“Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosed the bonds of the onager,
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?
- BSB Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
- 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 11:12An empty-headed man becomes wise when a man is born as a wild donkey’s colt.
- Job 6:5Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass? Or does the ox low over his fodder?
- Job 24:5Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, they go out to their work, seeking diligently for food. The wilderness yields them bread for their children.
- Ps 104:11They give drink to every animal of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
- Isa 32:14For the palace will be forsaken. The populous city will be deserted. The hill and the watchtower will be for dens forever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks;
- Hos 8:9For they have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has hired lovers for himself.
- Gen 16:12He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. He will live opposite all of his brothers.”
- Jer 2:24a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that sniffs the wind in her craving. When she is in heat, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month, they will find her.
- Jer 14:6The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights. They pant for air like jackals. Their eyes fail, because there is no vegetation.
- Gen 49:14“Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the saddlebags.
- Dan 5:21and he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the animals’, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the sky; until he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and that he sets up over it whomever he will.
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 39:5 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.