Job 39 · Verse 16

Job 39:16

She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;
Job 39:16, King James Version

Job 39:16 in other translations

BSBShe treats her young harshly, as if not her own, with no concern that her labor was in vain.
WEBShe deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,
ASVShe dealeth hardly with her young ones, as if they were not hers: Though her labor be in vain, she is without fear;
YLTHer young ones it hath hardened without her, In vain is her labour without fear.
DARBYShe is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers; her labour is in vain, without her concern.
BBEShe is cruel to her young ones, as if they were not hers; her work is to no purpose; she has no fear.
WebsterShe is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labor is in vain without fear;

What does Job 39:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
16. On a slight noise she often forsakes her eggs, and returns not, as if she were "hardened towards her young." her labour--in producing eggs, is in vain, (yet) she has not disquietude (about her young), unlike other birds, who, if one egg and another are taken away, will go on laying till their full number is made up.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 16 She is hardened against her young - See before, and the extracts from Dr. Shaw at the end of the chapter, Job 39:30 (note). She neglects her little ones, which are often found half starved, straggling, and moaning about, like so many deserted orphans, for their mother.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Job 39:16 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

הִקְשִׁ֣יחַhik.Shi.achit treats roughlyH7188
בָּנֶ֣יהָba.Nei.hayoung itsH1121
לְּלֹא\־le.lo'-to notH3808
לָ֑הּLah[belonging] to it
לְרִ֖יקle.Rik[is] to emptinessH7385
יְגִיעָ֣הּye.gi.'Ahlabor itsH3018
בְּלִי\־be.li-notH1097
פָֽחַד\׃Fa.chadfearH6343

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 39:16

  • Lamentations 4:3

    Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.

  • Ecclesiastes 10:15

    The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.

  • Romans 1:31

    Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

  • Deuteronomy 28:56-57

    The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.

  • 2 Kings 6:28-29

    And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.

  • Habakkuk 2:13

    Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?

  • Lamentations 2:20

    Behold, O Lord, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

  • 1 Kings 3:26-27

    Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
hardened.
La 4:3
as.
De 28:56,57; 1Ki 3:26,27; 2Ki 6:28,29; La 2:20; Ro 1:31
her labour.
Ec 10:15; Hab 2:13

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 39:15

    And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them.

  • Job 39:16

    She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;

  • Job 39:17

    Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.

Read all of Job 39

Job 39:16 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¿ Diste tú hermosas alas al pavo real, ó alas y plumas al avestruz?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Elle est dure avec ses petits comme s’ils n’étaient pas à elle; son labeur est vain, sans qu’elle s’en émeuve.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Sie behandelt ihre Kinder hart, als gehörten sie ihr nicht; ihre Mühe ist umsonst, es kümmert sie nicht.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Duratur ad filios suos, quasi non sint sui: frustra laboravit, nullo timore cogente.