Job 39:13–39:18, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Job 39:13–39:18
The Ostrich Embodies Strange, Effective Creaturely Life
A bird is drawn as strange, and then as faster than a horse
The Hebrew is difficult, and English has often said 'peacock' or 'ostrich.' The wings are described as a joyful, unusual gift. The creature leaves eggs in the earth, warms them in dust, and forgets that a foot may crush them or a wild beast may break them.
She is hardened against her young, as though they were not hers. Her labor is in vain without fear, because God has deprived her of wisdom and has not imparted understanding. Yet when she lifts herself up on high, she scorns the horse and his rider.
The portrait is not a verdict on mothers or on minds
The speech is showing a creature that does not match human ideals of careful parenting and still runs in a way that mocks cavalry. Effectiveness and oddity coexist in a world Job did not design.
The unit must not be turned into a moral judgment on women, on parents who struggle, or on people with cognitive differences. God-given lack of a certain 'wisdom' in a bird is not a human diagnosis, not a slur, and not a parenting manual.
How this should shape us
Let a creature be odd and effective without using it to shame a parent, a woman, or a person whose mind does not match your standard. The world contains lives that will not illustrate your household rules.
Teach it back
Explain Job 39:13–39:18 in your own words. Name the speaker, the unit's place in Job, one source-controlled textual or literary observation, one uncertainty, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: The Hebrew is difficult, and the creature portrait should not be turned into a moral judgment on parents, women, or people with cognitive differences.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Job 39:13–39:18, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 39:13–39:18
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 39:13–39:18.
Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 39:13–39:18
Supports: Book-level and passage-level literary, historical, theological, and pastoral synthesis with speaker distinctions and visible uncertainty.
Enter the Bible Job course, Introductory Issues and Theological Themes: divine speeches, creation, Behemoth, and Leviathan; applied to Job 39:13–39:18
Supports: Lament, undeserved suffering, creation's wild freedom, nonhuman value, chaos imagery, encounter, and ending, used as one responsible pastoral-scholarly reading.
Schifferdecker, Working Preacher Job series, commentary headed for Job 38:1-41:34; applied to Job 39:13–39:18
Supports: Ancient Greek textual and translation evidence where the Masoretic and Greek forms, wording, length, or attribution materially differ.
NETS Iob, introduction on the shorter Old Greek and exact Greek translation and notes for Iob 39:13–39:18
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 39:13–39:18, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 39:13–39:18
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Job
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 39:13–39:18.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 39:13–39:18
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Job course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Daniel J. Simundson and Kathryn Schifferdecker
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current online edition inspected 2026
Supports: Book-level and passage-level literary, historical, theological, and pastoral synthesis with speaker distinctions and visible uncertainty.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Job course, Introductory Issues and Theological Themes: divine speeches, creation, Behemoth, and Leviathan; applied to Job 39:13–39:18
Open the Enter the Bible Job course ↗modern scholarly pastoral commentary collection
Job preaching series and creation commentaries
Kathryn M. Schifferdecker
Working Preacher, Luther Seminary, 2012-2016
Supports: Lament, undeserved suffering, creation's wild freedom, nonhuman value, chaos imagery, encounter, and ending, used as one responsible pastoral-scholarly reading.
Exact location: Schifferdecker, Working Preacher Job series, commentary headed for Job 38:1-41:34; applied to Job 39:13–39:18
Open Schifferdecker on Job 38-42 ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Iob
Claude E. Cox
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek textual and translation evidence where the Masoretic and Greek forms, wording, length, or attribution materially differ.
Exact location: NETS Iob, introduction on the shorter Old Greek and exact Greek translation and notes for Iob 39:13–39:18
Open NETS Iob ↗