
Nehemiah 13:15 In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and…
Proverbs 3:16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.
Amos 2:13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
Haggai 2:19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from t…
Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind…
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…
believe--trust.
seed--produce (Sa1 8:15).
into thy barn--rather, "gather (the contents of) thy threshing-floor" [MAURER]; the corn threshed on it.
Adam Clarke on Job 39:12
That he will bring home thy seed - Thou canst make no domestic nor agricultural use of him.
John Gill on Job 39:12
Wilt thou believe him that he will bring home thy seed?.... Draw in the cart, and bring home the ripe sheaves of corn, as the tame ox does? no; thou knowest him too well to believe he will bring it home in safety;
and gather it into thy barn; to be trodden out, which used to be done by oxen in those times: if therefore Job could not manage such unruly creatures as the wild ass and the wild ox, and make them serviceable to him, how unfit must he be to govern the world, or to direct in the affairs of Providence?
Keil & Delitzsch on Job 39:9-12
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…
The Church Fathers
"Do you think he will give you your seed? He does not claim anything for the benefit of his power. The word sowing here signifies the action of sowing. "And that he will bring them to your area? He will be among those whom the Lord commanded to pray to the harvester to send workers to his harvest (2). He will not want to build an area for himself as the leader of heresies and schisms, and all who do not seek the glory of God, but their own glory. It would be very difficult to drive the rhinoceros; but this wonder is fulfilled in the hearts of men by the author of all wonders, by the one who destroys all human reasoning, all height raised against the knowledge of God, by him who reduces all minds under the yoke of his obedience (4).
Wilt thou trust him to bring back thy seed to thee, and to gather thy floor? [MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION] 34. Let us consider what Saul was, when, from his very youth, he was engaged in aiding those who stoned, when he was laying waste some places of the Church, and, having received letters, was seeking for others to lay waste, when no single death of the faithful sufficed him, but, after the destruction of some, he was ever panting for the death of others: and we know for certain, that none of the faithful, at that time, believed that God would bend to the yoke of His fear the might of such haughty pride. Whence also Ananias, even after he had heard by the voice of the Lord that he had been converted, was afraid, saying, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, what evil he hath done to Thy saints at Jerusalem. [Acts 9, 13] And yet, suddenly changed from being an enemy, he is made a preacher: and in all quarters of the world announces the name of his Redeemer, endures punishments for the truth's sake, exults at suffering himself what he had inflicted; invites some by allurements, and recals others by terrors, to the faith. To these he promises the kingdom of the heavenly country, to those he threatens the fire of hell. The one he corrects by authority, the others he attracts by humility to the path of rectitude: and bends himself on every side to the hand of his ruler, and collects the threshing floor of God with as great skill, as he used before to winnow it with pride. 35. But not even is this at variance with Paul, that the rhinoceros is said to be of box colour, and is stated to strike with his horn the bellies of elephants. For, because he was wont to live under the rigour of the Law, the observance of every virtue grew up more strictly in him than in others. For what is expressed by box colour, but the paleness of abstinence? To which he himself witnesses, that he tenaciously adheres, saying; I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest perchance, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway. [1 Cor. 9, 27] Who, when, being endowed with knowledge of the Divine Law, he reproves the greediness of others, strikes elephants in their belly with his horn. For he had in truth struck elephants in the belly, when he was saying; Many walk, of whom I told you often, but now I tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross…
Dictionary and topics
Barn — A storehouse (Deut. 28:8; Job 39:12; Hag. 2:19) for grain, which was usually under ground, although also sometimes above ground (Luke 12:18).
Barn · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Unicorn · Described as: Intractable in disposition — Described as: Intractable in disposition
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).
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?
Wilt thou trust him, to bring back thy seed to thee, and to gather thy floor? 9. What else is meant by 'seed,' but the word of preaching? As the Truth says in the Gospel, A sower went forth to sow; [Matt. 13, 3] and as the Prophet says; Blessed are ye who sow upon all waters. [Is. 32, 20] What else but the Church, ought to be understood by the threshing floor? Of which it is said by the voice of the Forerunner; And He will throughly purge His floor. [Matt. 3, 12] Who therefore could believe, in the beginning of the rising Church, when that unconquered sovereignty of the world was raging with so many threats and tortures against her, that this rhinoceros would bring back seed to God, that is, repay by his works the word of preaching which he had received? Which of the infirm could then believe, that he would gather His floor? For behold, he is now promulgating laws for the Church, who was before raging against it with various torments. Behold, whatever nations he has been able to seize, he brings by persuasion to the grace of faith; and points out eternal life to those, to whom, when captured, he secures their present life. Why is this? Because he is now, in truth, gathering the floor, which before he used to winnow, by scattering it with his proud horn. Let blessed Job therefore hear what the princes of the Gentiles do, and not exalt himself in himself with the glory of his own so great virtue. Let the powerful prince hear also, with what devotion the mightier princes of this world become the servants of God, and let not him who has a pattern in others, pervert his virtue, in consequence of its singularity, into the sin of pride. For though God beheld no one like him at that time, yet He foresaw many, by whom to repress his boasting. 10. Because, therefore, earthly princes prostrate themselves before God with great humility, wicked men, who were before ranked in unbelief against the Church, and were raging with open hostility, now turn to other arguments of fraud. For since they see that those reverence religion, they themselves adopt a respect for religion, and under a despicable garb oppress the conduct of the good, by their wicked habits. For they are in truth lovers of the world, and make a show of that in themselves which man can admire, and unite themselves, not in heart, but in garb, to those who truly despise themselves. For since, though loving…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
