Did you give it the ability to leap like a locust? Its majestic snorting is terrifying!
Parallel translations
- WEB Have you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome.
- KJV Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
- BSB Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting?
- NKJV Can you frighten him like a locust? His majestic snorting strikes terror.
- NASB “Do you make him leap like locusts? His majestic snorting is frightening.
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 asks if Job gave the horse its locust-like leaping and its awesome, snorting power. The animal's fearsome vigor is the Creator's handiwork.
Overview
The war-horse leaps like a locust and snorts with terrifying majesty, a creature built for battle. God's questioning makes clear that none of this is Job's doing. The portrait invites wonder at how God has woven strength and courage into his creatures, again confronting Job with a power and wisdom infinitely beyond his own.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Jer 8:16The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles; for they have come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city and those who dwell therein.”
- Job 41:20–21Out of his nostrils a smoke goes, as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds.
- Joel 2:5Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
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 39:20 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.