Job 39:24

Job 39:24 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that [it is] the sound of the trumpet.

Ver. 24. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness] He runs over it as fast as if he did swallow it up at a draught, Terrain prae cursus celeritate, ebibare, et epotare videtur (Merc.). A hyperbolic metaphor.

With fierceness and rage] Or, With commotion or unquietness, In fremitu et commotione. There is an elegance in the original that cannot be interpreted in English.

Neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet] He is so overjoyed, when that sign is given, to begin the battle. Others, he cannot stand still when he hath once heard the sound of the trumpet.

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.

39:24 The ram’s horn was sounded in combat to call for the charge (Josh 6:4-6).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He beateth with his hoof.

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

swalloweth--Fretting with impatience, he draws the ground towards him with his hoof, as if he would swallow it. The parallelism shows this to be the sense; not as MAURER, "scours over it."

neither believeth--for joy. Rather, "he will not stand still, when the note of the trumpet (soundeth)."

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

(24) Neither believeth he—i.e., he disregardeth the summons of the trumpet, as though he did not believe that it gave the call to war.

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

24. neither believeth he] That is, most probably, he hardly trusts his ears for gladness.

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 swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage,.... Being so eager for the battle, and so full of fierceness and rage, he bounds the plain with such swiftness that he seems rather to swallow up the ground than to run upon it;

neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet; for joy at hearing it; or he will not trust to his ears, but will see with his eyes whether the battle is ready, and therefore pushes forward. Mr. Broughton and others read it, "he will not stand still at the noise of the trumpet"; and the word signifies firm and stable, as well as to believe; when he hears the trumpet sound, the alarm of war, as a preparation for the battle, he knows not how to (a) stand; there is scarce any holding him in, but he rushes into the battle at once, Jer 8:6.

(a) "Stare loco nescit". Virgil. Georgic. l. 3. v. 84. "Ut fremit acer equus", &c. Ovid. Metamorph. l. 3. Fab. 10. v. 704.

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

He swalloweth the ground - He seems as if he would absorb the earth. That is, he strikes his feet into it with such fierceness, and raises up the dust in his prancing, as if he would devour it. This figure is unusual with us, but it is common in the Arabic. See Schultens, “in loc.,” and Bochart, “Hieroz,” P. i. L. ii. c. viii. pp. 143-145. So Statius:

Stare loco nescit, pereunt vestigia mille

Ante fugam, absentemque ferit gravis ungula campum.

Th’ impatient courser pants in every’ vein,

And pawing seems to beat the distant plain;

Hills, vales, and floods, appear already cross’d,

And ere he starts a thousand steps are lost.

Pope

Neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet - This translation by no means conveys the meaning of the original. The true sense is probably expressed by Umbreit. “He standeth not still when the trumpet soundeth; “that is, he becomes impatient; he no longer confides in the voice of the rider and remains submissive, but he becomes excited by the martial clangor, and rushes into the midst of the battle. The Hebrew word which is employed (יאמין ya'âmiyn) means properly “to prop, stay, support”; then “to believe, to be firm, stable”; and is that which is commonly used to denote an act of “faith,” or as meaning “believing.” But the original sense of the word is here to be retained, and then it refers to the fact that the impatient horse no longer stands still when the trumpet begins to sound for battle.

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

Ground. This expression is still used by the Arabs, to denote velocity. (Grotius) --- Septuagint, "in wrath he will make the earth disappear." (Haydock) --- Mox sanguis venis melior calet, ire viarum

Longa volunt latumque fuga consumere campum. (Nemesianus)

--- Account. Hebrew, "believe that," or "stops not when." He is so eager to rush forward to battle.

Si qua sonum procul arma dedere,

Stare loco nescit, micat auribus et tremit artus. (Georg. iii.)

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).

The sense is either,

1. He is so earnest and eager upon the battle, that he rusheth into it with all speed; and runs over the ground so swiftly, that he might seem to have swallowed it tap. Or,

2. He is so full of war-like rage and fury, that he not only champs his bridle, but is ready to tear and devour the very ground on which he goes. And the phrase here used is not unusual, both in Arabic and in other authors; of which see my Latin Synopsis on this place.

He is so pleased with the approach of the battle, and the sound of the trumpet calling to it, that he could scarce believe his cars for gladness: compare Gen 45:26; Luk 24:41. Or thus, he cannot stand still, or firm, (as this verb and Hie derivative from it is used, not only in the Chaldee and Syriac dialect, but also in the Hebrew, as Deu 28:59; 1Sa 2:35) when the trumpet soundeth; his rider can hardly keep him still, but he strives and longs to run to the fight.

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

24. He swalloweth the ground — יגמא, swalloweth, from which גמא, “bulrush” is derived, because of its sucking, or “swallowing,” the water. See note, Job_8:11. The Arab, in common with the Eastern and classic poets, to the present day, applies the metaphor of the text to the horse. In like manner Shakspeare: —

And starting so,

He seemed in running to devour the way.

Henry IV., Sec. Part.

Believeth he — Furst, Hitzig, and others would read, יאמין, standeth he still. The reading of the text, believeth, is equally well supported, (Schlottmann, Conant, and Dillmann,) and is much more forcible. He cannot trust (believe) his ears, so joyous is the trumpet blast. AEschylus says of the war-horse: “Impatiently he awaits the call of the trumpet.” — Septem., etc., 394. Compare Job_9:16; Job_39:12.

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

He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and. rage. This is a common metaphor to denote the rapidity with which the horse covers the space that lies before him. Virgil has, "Corripiuut spatia" ("AEnid," 5:316); Silius ltalions, "Campum volatu rapucre" (3:308); Shakespeare, "He seemed in running to devour the way." Arab poets have similar expressions (see Bochart, "Hieroz.," pt. 1. bk. 2. p. 8). Neither beiieveth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. (So Schultens, Canon Cook, and our Revisers.) But most recent critics prefer to render, "He standeth not still when the trumpet soundeth," and compare Virgil"s "Stare loco nescit" ("Georg.," 3:84).

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

Swalloweth - He is so full of rage and fury, that he not only champs his bridle, but is ready to tear and devour the very ground on which he goes. Believeth - He is so pleased with the approach of the battle, and the sound of the trumpet calling to it, that he can scarce believe his ears for gladness.

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

The word "He" refers to the horse.

swallows up ground

The horse runs over the ground so quickly that the ground passes by like water that a person drinks. AT: "runs very fast over the ground" (See: Metaphor)

with fierceness and rage

The horse is very excited, so he moves quickly and strongly.

at the trumpet's sound

It can be stated that someone blows the trumpet. AT: "when someone blows a trumpet to announce that a battle has begun" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

he cannot stand in one place

"he is too excited to stand still"

he says, 'Aha

The word "Aha" is a sound people make when they discover something. The horse makes a sound because he has discovered the battle. (See: Personification)

the thunderous shouts

It is implied that the horse hears these things. AT: "he hears the thunderous shouts" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

the outcries

"the battle cries." People have special shouts that they use in war to show their great strength and bravery and to scare the enemy.

translationWords

rage

trumpet

commander

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

he hollows out the ground Heb. יגמא. He makes holes (גומות) with his feet. Another explanation: יְגַמֶא is like (Gen. 24:17), “Let me please swallow (הגמיאיני).”

and he does not believe out of the great joy that he longs for battle.

that it is the sound of a shofar of battle.

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.