Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
Parallel translations
- WEB Can you hold the wild ox in the furrow with his harness? Or will he till the valleys after you?
- BSB Can you hold him to the furrow with a harness? Will he plow the valleys behind you?
- NKJV Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with ropes? Or will he plow the valleys behind you?
- NASB “Can you tie down the wild bull in a furrow with ropes, Or will he plow the valleys after you?
- NLT Can you hitch a wild ox to a plow? Will it plow a field for you?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Can Job harness the wild ox to plow furrows or work the valleys for him? Its strength is not Job's to command.
Overview
The LORD asks if Job can yoke the wild ox to till the fields. Unlike a tame ox, this beast will not be controlled. The question exposes the limits of human power even over a single animal, sharpening Job's sense of his place before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Job 39:7He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver.
- Job 41:5Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
- Job 1:14And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
- Ps 129:3The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.
- Mic 1:13O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
- Job 39:5Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?
- Hos 10:10–11It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 39:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.