Verse Lens · Context pointer
Job 39:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Job 39:20 advances the thought unit with the words “Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.” The LORD states “Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible” as one poetic claim in The Warhorse Rejoices in Terrible Strength.
Read It With
- Job 39:19–39:25
Read Job 39:20 with 39:19–39:25. Read alone, “Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: The LORD describes the horse's neck, snorting, pawing, fearlessness, armor noise, speed, and response to the trumpet and battle.
Why It Needs Context
Job 39:20 depends on 39:19–39:25; isolating “Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible” would detach a poetic premise, image, response, or transition from The LORD and “The Warhorse Rejoices in Terrible Strength.”
Read Job 39:19–25 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 39:19–39:25 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained divine-speech movement: “The Warhorse Rejoices in Terrible Strength.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 19. 19 Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Verse 20. 20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
Verse 21. 21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.
Verse 22. 22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.
Verse 23. 23 The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield.
Verse 24. 24 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
Verse 25. 25 He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 39:19–39:25 — The Warhorse Rejoices in Terrible StrengthSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
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 39:19–39:25, 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 39:19–39:25
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗