the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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King James Version
Job 39:1
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"Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth?Do you keep watch over the calving of the deer?
"Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer?
Knowest thou the time whe the wylde goates bring foorth their young among the stonye rockes? or layest thou wayte when the hindes vse to calue?
Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? dost thou mark the calving of the hinds?
"Do you know the time when the wild mountain goats bear young? Or can you mark when the deer gives birth?
Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock bear? Do you observe the calving of deer?
"Do you know when the mountain goats are born? Do you watch when the mother deer gives birth?
"Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?
Knowest thou the time when the wild goates of the rocke bring forth? or canst thou marke when the hindes doe calue?
Knowest thou the tyme when the wilde gotes brige forth their yoge amoge the stony rockes? Or layest thou wayte when the hindes vse to fawne?
"Do you know the month when mountain goats give birth? Have you ever watched a doe bear her fawn? Do you know how many months she is pregnant? Do you know the season of her delivery, when she crouches down and drops her offspring? Her young ones flourish and are soon on their own; they leave and don't come back.
Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? Or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
Have you knowledge of the rock-goats? or do you see the roes giving birth to their young?
Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? [Or] can you mark when the hinds calve?
Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? [or] canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
"Are you acquainted with the way the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young?
The Lord Continues When do mountain goats and deer give birth? Have you been there when their young are born?
"Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you seen deer in labor?
Knowest thou the time when the wilde goates bring foorth yong? or doest thou marke when the hindes doe calue?
DO you know the time when wild goats bring forth in the steep rocks? Or can you watch the calving of hinds?
"Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock give birth [to their young]? Do you observe the calving of the deer?
"Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?
Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? Or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
"Do you know when the wild goats give birth? Have you watched as deer are born in the wild?
"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch the deer giving birth?
Say if thou knowest the time of the bringing forth of the wild goats of the rock, and if thou hast marked the calving of the hinds:
Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?
"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer?
Knowest thou the season when the Wild Goats of the crags beget? The bringing forth of the hinds, canst thou observe?
Knowest thou the time when the wild goats bring forth among the rocks, or hast thou observed the hinds when they fawn?
"Do you know the time when the goats of the rocks give birth? Do you observe the doe deer's giving birth?
"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the does?
"Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer?
"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the deer gives birth to her fawn?
Do you know when mountain goats are born? Have you watched wild deer give birth?
Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the deer in labor?
Whethir thou knowist the tyme of birthe of wielde geet in stoonys, ethir hast thou aspied hyndis bryngynge forth calues?
Hast thou known the time of The bearing of the wild goats of the rock? The bringing forth of hinds thou dost mark!
"Do you know when the mountain goats bring forth? Do you observe the calving of the hinds?
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
the wild: 1 Samuel 24:2, Psalms 104:18
when: Psalms 29:9, Jeremiah 14:5
Reciprocal: Genesis 1:24 - Let Psalms 8:8 - The fowl Proverbs 6:7 - General Proverbs 25:2 - the glory Ecclesiastes 11:5 - even
Cross-References
And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.
And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth?.... Which creatures are so called, because they dwell among the rocks d and run upon them; and though their heads are loaded with a vast burden of horns upon them, yet can so poise themselves, as with the greatest swiftness, to leap from mountain to mountain, as Pliny says e: and if they bring forth their young in the rocks, as Olympiodorus asserts, and which is not improbable, it is not to be wondered, that the time of their bringing forth should not be known by men, to whom the rocks they run upon are inaccessible;
[or] canst thou mark the time when the hinds do calve? that is, precisely and exactly, and so as to direct, order, and manage, and bring it about, as the Lord does: and it is wonderful that they should calve, and not cast their young before their time, when they are continually in flight and fright, through men or wild beasts, and are almost always running and leaping about; and often scared with thunder, which hastens birth, Psalms 29:9; otherwise the time of their bringing forth in general is known by men, as will be observed in Job 39:2.
d "----Amantis saxa capellae". Ovid. Epist. 15. v. 55. e Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 53. Aelian. de Animal. l. 14. c. 16.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Knowest thou, the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth? - That is, the particular season when the mountain goats bring forth their young. Of domestic animals - the sheep, the tame goat, etc., the habits would be fuIly understood. But the question here relates to the animals that roamed at large on inaccessible cliffs; that were buried in deep forests; that were far from the dwellings and observation of people; and the meaning is, that there were many facts in regard to such points of Natural History which Job could not explain. God knew all their instincts and habits, and on the inaccessible cliffs, in the deep dell, in the dark forest, he was with them, and they were the objects of his care. He not only regarded the condition of the domestic animals that had been brought into the service of man, and where man perhaps might be disposed to claim that they owed much of their comfort to his care, but he regarded also the wild, wandering beast of the mountain, where no such pretence could be advanced.
The providence of God is over them; and in the periods of their lives when they seem most to need attention, when every shepherd and herdsmen is most solicitous about his flocks and herds, then God is present, and his care is seen in their preservation. The particular point in the inquiry here is, not in regard to the time when these animals produced their young or the period of their gestation, which might probably be known, but in regard to the attention and care which was needful for them when they were so far removed from the observance of man, and had no human aid. The “wild goat of the rock” here referred to, is, doubtless, the Ibex, or mountain goat, that has its dwellings among the rocks, or in stony places. The Hebrew term is יעל yâ‛êl, from יעל ya‛al, “to ascend, to go up.” They had their residence in the lofty rocks of mountains; Psalms 104:18. “The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats.”
Hebrew “For the goats of the rocks” - סלעים יעלים yâ‛êliym sela‛iym. So in 1 Samuel 24:2 (3), “Saul went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats;” that is, where were the wild goats - היעלים hayâ‛êliym. For a description of the wild goat, see Bochart, Hieroz. P. i. Lib. iii. c. xxiii. The animal here referred to is, doubtless, the same which Burckhardt saw on the summit of Mount Catharine, adjacent to Mount Sinai, and which he thus describes in his Travels in Syria, p. 571: “As we approached the summit of the mountain (Catharine, adjacent to Mount Sinai), we saw at a distance a small flock of mountain goats feeding among the rocks. One of our Arabs left us, and by a widely circuitous route endeavored to get to the leeward of them, and near enough to fire at them. He enjoined us to remain in sight of them, and to sit down in order not to alarm them. He had nearly reached a favorable spot behind a rock, when the goats suddenly took to flight. They could not have seen the Arab, but the wind changed, and thus they smelt him. The chase of the beden, as the wild goat is called, resembles that of the chamois of the Alps, and requires as much enterprise and patience. The Arabs make long circuits to surprise them, and endeavor to come upon them early in the morning, when they feed.
The goats have a leader who keeps watch, and on any suspicious smell, sound, or object, makes a noise, which is a signal to the flock to make their escape. They have much decreased of late, if we may believe the Arabs; who say that fifty years ago, if a stranger came to a tent, and the owner of it had no sheep to kill, he took his gun and went in search of a beden. They are, however, even now more common here than in the Alps, or in the mountains to the east of the Red Sea. I had three or four of them brought to me at the convent, which I bought at three-fourths of a dollar each. The flesh is excellent, and has nearly the same flavor as that of the deer. The Bedouins make water bags of their skins, and rings of their horns, which they wear on their thumbs. When the beden is met with in the plains, the dogs of the hunters easily catch him; but they cannot come up with him among the rocks, where he can make leaps of 20 feet.”
Or Canst thou mark when the hinds do calve? - The reference here is to the special care and protection of God manifested for them. The meaning is, that this animal seems to be always timid and apprehensive of danger, and that there is special care bestowed upon an animal so defenseless in enabling it to rear its young. The word hinds denotes the deer, the fawn, the most timid and defenseless, perhaps, of all animals.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XXXIX
Several animals described: the wild goats and hinds, 1-4.
The wild ass, 5-8.
The unicorn, 9-12.
The peacock and ostrich, 13-18.
The war-horse, 19-25.
The hawk, 26.
And the eagle and her brood, 27-30.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIX
Verse Job 39:1. Knowest thou the time — To know time, c., only, was easy, and has nothing extraordinary in it but the meaning of these questions is, to know the circumstances, which have something peculiarly expressive of God's providence, and make the questions proper in this place. Pliny observes, that the hind with young is by instinct directed to a certain herb, named seselis, which facilitates the birth. Thunder, also, which looks like the more immediate hand of Providence, has the same effect. Psalms 29:9: "The VOICE of the Lord maketh the HINDS to CALVE." See Dr. YOUNG. What is called the wild goat, יעל yael, from עלה alah, to ascend, go or mount up, is generally understood to be the ibex or mountain goat, called yael, from the wonderful manner in which it mounts to the tops of the highest rocks. It is certain, says Johnston, there is no crag of the mountains so high, prominent or steep, but this animal will mount it in a number of leaps, provided only it be rough, and have protuberances large enough to receive its hoofs in leaping. This animal is indigenous to Arabia, is of amazing strength and agility, and considerably larger than the common goat. Its horns are very long, and often bend back over the whole body of the animal; and it is said to throw itself from the tops of rocks or towers, and light upon its horns, without receiving any damage. It goes five months with young.
When the hinds do calve? — The hind is the female of the stag, or cervus elaphus, and goes eight months with young. They live to thirty-five or forty years. Incredible longevity has been attributed to some stags. One was taken by Charles VI., in the forest of Senlis, about whose neck was a collar with this inscription, Caesar hoc mihi donavit, which led some to believe that this animal had lived from the days of some one of the twelve Caesars, emperors of Rome.
I have seen the following form of this inscription: -
Tempore quo Caesar Roma dominatus in alta
Aureolo jussit collum signare monili;
Ne depascentem quisquis me gramina laedat.
Caesaris heu! caussa periturae parcere vitae!
Which has been long public in the old English ballad strain, thus: -
"When Julius Caesar reigned king,
About my neck he put this ring;
That whosoever should me take
Would save my life for Caesar's sake."
Aristotle mentions the longevity of the stag, but thinks it fabulous.
