She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without concern,
Parallel translations
- WEB She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,
- KJV She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;
- BSB She treats her young harshly, as if not her own, with no concern that her labor was in vain.
- NASB “She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers; Though her labor is for nothing, she is unconcerned,
- NLT She is harsh toward her young, as if they were not her own. She doesn’t care if they die.
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
God describes the ostrich, which seems to neglect her young and labors without apparent reward, yet lives without fear. It shows that God's creatures display a wisdom and design beyond human accounting.
Overview
Continuing his survey of the wild creatures, God highlights the ostrich, whose seemingly careless treatment of her eggs and young puzzles human observers. The point is not to praise cruelty but to display how God's ordering of creation surpasses Job's understanding. Even what looks foolish to us falls under the Creator's wise governance, calling Job to humble trust rather than complaint.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Lam 4:3Even the jackals draw out the breast, they nurse their young ones: But the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
- Rom 1:31without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful;
- Deut 28:56–57The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter,
- Eccl 10:15The labor of fools wearies every one of them; for he doesn’t know how to go to the city.
- 1 Kgs 3:26–27Then the woman whose the living child was spoke to the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and in no way kill him!” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide him.”
- Lam 2:20“Look, Yahweh, and see to whom you have done thus! Shall the women eat their offspring, the children that are dandled in the hands? Shall the priest and the prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
- Hab 2:13Behold, isn’t it of Yahweh of Armies that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity?
- 2 Kgs 6:28–29The king said to her, “What is your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’
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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 39:16 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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