Displaying an astonishing knowledge of living nature, the author of the Book of Job celebrates its beauty as a manifestation of the Creator's greatness and...
Displaying an astonishing knowledge of living nature, the author of the Book of Job celebrates its beauty as a manifestation of the Creator's greatness and unsurpassed strength. The breadth of the hymn, which makes up chapters 38 and 39 and continues through the next two chapters, is necessary for the author to convey the scale of creation, the immensity of God's great and glorious works.
All living creatures, in their diversity, beauty and differences from one another, are in God's hands. He governs their lives, just as He governs the movements of the heavenly bodies. ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's will,’ says the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 10:29). In his own way, the author of the Book of Job likewise affirms that the whole created world is subject to God. This matters because God is speaking of all this to Job, the very Job who complained of being forgotten by Him. The author may not say, as Christ does, that a human being is worth far more in God's eyes than small birds—strictly speaking, only the Lord Himself has the right to say this. Nevertheless, it is clear that a human being, if not better, is at least no worse than those creatures whose fate is always in the Almighty's hands. Thus the Lord indirectly answers Job's grief. It is important to set this aspect of God's answer beside the words spoken by God Himself through Second Isaiah about a century and a half before the Book of Job was written: ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even if she should forget, I will not forget you’ (Isa. 49:15).
Moreover, the immensity of creation as described by the author of the Book of Job reveals the scale of the Creator's purpose. He finds wondrous and inexplicable details in nature, all of which testify that God in His wisdom rules the whole world and assigns every creature its place and purpose. Once again, the implication is that all this can be applied to the human being too, and therefore to Job. ‘Why did You bring me out of the womb?’ Job asked bitterly at the beginning of the book. In essence, this was a lament in the form of a rhetorical question; Job expressed the same thing when he said it would have been better not to have been born. This is not merely a poetic expression: similar reflections can also be found in Ecclesiastes. Such pessimism was probably characteristic of the post-exilic age. Yet in His answer to Job, the Lord says that every creature has a purpose and a unique place, human beings included. Here we encounter an example of interpretation within the Bible itself, since the author reflects on and interprets the Revelation that entered the Mosaic tradition in the form of the account of the creation of the world and humanity. The Lord may not say here why He created Job, but in the context of the book, as in real life, what matters decisively is the very fact that such a purpose exists and is known to God. Here, intentionally or not, the author points to a radical difference between human beings and living nature. God's purpose for other creatures can be defined and formulated; the adequacy of that formulation is not fundamentally important in this case. God's purpose for a human being always exists, but is always determined by the relationship between that person and God, and therefore cannot be formulated once and for all.
39 The more fully to convince Job of his ignorance, God here discourses, Of the wild goats and hinds, Job 39:1-4.
Of the wild ass, Job 39:5-8.
Of the unicorn, Job 39:9-12.
Of the peacock and ostrich, Job 39:13-18.
Of the horse, Job 39:19-25.
Of the hawk and eagle, Job 39:26-30.
39:4 Young ones - Notwithstanding their great weakness caused by their hard entrance into the world. Grow up - As with corn, that is, as if they were fed with corn. Go forth - Finding sufficient provisions abroad by the care of God's providence.
39:5 Sent - Who hath given him this disposition that he loves freedom, and hates that subjection which other creatures quietly endure?Loosed - Who keeps him from receiving the bands, and submitting to the service of man.
39:7 Scorneth - He feareth them not when they pursue him, because he is swift, and can easily escape them. Driver - He will not be brought to receive his yoke, nor to do his drudgery.
39:8 Mountains - He prefers that mean provision with his freedom, before the fattest pastures with servitude.
39:9 Unicorn - It is disputed whether this be the Rhinoceros; or a kind of wild bull.
39:16 Her labour - In laying her eggs is in vain, because she hath not the fear and tender concern for them, which she should have.
39:17 Deprived - Because God hath not implanted in her that instinct, and affection, which he hath put into other birds and beasts toward their young.
39:18 Lifteth - To flee from her pursuer: to which end she lifts up her head and body, and spreads her wings. Scorneth - She despises them thro' her swiftness; for though she cannot fly, yet by the aid of her wings she runs so fast, that horse - men cannot reach her.