The structure of the book is as follows: • The Prologue (chapters 1–2) • The Dialogue (chapters 3–31) • The Verdicts (32:1–42:6) • The Epilogue (42:7–17) Within the structure, chapter 39 is grouped into the Verdict section with the following outline: • Elihu's Verdict (32:1–37:24) • God's Appearance (Yahweh Speeches) and Job's Responses (38:1–42:6) • '''God's First Speech (38:1–40:2)''' • Theme Verse and Summons (38:1–3) • The Physical World (38:4–38) • The Physical Earth (38:4–7) • The Sea (38:8–11) • The Morning (38:12–15) • The Outer Limits of the Earth (38:16–18) • Light and Darkness (38:19–21) • The Waters – Snow, Hail, Rain, Frost, Ice (38:22–30) • The Heavenly Bodies (38:31–33) • Storms (38:34–38) •
The Animal World (38:39–40:2) • God Provides for the Lions and Ravens (38:39–41) • The Mountain Goats (39:1–4) • The Wild Donkey (39:5–8) • The Wild Ox (39:9–12) • The Ostrich (39:13–18) • The Warhorse (39:19–25) • The Hawk and the Eagle (39:26–30) • Brief Challenge to Answer (40:1–2) • Job's First Reply – An Insufficient Response (40:3–5) • God's Second Speech (40:6–41:34) • Job's Second Reply (42:1–6) God's speeches in chapters 38–41 can be split in two parts, both starting with almost identical phrases and having a similar structure: The revelation of the Lord to Job is the culmination of the book of Job, that the Lord speaks directly to Job and displays his sovereign power and glory. Job has lived through the suffering—without cursing God, holding his integrity, and nowhere regretted it – but he was unaware of the real reason for his suffering, so God intervenes to resolve the spiritual issues that surfaced. in Antarctica during the
Terra Nova Expedition (1910–1913), which bears a slightly paraphrased quote from Job 39:26 -
"Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?" Chapter 39 completes the survey of animals that began at Job 38:39 (feeding of the lions and the ravens) with the habits and instincts of the "wild goat", the "wild donkey", and "wild ox" (verses 1–12); then a transitionto the most remarkable of birds, the ostrich (verses 13–18), followed by the horse in a passage of extraordinary fire and brilliancy (verses 19–25), closed by the depiction of remarkable birds, the hawk and eagle (verses 26–30).
Verse 1 :[YHWH said:]
"Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? ::
Do you observe the calving of the does?" • "Mountain goats": or "wild goats"; identified with
Nubian ibex (
Capra nubiana or
Capra sinaitica • "Does": or "hinds" (female deer); in parallel to the first statement, here may refer to 'the females of the species of ibex'. • "Wild ox": generally identified with
Aurochs (
Bos primigenius), The last known aurochs herd in the world, which lived in a
marshy woodland in Poland's
Jaktorów Forest, died in 1627 from natural causes. Art depictions of aurochs exist since as early as the Paleolithic period (such as
cave paintings in
Lascaux) also in Egyptian, Ugaritic and Mesopotamian paintings, reliefs and literature (including in the hunting scenes). ==See also==