Job 39:21

Job 39:21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in [his] strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.

Ver. 21. He paweth in the valley]

-- Cavatque

Tellurem, et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu.

Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum (Virg.).

Such is the impatience of his spirit, that he champs his bit and stamps with his feet; he pricks up his ears, and grows white with foam, and can hardly be held in till the enemy come, and would fain be in the battle; whither, when he comes, he runs upon the pikes, and undauntedly casts himself and his rider among the enemies’ squadrons. Quod summa mirum est, saith Mercer, which is a wonderful thing indeed; and it is no less wonderfully set forth by a most lively and lightsome hypotyposis, giving us to see, as it were, the horse rushing into the battle, and to hear him shearing and snorting with disdain and despite, bringing everywhere horror and disorder.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When the young ostrich is grown up, he outrunneth the horse.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

valley--where the battle is joined.

goeth on--goeth forth (Num 1:3; Num 21:23).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. He paweth in the valley] רעם yachperu, "they dig in the valley," i.e., in his violent galloping, in every pitch of his body, he scoops up sods out of the earth. Virgil has seized this idea also, in his cavat tellurem; "he scoops out the ground." See before.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(21) He paweth . . . he rejoiceth.—The first verb is plural, and the second singular. “They paw” (literally, dig), and “he rejoiceth.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. the armed men] lit. the weapons.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He paweth in the valley,.... Where armies are usually pitched and set in battle army, and especially the cavalry, for which the valley is most convenient; and here the horse is impatient of engaging, cannot stand still, but rises up with his fore feet and paws and prances, and, as the word signifies, digs the earth and makes it hollow, by a continual striking upon it; so generally horses are commonly described in this manner (s);

and rejoiceth in his strength; of which he is sensible, and glories in it; marches to the battle with pride and stateliness, defying, as it were, the enemy, and as if sure of victory, of which he has knowledge when obtained; for Lactantius says (t) of horses, when conquerors they exult, when conquered they grieve; it has its name in the Hebrew language from rejoicing (u);

he goeth on to meet the armed men; without any fear or dread of them, as follows.

(s) "Cavatque tellurem". Virgil. Georgic. l. 3. v. 87. (t) Institut. l. 3. c. 8. (u) "gavisus est". Vid. Buxtorf. in voce

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He paweth in the valley - Margin, “or, His feet dig.” The marginal reading is more in accordance with the Hebrew. The reference is to the well known fact of the “pawing” of the horse with his feet, as if he would dig up the ground. The same idea occurs in Virgil, as quoted above:

caavatque

Tellurem, et solido graviter solar ungula cornu.

Also in Apollonius, L. iii. “Argonauticon:”

Ὡς δ ̓ ἀρήΐος ἵππος, ἐελδόμενος πολεμοίο,

Σκαρθμῷ ἐπιχρεμέθων κρούει πέδον.

Hōs d' arēios hippos, eeldomenos polemoio,

Skarthmō epichremethōn krouei pedon.

“As a war-horse, impatient for the battle,

Neighing beats the ground with bis hoofs”

He goeth on to meet the armed men - Margin, “armor.” The margin is in accordance with the Hebrew, but still the idea is substantially the same. The horse rushes on furiously against the weapons of war.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Hoof. Ploughing, or rather prancing, through impatience. (Calmet) --- Boldly. Hebrew, "he exults in his strength," being sensible of glory and commendation. (Calmet) --- Non dubie intellectum adhortationis et gloriæ fatentur. (Pliny vii. 43.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He paweth; or, he diggeth. Through courage and wantonness he cannot stand still, but is beating, as it were digging, up the earth with his feet.

In the valley: this he adds, partly because the ground being there more plain and smooth, he hath the better conveniency for his prancing and pawing with his feet, which in hilly and uneven ground he cannot so well do; and partly because battles use to be pitched in valleys, or low grounds, especially horse battles.

Rejoiceth in his strength; making semblance of great pride and complacency in it.

He goeth on to meet the armed men, with great readiness and undaunted courage.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. He paweth — The subject of this verb, which is in the plural, is uncertain, and is supposed by Cocceius, Ewald, and Zockler to be “the riders,” who “explore” in the valley; for this is the meaning they attach to the verb. Hitzig thinks that the word חפר, “to paw,” originally read חבר, “gather together,” and that the middle letter ב has been corrupted into a פ, and renders the phrase, “they form in troops in the plain, and it [the horse] rejoiceth in its strength.” The prime meaning of the verb hhaphar is “to dig,” as in Job_3:21; Job_11:18, (on the latter of which see note,) and to represent the well-known action of a high-spirited charger, impatient of delay, is a much stronger word than our word “paweth.” The classics embody the figure before us in more laboured descriptions, and more polished periods; but they all fail of the sublime heights to which the sacred writer, teaching of commonest subjects, rises without effort. Thus writes Apollonius, born 253, B.C.: —

As a war-horse, impatient for the battle,

Neighing, beats the ground with his hoofs.

Σκαρθμω… κρουει πεδον. Also Virgil, (Georgic 3:88,): —

Cavat que Tellurem, et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu,

And earth around Rings to his solid hoof, that wears the ground.

AElian says of the war-horse, “When he hears the sounding of the reins and the clattering of the bits, and sees the breast-plates and the forehead-pieces, he neighs, and, leaping, makes the ground to ring with his hoofs.”

Valley — Mentioned because cavalry are unsuited for fighting among the hills.

Armed men — Oppian in like manner remarks of the war-horse, that he has the courage to meet the armed men, οπλοις. In modern times, however, a solid phalanx of infantry is quite equal to any onset of cavalry, illustrations of which are afforded by the battles of the Pyramids and Waterloo. The Israelites, it is to be remembered, conquered Palestine on foot. They were a nation of infantry. In this respect they resembled the early Egyptians, who do not appear to have possessed any cavalry before the eighteenth dynasty; (see Rawlinson’s Herodotus, ii, pp. 152, 299,) and thus differed from other surrounding nations, such as the Ishmaelite, whose horse has always been his pride and his defence; and from the Canaanite, who was famous for his horses and his chariots. The horsemen formed a no less important part of the Assyrian army than the charioteers. “Horsemen are seen in the most ancient sculptures in Nimroud, and disciplined bodies of cavalry were represented in the bass-reliefs of Kouyunjik.” — Layard. In the times of Solomon the horse appears as a right arm of Israelitish defence. 1Ki_10:28; 2Ch_1:16-17; 2Ch_9:28. Mohammed had evidently read this description before writing the One Hundredth Sura of the Koran, which is entitled, “The war-horses which run swiftly.” It commences: “By the war-horses which run swiftly to the battle, with a panting noise; and by those which strike fire by dashing their hoofs against the stones; and by those which make a sudden incursion on the enemy early in the morning, which make the dust fly under their rapid feet; which pass through the hostile troops; — verily, man is ungrateful unto the Lord; and he is witness thereof.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He paweth in the valley. Canon Cook appositely compares Virgil"s "carat tellurem" ("Georg.," 3:87, 88), and Professor Lee Pope"s expression, that "ere they start a thousand steps are lost." The verb is in the plural, because a line of cavalry, all pawing and eager to be off, is intended to be represented. And rejoiceth in his strength. Nothing is more remarkable than the eagerness and joy which war-horses show when the battle approaches. They are generally more excited than their riders. He goeth on to meet the armed men; literally, he rusheth upon the weapons. Equally true in ancient and in modern warfare. The main use of cavalry is in the charge (see Denison"s "Hist. of Cavalry," pp. 507-512).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Valley - Battles used to be pitched in valleys, or low grounds, especially horse battles.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Connecting Statement:

Yahweh continues to challenge Job.

He paws

The word "He" refers to the horse. The horse paws the ground because he is very excited to begin the fight. AT: "He paws with excitement and" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

paws

"digs at the ground with his hooves"

to meet the weapons

Here "the weapons" represent the battle in which they are used. AT: "to join in the battle" (See: Metonymy)

He mocks fear

"He is not afraid at all"

mocks

"laughs at"

dismayed

discouraged

does not turn back

"does not run away"

quiver

a container that holds arrows

rattles

shakes and makes noise

flank

the side of a horse

javelin

a long stick with a sharp end that people throw at their enemies

translationWords

might

joy

mock

fear

sword

spear

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

They spy in the valley Heb. יחפרו, like (Deut. 1:22), “that they may spy out (ויחפרו) the land for us,” for it is the habit of the horsemen to lie in wait in the valleys and in the ravines.

and rejoices with strength The horse rejoices and goes forth toward the weapons.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.