For she leaves her eggs on the earth, warms them in the dust,
Parallel translations
- KJV Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust,
- BSB For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand.
- NKJV For she leaves her eggs on the ground, And warms them in the dust;
- NASB For she abandons her eggs to the earth And warms them in the dust,
- NLT She lays her eggs on top of the earth, letting them be warmed in the dust.
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
The ostrich leaves her eggs on the ground, letting the warm dust incubate them. Her ways seem careless to human eyes.
Overview
God notes the ostrich's habit of laying her eggs in the sand rather than guarding them closely. To human observers this looks like reckless neglect. The description sets up the lesson that God's purposes are at work even in creatures whose behavior baffles us.
Cross-references & the web
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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 39:14 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
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