the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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Job 39:26
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"Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar and spread its wings toward the south?
Doth the hawk soar by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?
Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, (And) stretches her wings toward the south?
"Is it through your wisdom that the hawk flies and spreads its wings toward the south?
"Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings toward the south?
Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, [and] stretch her wings towards the south?
"Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, And stretches her wings toward the south?
"Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south?
Whether an hauk spredinge abrood hise wyngis to the south, bigynneth to haue fetheris bi thi wisdom?
Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south?
Did you teach hawks to fly south for the winter?
Is it by thy wisdom that the hawk soareth, And stretcheth her wings toward the south?
Is it through your knowledge that the hawk takes his flight, stretching out his wings to the south?
"Is it your wisdom that sets the hawk soaring, spreading its wings toward the south?
Doth the hawk fly by thine intelligence, [and] stretch his wings toward the south?
"Did you teach the hawk how to spread its wings and fly south?
Doth the hawk soar by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?
Doeth the hawke flie by thy wisedome, and stretch her wings toward the South?
"Is it by your understanding that the hawk flies, spreading his wings toward the south?
"Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings toward the south?
Shall the hauke flie by thy wisedome, stretching out his wings toward the South?
Is it by your wisdom that the hawk was created and wings his way toward the south?
Does a hawk learn from you how to fly when it spreads its wings toward the south?
Is it, by thine understanding, that the Bird of Passage betaketh him to his pinions? spreadeth out his wings to the south?
Doth the hawk wax feathered by thy wisdom, spreading her wings to the south?
"Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads his wings toward the south?
Commeth it through thy wysdome that the Goshauke flieth toward the south?
And does the hawk remain steady by thy wisdom, having spread out her wings unmoved, looking toward the region of the south?
Does the hawk take flight by your understandingand spread its wings to the south?
"Is it by your wisdom that the netz soars, And stretches her wings toward the south?
Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?
"Does the hawk soar by your wisdom? Does it spread its wings to the south?
Does the hawk soar from your understanding? Will he spread his wings toward the south?
By thine understanding flieth a hawk? Spreadeth he his wings to the south?
Commeth it thorow thy wysdome, that the goshauke flyeth towarde the south?
"Was it through your know-how that the hawk learned to fly, soaring effortlessly on thermal updrafts? Did you command the eagle's flight, and teach her to build her nest in the heights, Perfectly at home on the high cliff face, invulnerable on pinnacle and crag? From her perch she searches for prey, spies it at a great distance. Her young gorge themselves on carrion; wherever there's a roadkill, you'll see her circling."
"Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south?
"Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, And spread its wings toward the south?
"Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south?
"Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars,Stretching his wings toward the south?
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
the hawk: Netz, Arabic naz, Latin nisus, the hawk, so called from natzah, to shoot away, fly, because of the rapidity of its flight. It probably comprehends various species of the falcon family, as the ger-falcon, goshawk, and sparrowhawk. Leviticus 16:11, Deuteronomy 14:15
stretch: Is it through thy teaching that the falcon, or any other bird of passage, knows the precise time for taking flight, and the direction in which she is to go to arrive at a warmer climate? Song of Solomon 2:12, Jeremiah 8:7
Reciprocal: Psalms 50:11 - know Proverbs 6:7 - General
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom,.... With so much swiftness, steadiness, and constancy, until she has seized her prey. The Vulgate Latin version and some others read, "does she become feathered", or "begin to have feathers?" and so Bochart: either when first fledged; or when, as it is said d she casts her old feathers and gets new ones, and this every year. Now neither her flight nor her feathers, whether at one time or the other, are owing to men, but to the Lord, who gives both;
[and] stretch her wings towards the south? Being a bird of passage, she moves from colder climates towards the winter, and steers her course to the south towards warmer ones e; which she does by an instinct in nature, put into her by the Lord, and not through the instruction of man. Or, as some say, casting off her old feathers, she flies towards the south for warmth; and that her feathers may be cherished with the heat, and grow the sooner and better. Hence it is, perhaps, as Aelianus reports f, that this bird was by the Egyptians consecrated to Apollo or the sun; it being able to look upon the rays of it wistly, constantly, and easily, without being hurt thereby. Porphyry g says, that this bird is not only acceptable to the sun; but has divinity in it, according to the Egyptians; and is no other than Osiris, or the sun represented by the image of it h. Strabo i speaks of a city of the hawks, where this creature is worshipped. It has its name in Greek from the sacredness of it; and according to Hesiod k, is very swift, and has large wings. It is called ωκυπτερος, swift in flying, by Manetho l; and by Homer, ωκιστος πετεηνων, the swiftest of fowls m. It has its name from נצה, to "fly", as Kimchi observes n. Cyril of Jerusalem, on the authority of the Greek version, affirms o, that by a divine instinct or order, the hawk, stretching out its wings, stands in the midst of the air unmoved, looking towards the south. All accounts show it to be a bird that loves warmth, which is the reason of the expression in the text.
d Aelian. de Animal. l. 12. c. 4. e Ibid. l. 2. c. 43. Plin. l. 10. c. 8. f De Animal. l. 7. c. 9. & l. 10. c. 14. g De Abstinentia, l. 4. s. 9. h Kircher. Prodrom. Copt. p. 232. i Geograph. l. 17. p. 562. k Opera & Dies, l. 1. v. 208. l Apotelesm. l. 5. v. 176. m Iliad. 15. v. 238. Odyss 13. v. 87. n Sepher Shorash. rad. נצה. o Cateches. 9. s. 6.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom - The appeal here is to the hawk, because it is among the most rapid of the birds in its flight. The particuIar thing specified is its flying, and it is supposed that there was something special in that which distinguished it from other birds. Whether it was in regard to its speed, to its manner of flying, or to its habits of flying at periodical seasons, may indeed be made a matter of inquiry, but it is clear that the particular thing in this bird which was adapted to draw the attention, and which evinced especially the wisdom of God, was connected with its flight. The word here rendered “hawk,” (נץ nêts) is probably generic, and includes the various species of the falcon or hawk tribe, as the jet-falcon, the goshawk, the sparrow, hawk, the lanner, the saker, the hobby, the kestril, and the merlin. Not less than one hundred and fifty species of the hawk, it is said, have been described, but of these many are little known, and many of them differ from others only by very slight distinctions.
They are birds of prey, and, as many of them are endowed with remarkable docility, they are trained for the diversions of falconry - which has been quite a science among sportsmen. The falcon, or hawk, is often distinguished for fleetness. One, belonging to a Duke of Cleves, flew out of Westphalia into Prussia in one day; and in the county of Norfolk (England) one was known to make a flight of nearly thirty miles in an hour. A falcon which belonged to Henry IV. of France, having escaped from Fontainebleau, was found twenty-four hours after in Malta, the space traversed being not less than one thousand three hundred and fifty miles; being a velocity of about fifty-seven miles an hour, on the supposition that the bird was on the wing the whole time. It is this remarkable velocity which is here appealed to as a proof of the divine wisdom. God asks Job whether he could have formed these birds for their rapid flight. The wisdom and skill which has done this is evidently far above any that is possessed by man.
And stretch her wings toward the south - Referring to the fact that the bird is migratory at certain seasons of the year. It is not here merely the rapidity of its flight which is referred to, but that remarkable instinct which leads the feathered tribes to seek more congenial climates at the approach of winter. In no way is this to be accounted for, except by the fact that God has so appointed it. This great law of the winged tribes is one of the clearest proofs of divine wisdom and agency.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 39:26. Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom — The hawk is called נץ nets, from its swiftness in darting down upon its prey; hence its Latin name, nisus, which is almost the same as the Hebrew. It may very probably mean the falcon, observes Dr. Shaw. The flight of a strong falcon is wonderfully swift. A falcon belonging to the Duke of Cleves flew out of Westphalia into Prussia in one day; and in the county of Norfolk, a hawk has made a flight at a woodcock of near thirty miles in an hour. Thuanus says, "A hawk flew from London to Paris in one night." It was owing to its swiftness that the Egyptians in their hieroglyphics made it the emblem of the wind.
Stretch her wings toward the south? — Most of the falcon tribe pass their spring and summer in cold climates; and wing their way toward warmer regions on the approach of winter. This is what is here meant by stretching her wings toward the south. Is it through thy teaching that this or any other bird of passage knows the precise time for taking flight, and the direction in which she is to go in order to come to a warmer climate? There is much of the wisdom and providence of God to be seen in the migration of birds of passage. This has been remarked before. There is a beautiful passage in Jeremiah, Jeremiah 8:7, on the same subject: "The stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of their coming: but my people know not the judgment of the Lord."
