He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
Parallel translations
- WEB He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet.
- BSB Trembling with excitement, he devours the distance; he cannot stand still when the ram’s horn sounds.
- NKJV He devours the distance with fierceness and rage; Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded.
- NASB “He races over the ground with a roar and fury, And he does not stand still when he hears the sound of the trumpet.
- NLT It paws the ground fiercely and rushes forward into battle when the ram’s horn blows.
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 horse devours the ground in fierce eagerness and cannot be held still at the trumpet's call. His ardor for battle is God-given.
Overview
So eager is the horse that he seems to swallow the ground in his charge and will not stand still when the trumpet sounds. This vivid picture of barely-contained energy testifies to the Creator's craftsmanship. Throughout the speech, each creature's instincts reveal a design Job did not author and cannot fully grasp, humbling him before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Amos 3:6Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
- Luke 24:41And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
- Job 37:20Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up.
- Job 29:24If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down.
- Job 9:16If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.
- Jer 4:19My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
- Hab 1:8–9Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.
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 39:24 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.