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PARALLEL BIBLE - Job 39:19


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King James Bible - Job 39:19

Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?

World English Bible

"Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?

Douay-Rheims - Job 39:19

Wilt thou give strength to the horse, or clothe his neck with neighing?

Webster's Bible Translation

Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?

Original Hebrew

התתן
5414 לסוס 5483 גבורה 1369 התלבישׁ 3847 צוארו 6677 רעמה׃ 7483

Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge

VERSE (19) -
Ex 15:1 Ps 147:10

SEV Biblia, Chapter 39:19

¶ ¿Diste t al caballo la fortaleza? ¿Vestiste t su cerviz de relincho?

Clarke's Bible Commentary - Job 39:19

Verse 19. Hast thou given the horse strength? ] Before I proceed to any observations, I shall give Mr. Good's version of this, perhaps inimitable, description: - Ver. 19. Hast thou bestowed on the horse mettle? Hast thou
clothed his neck with the thunder flash? Ver. 20. Hast thou given him to launch forth as an arrow? Terrible is the pomp of his nostrils.

Ver. 21. He paweth in the valley, and exulteth. Boldly he advanceth against the clashing host: Ver. 22. He mocketh at fear, and trembleth not: Nor turneth he back from the sword.

Ver. 23. Against him rattleth the quiver, The glittering spear, and the shield: Ver. 24. With rage and fury he devoureth the ground; And is impatient when the trumpet soundeth.

Ver. 25. He exclaimeth among the trumpets, Aha! And scenteth the battle afar off, The thunder of the chieftains, and the shouting.

In the year 1713, a letter was sent to the GUARDIAN, which makes No. 86 of that work, containing a critique on this description, compared with similar descriptions of Homer and Virgil. I shall give the substance of it here: - The great Creator, who accommodated himself to those to whom he vouchsafed to speak, hath put into the mouths of his prophets such sublime sentiments and exalted language as must abash the pride and wisdom of man. In the book of Job, the most ancient poem in the world, we have such paintings and descriptions as I have spoken of in great variety. I shall at present make some remarks on the celebrated description of the horse, in that holy book; and compare it with those drawn by Homer and Virgil. Homer hath the following similitude of a horse twice over in the Iliad, which Virgil hath copied from him; at least he hath deviated less from Homer than Mr. Dryden hath from him: - wv d ote tiv statov ippov, akosthsav epi fatnh, desmon aporrhxzv qeiei pedioio kroainwn, eiwqwv louesqai eurreiov potamoio, kudiown uyou de karh ecei, amoi de caitai wmoiv aissontai o d aglaihfi pepoiqwv rimfa e gouna ferei meta t hqea kai nomon ippwn. HOM. Il. lib. vi., ver. 506; and lib. xv., ver. 263.

Freed from his keepers, thus with broken reins The wanton courser prances o'er the plains, Or in the pride of youth o'erleaps the mound, And snuffs the female in forbidden ground; Or seeks his watering in the well-known flood, To quench his thirst, and cool his fiery blood; He swims luxuriant in the liquid plain, And o'er his shoulders flows his waving mane; He neighs, he snorts, he bears his head on high; Before his ample chest the frothy waters fly.

Virgil's description is much fuller than the foregoing, which, as I said, is only a simile; whereas Virgil professes to treat of the nature of the horse: -- Tum, si qua sonum procul arma dedere, Stare loco nescit: micat auribus, et tremit artus Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem: Densa juba, et dextro jactata recumbit in armo.

At duplex agitur per lumbos spina, cavatque Tellurem, et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu. VIRG. Georg. lib. iii., ver. 83.

Which is thus admirably translated: ] The fiery courser, when he hears from far The sprightly trumpets, and the shouts of war, Pricks up his ears; and, trembling with delight, Shifts pace, and paws, and hopes the promised fight.

On his right shoulder his thick mane reclined, Ruffles at speed, and dances in the wind.

His horny hoofs are jetty black and round; His chin is double: starting with a bound, He turns the turf, and shakes the solid ground.

Fire from his eyes, clouds from his nostrils flow; He bears his rider headlong on the foe.

Now follows that in the Book of Job, which, under all the disadvantages of having been written in a language little understood, of being expressed in phrases peculiar to a part of the world whose manner of thinking and speaking seems to us very uncouth; and, above all, of appearing in a prose translation; is nevertheless so transcendently above the heathen descriptions, that hereby we may perceive how faint and languid the images are which are formed by human authors, when compared with those which are figured, as it were, just as they appear in the eye of the Creator. God, speaking to Job, asks him: - [To do our translators as much justice as possible, and to help the critic, I shall throw it in the hemistich form, in which it appears in the Hebrew, and in which all Hebrew poetry is written.] Ver. 19. Hast thou given to the HORSE strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Ver. 20. Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is terrible! Ver. 21. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in strength: He goeth on to meet the armed men.

Ver. 22. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted: Neither turneth he back from the sword.

Ver. 23. Against him rattleth the quiver, The glittering spear and the shield.

Ver. 24. He swalloweth the ground with rage and fierceness: Nor doth he believe that it is the sound of the trumpet.

Ver. 25. He saith among the trumpets, Heach! And from afar he scenteth the battle, The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

Here are all the great and sprightly images that thought can form of this generous beast, expressed in such force and vigour of style as would have given the great wits of antiquity new laws for the sublime, had they been acquainted with these writings. I cannot but particularly observe that whereas the classical poets chiefly endeavour to paint the outward figure, lineaments, and motions, the sacred poet makes all the beauties to flow from an inward principle in the creature he describes; and thereby gives great spirit and vivacity to his description. The following phrases and circumstances are singularly remarkable: - Ver. 19. Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Homer and Virgil mention nothing about the neck of the horse but his mane. The sacred author, by the bold figure of thunder, not only expresses the shaking of that remarkable beauty in the horse, and the flakes of hair, which naturally suggest the idea of lightning; but likewise the violent agitation and force of the neck, which in the oriental tongues had been flatly expressed by a metaphor less bold than this.

Ver. 20. Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? There is a twofold beauty in this expression, which not only marks the courage of this beast, by asking if he can be scared; but likewise raises a noble image of his swiftness, by insinuating that, if he could be frightened, he would bound away with the nimbleness of a grasshopper.

The glory of his nostrils is terrible. ] This is more strong and concise than that of Virgil, which yet is the noblest line that was ever written without inspiration: - Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem.

And in his nostrils rolls collected fire. GEOR. iii., ver. 85.

Ver. 21. He rejoiceth in his strength.

Ver. 22. He mocketh at fear.

Ver. 24. Neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.

Ver. 25. He saith among the trumpets, Ha! ha! These are signs of courage, as I said before, flowing from an inward principle. There is a peculiar beauty in his not believing it is the sound of the trumpet: that is, he cannot believe it for joy; but when he is sure of it, and is among the trumpets, he saith, Ha! ha! He neighs, he rejoices. His docility is elegantly painted in his being unmoved at the rattling quiver, the glittering spear, and the shield, ver. 23, and is well imitated by Oppian, - who undoubtedly read Job, as Virgil did, - in his Poem on Hunting: - pwv men gar te macaisin arhiov ekluen ippov hcon egersimoqon dolicwn polemhion aulwn; h pwv anta dedorken askardamuktoisin opwpaiv aizhoisi locon pepukasmenon oplithsi; kai calkon selageunta, kai astraptonta sidhron; kai maqen eute menein creiw, pote d autiv arouein.

OPPIAN CYNEGET, lib. i., ver. 206.

Now firm the managed war-horse keeps his ground, Nor breaks his order though the trumpet sound! With fearless eye the glittering host surveys, And glares directly at the helmet's blaze.

The master's word, the laws of war, he knows; And when to stop, and when to charge the foes.

He swalloweth the ground, ver. 24, is an expression for prodigious swiftness in use among the Arabians, Job's countrymen, to the present day. The Latins have something like it:- Latumque fuga consumere campum. NEMESIAN.

In flight the extended champaign to consume.

Carpere prata fuga. VIRG. GEORG. III., Ver. 142.

In flight to crop the meads.- Campumque volatu Cum rapuere, pedum vestigia quaeras.

When, in their fight, the champaign they have snatch'd, No track is left behind.

It is indeed the boldest and noblest of images for swiftness; nor have I met with any thing that comes so near it as Mr. Pope's, in Windsor Forest: - Th' impatient courser pants in every vein, And pawing, seems to beat the distant plain; Hills, vales, and floods, appear already cross'd; And ere he starts, a thousand steps are lost.

He smelleth the battle afar off, and what follows about the shouting, is a circumstance expressed with great spirit by Lucan: - So when the ring with joyful shouts resounds, With rage and pride th' imprison'd courser bounds; He frets, he foams, he rends his idle rein, Springs o'er the fence, and headlong seeks the plain.

This judicious and excellent critique has left me little to say on this sublime description of the horse: I shall add some cursory notes only. In ver. 19 we have the singular image, clothed his neck with thunder. How thunder and the horse's neck can be well assimilated to each other, I confess I cannot see. The author of the preceding critique seems to think that the principal part of the allusion belongs to the shaking of this remarkable beauty (the mane) in a horse; and the flakes of hair, which naturally suggest the idea of lightning. I am satisfied that the floating mane is here meant. The original is hm[r ramah, which Bochart and other learned men translate as above. How much the mane of a horse shaking and waving in the wind adds to his beauty and stateliness, every one is sensible; and the Greek and Latin poets, in their description of the horse, take notice of it. Thus Homer: -- amfi de caitai wmoiv aissontai. Iliad vi., ver. 509.

"His mane dishevell'd o'er his shoulders flies." And Virgil: - Luduntque per colla, per armos. AEN. xi., ver. 497.

The verb [r raam signifies to toss, to agitate; and may very properly be applied to the mane, for reasons obvious to all. Virgil has seized this characteristic in his fine line, Georg. iii. ver. lxx16: - Densa juba, et dextro jactata recumbit in armo.

"His toss'd thick mane on his right shoulder falls." Naturally, the horse is one of the most timid of animals; and this may be at once accounted for from his small quantity of brain. Perhaps there is no animal of his size that has so little. He acquires courage only from discipline; for naturally he starts with terror and affright at any sudden noise. It requires much discipline to bring him to hear the noise of drums and trumpets, and especially to bear a pair of kettle drums placed on each side his neck, and beaten there, with the most alarming variety of sounds.

Query, Does the sacred text allude to any thing of this kind? I have been led to form this thought from the following circumstance. In some ancient MSS. of the Shah Nameh, a most eminent heroic poem, by the poet Ferdoosy, the Homer of India, in my own collection, adorned with paintings, representing regal interviews, animals, battles, &c., there appear in some places representations of elephants, horses, and camels, with a pair of drums, something like our kettle drums, hanging on each side of the animal's neck, and beaten, by a person on the saddle, with two plectrums or drumsticks; the neck itself being literally clothed with the drums and the housings on which they are fixed. Who is it then that has framed the disposition of such a timid animal, that by proper discipline it can bear those thundering sounds, which at first would have scared it to the uttermost of distraction? The capacity to receive discipline and instruction is as great a display of the wisdom of God as the formation of the bodies of the largest, smallest, or most complex animals is of his power. I leave this observation without laying any stress upon it. On such difficult subjects conjecture has a lawful range.


Matthew Henry Commentary

God inquires of Job concerning several animals.

--In these questions the Lord continued to humble Job. In this chapte several animals are spoken of, whose nature or situation particularl show the power, wisdom, and manifold works of God. The wild ass. It is better to labour and be good for something, than to ramble and be goo for nothing. From the untameableness of this and other creatures, we may see, how unfit we are to give law to Providence, who cannot giv law even to a wild ass's colt. The unicorn, a strong, stately, prou creature. He is able to serve, but not willing; and God challenges Jo to force him to it. It is a great mercy if, where God gives strengt for service, he gives a heart; it is what we should pray for, an reason ourselves into, which the brutes cannot do. Those gifts are no always the most valuable that make the finest show. Who would no rather have the voice of the nightingale, than the tail of the peacock the eye of the eagle and her soaring wing, and the natural affection of the stork, than the beautiful feathers of the ostrich, which can neve rise above the earth, and is without natural affection? The descriptio of the war-horse helps to explain the character of presumptuou sinners. Every one turneth to his course, as the horse rushes into the battle. When a man's heart is fully set in him to do evil, and he is carried on in a wicked way, by the violence of his appetites an passions, there is no making him fear the wrath of God, and the fata consequences of sin. Secure sinners think themselves as safe in their sins as the eagle in her nest on high, in the clefts of the rocks; but I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord, Jer 49:16. All these beautiful references to the works of nature, should teach us right view of the riches of the wisdom of Him who made and sustains all things. The want of right views concerning the wisdom of God, which i ever present in all things, led Job to think and speak unworthily of Providence __________________________________________________________________


Original Hebrew

התתן 5414 לסוס 5483 גבורה 1369 התלבישׁ 3847 צוארו 6677 רעמה׃ 7483


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