Because God deprived her of wisdom, And did not endow 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.
- BSB For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed 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 animals of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’
- Isa 57:17I was angry because of the iniquity of his covetousness, and struck him; I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.
- Job 17:4For you have hidden their heart from understanding, Therefore you shall not exalt them.
- Deut 2:30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Yahweh your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as it is today.
- Isa 19:11–14The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?”
- Jas 1:17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.
- 2 Chr 32:31However concerning the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his 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.