Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
Parallel translations
- WEB “Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,
- KJV Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?
- NKJV “Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosed the bonds of the onager,
- NASB ¶“Who sent the wild donkey out free? And who opened the bonds of the swift donkey,
- NLT “Who gives the wild donkey its freedom? Who untied its ropes?
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
Who set the wild donkey free and loosed its bonds? Its untamed liberty is a gift from God.
Overview
God points to the wild donkey, asking who granted it freedom from human harness. Its very wildness is by divine appointment. The example shows that God delights in creatures that serve no human use, expanding Job's view of God's purposes.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Job 11:12But a witless man can no more become wise than the colt of a wild donkey can be born a man!
- Job 6:5Does a wild donkey bray over fresh grass, or an ox low over its fodder?
- Job 24:5Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.
- Ps 104:11They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
- Isa 32:14For the palace will be forsaken, the busy city abandoned. The hill and the watchtower will become caves forever—the delight of wild donkeys and a pasture for flocks—
- Hos 8:9For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own. Ephraim has hired lovers.
- Gen 16:12He will be a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”
- Jer 2:24a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they will find her.
- Jer 14:6Wild donkeys stand on barren heights; they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail for lack of pasture.”
- Gen 49:14Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds.
- Dan 5:21He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, setting over it whom He wishes.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 39:5 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.