Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south?
Parallel translations
- WEB “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and stretches her wings toward the south?
- KJV Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?
- NKJV “Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, And spread its wings toward the south?
- NASB ¶“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south?
- NLT “Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar and spread its wings toward the south?
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 whether the hawk's wisdom to soar and migrate comes from Job. The bird's instinct for flight and migration is the Creator's gift, not man's teaching.
Overview
Turning to the hawk, God asks if Job is the source of its soaring flight and seasonal migration southward. These instincts, embedded by God, lie far beyond human design. The questioning continues to expose the limits of Job's knowledge and power, calling him to trust the wisdom of the One who governs even the migrations of birds.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Song 2:12The flowers have appeared in the countryside; the season of singing has come, and the cooing of turtledoves is heard in our land.
- Jer 8:7Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
- Lev 16:11When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and his household, he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering.
- Deut 14:15the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 39:26 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.