For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed her with understanding.
Parallel translations
- WEB because God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has he imparted to her understanding.
- KJV Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
- NKJV Because God deprived her of wisdom, And did not endow her with understanding.
- NASB Because God has made her forget wisdom, And has not given her a share of understanding.
- NLT For God has deprived her of wisdom. He has given her no understanding.
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 says the ostrich lacks wisdom because he withheld it from her, underscoring that even an animal's limits are by his design. Every creature's capacities are apportioned by the Creator.
Overview
The ostrich's apparent foolishness is traced directly to God, who 'deprived her of wisdom.' This reminds Job that God assigns gifts and limits to each creature as he pleases, a theme echoing through the speech. If God so sovereignly orders the animal world, Job has no standing to charge him with injustice. The Creator owes no explanation to the creature.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Job 35:11who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’
- Isa 57:17I was enraged by his sinful greed, so I struck him and hid My face in anger; yet he kept turning back to the desires of his heart.
- Job 17:4You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them.
- Deut 2:30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the LORD your God had made his spirit stubborn and his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as is the case this day.
- Isa 19:11–14The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?
- Jas 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- 2 Chr 32:31And so when ambassadors of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, that He might know all that was in Hezekiah’s heart.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 39:17 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.