^39:1 Do you know the time of birth of the ibexes among the rocks, or have you observed hinds giving birth?
^39:2 Have you counted the months of their conception, and have you known the time of their giving birth?
^39:3 They bend down for the offspring, and they give birth, and they send forth cries.
^39:4 Their young are separated and go forth to pasture; they go out and do not return to them.
^39:5 Who has sent the wild ass forth free, and who has loosed his bonds?
^39:6 To him I gave a house in the solitude, and his tabernacles in a land of salt.
^39:7 He despises the multitude of the city; he does not hear the cry of the taskmaster.
^39:8 He looks around at the mountains of his pasture, and seeks out every green thing.
^39:9 Will the rhinoceros be willing to serve you, or will he remain at your manger?
^39:10 Will you bind the rhinoceros with your strap for plowing, or will he break the clods of the valleys after you?
^39:11 Will you have confidence in his great strength and leave your labors to him?
^39:12 Will you trust him that he will return your seed and gather your threshing floor?
^39:13 The wing of ostriches is like the wings of the heron and the hawk.
^39:14 When she leaves her eggs on the earth, will you perhaps warm them in the dust?
^39:15 She forgets that a foot may trample them, or that a beast of the field may crush them.
^39:16 She is hardened toward her young as though they were not hers: she has labored in vain, with no fear compelling her.
^39:17 For God has deprived her of wisdom and has not given her understanding.
^39:18 When the time has come, she raises her wings on high: she derides the horse and its rider.
^39:19 Will you give strength to the horse, or will you clothe his neck with neighing?
^39:20 Will you rouse him like locusts? The glory of his nostrils is terror:
^39:21 he digs the earth with his hoof, he exults, he goes boldly to meet the armed.
^39:22 He despises fear and does not yield to the sword.
^39:23 Over him the quiver will sound; the spear and shield will flash;
^39:24 burning and snorting, he swallows the earth, nor does he consider that the blast of the trumpet sounds.
^39:25 When he hears the trumpet, he says: Ah! From afar he smells the battle, the exhortation of the leaders and the shouting of the army.
^39:26 Does the hawk grow feathers by your wisdom, spreading its wings toward the south?
^39:27 Will the eagle be lifted up at your command? And will she set her nest in high places,
^39:28 remain among the rocks, and dwell on rugged flints and inaccessible cliffs?
^39:29 From there she contemplates food, and her eyes look out from afar.
^39:30 Her young will lick blood, and wherever there is a corpse, she is immediately present.
^39:31 The Lord added and spoke to Job:
^39:32 Does he who contends with God so easily come to rest? Certainly, he who reproves God ought to answer him.
^39:33 But Job, answering the Lord, said:
^39:34 I, who have spoken lightly, what can I answer? I will place my hand over my mouth;
^39:35 I have spoken one thing, which I wish I had not said, and another, to which I will add no more.

516. Do you know the time of birth of the ibexes, etc. In the preceding things the Lord had recalled what pertains to the cognitive power, speaking of the wisdom of man and the understanding of the rooster; he had also recalled the prey of lions and the food of ravens, which pertain to the nutritive power. But now he recalls certain things pertaining to the generative power, and he begins to treat of the birth of ibexes and hinds, in which something hidden seems to be. For ibexes are certain animals small in body that dwell in rocky places, in which they also give birth; hence access to places of this kind is not easily open to men, on account of which he says: Do you know the time of birth of the ibexes among the rocks? As though saying: this is unknown to men because of the roughness of the places in which they give birth. But hinds, as is said, choose hidden places in which to give birth, where wolves are not accustomed to approach; and therefore, to show the hiddenness of their birth, he adds: or have you observed hinds giving birth? This is said for the commendation of divine providence:

for women, when they give birth, need the service of midwives, but to animals whose birth is hidden from men God, by his providence, offers the help that is necessary for them in giving birth, insofar as he gives them a natural skill by which they know the things that must be known in such matters. The first of these is that the span of time in which the offspring is perfected in the womb be known, and with respect to this he says: Have you counted the months of their conception, namely, so that you might indicate to them when they ought to prepare themselves for birth? Whence he adds: and have you known the time of their giving birth, namely, so that you might indicate to them when they ought to give birth? For in these things women in childbirth are usually instructed by others, but animals, which are also far from human society, know these things through the natural skill divinely instilled in them, and at the determined time they prepare themselves for giving birth in the way by which the offspring can most easily be brought forth, whence he adds: They bend down for the offspring, namely, to bring it forth, and they give birth, namely, by themselves, nature instructing them;

and yet birth is not delightful for them but painful, whence he adds: and they send forth cries, namely, because of the pain they suffer in giving birth. And just as the mothers prepare themselves for birth by natural skill, so also their young, by natural skill divinely instilled, seek out what is necessary for themselves, whence he adds: Their young are separated, which he says to distinguish them from human offspring; for a child as soon as it is born cannot move itself so as to depart from its mother, yet this happens in the aforesaid animals: for immediately after they are born they move, and their first motion is toward seeking food, whence he adds: and they go forth to pasture. Yet in the beginning they need to be fed by their mother’s milk; hence they are separated from the mother in such a way that nevertheless they return to her, but afterwards, when they have become mature, they are totally separated from their mothers, whence he also adds: they go out and do not return to them, because, namely, they no longer need to be suckled by them.

517. But after setting forth these things that pertain to certain special properties of animals, namely, pertaining to knowledge, food, and birth, he recalls those things that pertain to the whole manner of life. In this regard, first something marvelous appears: while certain animals, when they are domestic, cannot be sustained without human care, nevertheless there are found some belonging to that genus that are wild and are governed without the providence of men. And this appears especially marvelous in the ass, which, when it is domestic, seems entirely deputed to human servitude; yet wild asses, which are called onagers, appear to be free from that servitude. Hence he says: Who has sent the wild ass, that is, the wild donkey, forth free, namely, from the servitude of men? This indeed is said according as what is customary is apprehended by men as though it were natural,

whence, because men are accustomed not to see asses except subject to servitude, it seems to them that they are naturally servants, and therefore, if at some time they are found free, it seems to them that they have been sent forth from servitude. But the contrary is the case, for animals of this kind were first not subject to man in the way in which they now are, but afterwards by human art they were tamed and deputed to the services of men. Now the signs of the servitude of asses are the bonds by which they are bound, such as a bridle or something of this kind, and with respect to this he adds: and who has loosed his bonds? For onagers lack bonds of this kind. It also appears in domestic asses that they perish if they remain without dwellings prepared by men, but onagers have a dwelling prepared for themselves by divine providence, whence he adds: To him I gave in the solitude, namely, to which man does not approach, a house, for example some den or any cave, and his tabernacles, namely, under grasses or trees, in a land of salt, that is, in some uninhabited land because of dryness and the burning of the sun, by which its moisture is converted, as it were, into the taste of salt.

And although a dwelling of this kind seems more uncultivated and more dreadful because of the solitude, nevertheless he prefers it to however noble a city, whence he adds: He despises the multitude of the city, namely, in comparison with dwelling in the desert. And he assigns two reasons, the first of which is that there laborious works are not demanded of him, whence he adds: he does not hear the cry of the taskmaster, that is, of a master demanding from him the carrying of burdens or something of this kind. The other reason is that there he wanders more freely in search of pasture, whence he adds: He looks around at the mountains of his pasture, because, namely, free access lies open to him to different places for seeking pastures; and he also takes the pastures themselves according to his own pleasure, whence he adds: and seeks out every green thing. But to domestic asses the best pastures are not given, but at times the poorer ones, while the better pastures are reserved for nobler animals.

518. Now just as the ass serves man for carrying burdens, in whose place among wild animals the onager is found, so also among domestic animals the ox serves man for plowing because of its strength; and with this among wild animals he compares the rhinoceros, that is, the unicorn, which is a very strong and fierce quadruped animal, having one horn in the middle of its forehead. But because of its fierceness this animal cannot easily be tamed as the ox is tamed, whence he adds: Will the rhinoceros, that is, the unicorn, be willing to serve you, namely, so that, having been domesticated, it would obey you willingly? Now domesticated animals gladly receive food from men, and to exclude this he adds: or will he remain at your manger, namely, so that he is ready to eat what is offered him by you? But domesticated oxen are nourished for this, that they may be applied to the ministry of plowing; and to exclude this he adds: Will you bind the rhinoceros with your strap, that is, the unicorn, for plowing, namely, as one plows with oxen? Men also use oxen for another ministry, namely, so that by drawing a certain harrow they may level plowed earth by breaking up the clod, whence he adds: or will he break the clods of the valleys, which, namely, are usually cultivated more diligently because of their greater fruitfulness, after you, that is, after you have plowed the earth?

Or after you, that is, so that with you going before he follows, breaking up the clods? Certain strong animals are also left for guarding fields against thieves or animals that could devastate the crops, just as fields are guarded by certain fierce dogs; but this cannot be done by the unicorn, because it is not domesticated, whence he adds: Will you have confidence in his great strength and leave your labors to him, that is, the fruits of the fields to be guarded? Thus, therefore, you cannot use this strongest animal either like an ox for plowing or like a dog for guarding. Likewise, you cannot use it like a strong farm laborer to procure the fruits of the earth, whence he adds: Will you trust him that he will return your seed to you and gather your threshing floor? Namely, as the worker does who sows the seed received from the master and returns it multiplied, gathering the crops onto the threshing floor and, after threshing, carrying them back into the master’s barn.

519. Therefore, after setting forth these things in which certain wild animals are distinguished from domestic ones, he adds certain properties of some animals in which there seem to be properties different from all other animals. And this appears especially in the ostrich, which is a certain bird approaching the genus of beasts; hence, although it has feathers like animals that fly high, nevertheless by them it cannot lift itself up on high. Hence he says: The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the herodius, that is, of the most noble falcon, which is called the gyrfalcon, and of the hawk, which is a well-known bird, and both are birds of good flight.

But there is also another property of the ostrich different from other birds, namely, that it does not warm its eggs but, digging in the sand, leaves them there and covers them with sand; whence he adds: which leaves her eggs on the earth. Now it has this natural skill, that it observes the warm season, namely, when the stars begin to appear that are called the Vergiliae, that is, in the month of July, and then it lays eggs; and thus from the heat of the season and of the place, because, namely, it dwells only in hot places, the eggs are vivified and chicks are born from them, whence he adds: will you perhaps warm them in the dust? As though saying: no, but this is done by divine providence, through which even the eggs are preserved unharmed in the dust. For the ostrich is by nature a forgetful animal and applies no care for the preservation of its eggs, whence he adds: She forgets that a foot, namely, of a man passing along the way, may trample them, namely, the eggs, or that a beast of the field may crush them, either by passing over them by chance or because of appetite for food. And just as it has no care for the preservation of the eggs, so it has no care for the nourishment of the chicks, whence he adds: She is hardened toward her young as though they were not hers, because, namely, she has no care for nourishing them, and so, as far as it depends on her, she loses the fruit of generation, whence he adds: she has labored in vain, namely, by conceiving and carrying what was conceived, since she does not nourish her young;

it also happens at times that other animals abandon their offspring because of fear, but the ostrich does this with no fear compelling her. Yet she does this, even if not because of fear, nevertheless because of a defect of the natural skill that other animals have in this regard, whence he adds: For God has deprived her, namely, the female ostrich, of wisdom, namely, for orderly nourishing and governing the offspring, and has not given her understanding, through which, namely, she might have solicitude for her chicks: but by wisdom and understanding he names natural skill. And because he had said above that it has feathers like the feathers of the herodius and the hawk, he consequently shows for what such feathers are useful to it, saying: When the time has come, that is, when some need for swiftness of movement is imminent for it, she raises her wings on high, yet in such a way that by the wings her body cannot be lifted upward, but by them she is helped to run swiftly; whence he adds: she derides the horseman, because, namely, she runs more swiftly than a horse carrying a man, and its rider, namely, of the horse, because she would run more swiftly than a man if he went on his own feet.

520. But just as the ostrich has certain properties different from many animals by which it falls short of others, so also the horse has certain properties pertaining to nobility by which it differs from other animals. First he recalls the strength of the horse when he says: Will you give strength to the horse, namely, not only of body, insofar as it is capable of bearing a burden, but also of spirit, insofar as it goes boldly into dangers? But he recalls another property of it, namely, that it is provoked to lust by exterior adornment; for it is said of horses that they are stirred to coitus by the beauty of their manes, and when their manes have been shorn, their lust is extinguished. To signify this he adds: or will you clothe his neck with neighing? For horses are accustomed to neigh because of lust, according to Jeremiah 5:8: they became horses loving females and stallions; each one neighed after the wife of his neighbor. Therefore neighing is put around the neck of the horse by God when manes are given to it by God, from consideration of which it is provoked to lust. There is also another property of the horse, that it leaps vehemently, contrary to the custom of many quadrupeds, whence he adds: Will you rouse him, namely, by lifting him up on high, like locusts, which, namely, are moved by leaping?

521. But another property of the horse is its boldness in wars, which he describes at greater length because it is noble and admirable. And first its boldness is manifested when it still perceives war by smell from afar, whence there follows: The glory of his nostrils is terror, that is, war, which is a terror to others, when perceived by the horse through the nostrils, is to the horse for glory, that is, for a certain greatness of spirit; and a sign of this immediately appears in him, concerning which he adds: he digs the earth with his hoof, as though preparing himself to fight. But from the fact that he inwardly perceives war, he rejoices, whence he adds: he exults, namely, once the opportunity for fighting has been perceived, and he shows this by its effect when he adds: he goes boldly to meet the armed. Nor, while he is in the battle itself, is he cast down by terror, whence he adds: He despises fear, and, what is more, he is not even driven back by the pain of wounds, whence he adds: and does not yield to the sword.

But many animals are accustomed to be frightened by noise alone, yet this does not happen to the horse, whence he adds: Over him the quiver will sound, namely, full of arrows, when it is shaken by the motion of the soldier sitting on the horse. Likewise, some sound also proceeds from the soldier’s spear and shield, whence he adds: the spear will vibrate, that is, the spear, when it is brandished, gives forth a sound; likewise the shield, when it is moved and struck against the weapons, makes a sound, whence he adds: and the shield, namely, sounds. Yet the horse is not stunned by this sound, whence he adds: burning, namely, inwardly through boldness, and snorting, namely, with neighing, which he calls a roar, properly belonging to lions, because of the horse’s boldness. And not only by voice does he show the inward ardor of his spirit, but also by outward action, whence he adds: he swallows the earth, that is, he seems to swallow it by digging with his feet. And not only is he not stunned by the sound of the quiver, the spear, and the shield, but not even by the sound of the trumpet that is used in wars, whence he adds: nor does he consider that the blast of the trumpet sounds, namely, so as to be stunned on account of this; indeed rather he is said to rejoice at the sound of the war trumpet, whence he adds: When he hears the trumpet, he says: Ah! That is, he gives forth a voice of exultation, for Ah! is an interjection of one exulting.

And because the things said above pertain to the boldness of the horse, he adds concerning its keenness of perception, saying: From afar he smells the battle, that is, when the enemies are still far away, by smell he perceives that battle is imminent, and seems, as it were, to sense the preparation for battle, namely, while the leaders animate the soldiers by their exhortations; and with respect to this he adds: the exhortation of the leaders, namely, he perceives, and the shouting, that is, the confused cry and noise, of the army, namely, preparing itself for battle.

522. But after setting forth these things about animals that walk upon the earth, he proceeds to animals that fly in the air. And first he recalls the natural skill of the hawk, which, at the time of the changing of its feathers, spreads out its wings toward the South, which is a warm wind, so that, when the pores are opened, the old feathers may fall out and new ones grow again; whence he says: Does the hawk grow feathers by your wisdom, namely, when its feathers are renewed, spreading its wings toward the South, namely, so that it may change its feathers more easily? Lastly, he speaks about the eagle, which flies higher than the other birds, whence he says: Will the eagle be lifted up at your command, namely, as at mine? For the eagle does this by natural instinct: but every natural course of things is a certain motion of the creature at the command of God, according to the Psalm: fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy winds, which do his word. And just as the eagle has motion on high, so also it dwells in high places, which pertains to the nobility of its nature; and therefore he says: and it will set its nest in high places, namely, so that its young, as soon as they are born, may grow accustomed to dwelling in high places. And therefore he adds: it remains among the rocks, as though delighting in the purity of the air, because in rocky places there is not much release of vapors; and it dwells on rugged flints, to which, namely, access is not open to harmful beasts, and on cliffs inaccessible to man, by which, namely, provision is made for its safety.

But the eagle has very sharp sight, so that it can see from far away the food it needs, whence he adds: From there, namely, from high places, it contemplates food, namely, not only what is near but also what is remote, whence he adds: and its eyes look out from afar. Now the eagle is also powerful in prey, as the lion is among quadrupeds, and to designate this he adds: Its young lick blood, namely, of living animals that the eagle carries to the nest. But the eagle feeds not only on living animals, as falcons and hawks do, but also on the corpses of dead animals, whence he adds: and wherever there is a corpse, it is immediately present, by which he also designates the swiftness of its flight.

523. Now all these things have been adduced to show the greatness of divine wisdom and power, by which such wondrous effects are produced. Hence one is given to understand that Job, astounded after hearing so many wonders of the divine effects, was silent; but the Lord rouses him to consider that man is not fit to dispute with God, whence it is added: The Lord added, namely, to the preceding words, and spoke to Job, namely, while he was silent: Does he who contends with God, that is, who offers himself as about to dispute with him, so easily come to rest, namely, as though he had been overcome, like you who are silent? Certainly, he who reproves God, as though disputing about his judgments, ought also to answer him: for it is just that one who challenges another to a dispute should himself also be ready to answer.

524. And lest Job seem, although convicted, to remain obstinate in his opinion, he breaks forth into words of humility; hence there follows: But Job, answering the Lord, said: I, who have spoken lightly, what can I answer? Here it should be considered that Job, speaking before God and his own conscience, does not accuse himself of falsity in speech or of a proud intention, because he had spoken from purity of soul, but of lightness of speech: because, namely, even if he had not spoken from pride of soul, nevertheless his words seemed to savor of arrogance, whence his friends had taken occasion for scandal. But one must avoid not only evils, but also those things that have the appearance of evil, according to the Apostle in 1 Thessalonians 5:22: Abstain from every evil appearance. And therefore he adds: I will place my hand over my mouth, namely, so that henceforth I may not break forth into similar words; and for the things I have said I repent, whence he adds: I have spoken one thing, which I wish I had not said, namely, that I said I wished to dispute with God, and another, namely, that I preferred my own justice when the divine judgments were being treated. But the third thing that Elihu had charged against him, namely, that he said the judgment of God was unjust, he does not acknowledge, because this would not pertain to lightness of speech but to blasphemy. Thus he repents of things lightly said in such a way that he proposes amendment, whence he adds: to which I will add no more, namely, so as to utter other light words.

525. Now it should be considered that, if the aforesaid speech of the Lord to Job was not uttered by an exterior sound but inwardly inspired, Job is found in this book to have spoken in three ways:

first indeed, as representing the affection of sensuality in the first complaint, when he said: Let the day perish,

second, as expressing the deliberation of human reason while he was disputing against his friends,

third, according to divine inspiration, when he introduced words in the person of the Lord; and because human reason must be directed according to divine inspiration, after the words of the Lord he reproves the words that he had spoken according to human reason.