Job 39 · Verse 5

Job 39:5

Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?
Job 39:5, King James Version

Job 39:5 in other translations

BSBWho set the wild donkey free? Who released the swift donkey from the harness?
WEB“Who has set the wild donkey free? Or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey,
ASVWho hath sent out the wild ass free? Or who hath loosed the bonds of the swift ass,
YLTWho hath sent forth the wild ass free? Yea, the bands of the wild ass who opened?
DARBYWho hath sent out the wild ass free? and who hath loosed the bands of the onager,
BBEWho has let the ass of the fields go free? or made loose the bands of the loud-voiced beast?
WebsterWho hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?

What does Job 39:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. wild ass--Two different Hebrew words are here used for the same animal, "the ass of the woods" and "the wild ass." (See on Job 6:5; Job 11:12; Job 24:5; and Jr 2:24). loosed the bands--given its liberty to. Man can rob animals of freedom, but not, as God, give freedom, combined with subordination to fixed laws.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 5 Who hath sent out the wild ass free? - פרא pere, which we translate wild ass, is the same as the ονος αγριος of the Greeks, and the onager of the Latins; which must not, says Buffon, be confounded with the zebra, for this is an animal of a different species from the ass. The wild ass is not striped like the zebra, nor so elegantly shaped. There are many of those animals in the deserts of Libya and Numidia: they are of a gray color; and run so swiftly that no horse but the Arab barbs can overtake them. Wild asses are found in considerable numbers in East and South Tartary, in Persia, Syria, the islands of the Archipelago, and throughout Mauritania. They differ from tame asses only in their independence and liberty, and in their being stronger and more nimble: but in their shape they are the same. See on Job 6:5 (note). The bands of the wild ass? - ערוד arod, the brayer, the same animal, but called thus because of the frequent and peculiar noise he makes. But Mr. Good supposes this to be a different animal from the wild ass, (the jichta or equus hemionus), which is distinguished by having solid hoofs, a uniform color, no cross on the back, and the tail hairy only at the tip. The ears and tail resemble those of the zebra; the hoofs and body, those of the ass; and the limbs, those of the horse. It inhabits Arabia, China, Siberia, and Tartary, in glassy saline plains or salt wastes, as mentioned in the following verse.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Job 39:5 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.

מִֽי\־mi-who?H4310
שִׁלַּ֣חshi.Lachdid he let looseH7971
פֶּ֣רֶאPe.re'[the] wild donkeyH6501
חָפְשִׁ֑יcha.fe.ShifreeH2670
וּמֹסְר֥וֹתu.mo.se.Rotand [the] fetters ofH4147
עָ֝ר֗וֹדa.Rod[the] wild assH6171
מִ֣יmiwho?H4310
פִתֵּֽחַ\׃fi.Te.achdid he loosenH6605

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

Cross references for Job 39:5

  • Job 24:5

    Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

  • Job 11:12

    For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.

  • Job 6:5

    Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder?

  • Psalms 104:11

    They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.

  • Daniel 5:21

    And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.

  • Genesis 49:14

    Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:

  • Jeremiah 14:6

    And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.

  • Genesis 16:12

    And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

  • Isaiah 32:14

    Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;

  • Jeremiah 2:24

    A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

  • Hosea 8:9

    For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the wild.
6:5; 11:12; 24:5; Ge 16:12; Ps 104:11; Isa 32:14; Jer 2:24; 14:6
Da 5:21; Ho 8:9
who hath loosed.
Ge 49:14

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

Context

  • Job 39:4

    Their young ones are in good liking, they grow up with corn; they go forth, and return not unto them.

  • Job 39:5

    Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?

  • Job 39:6

    Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings.

Read all of Job 39

Job 39:5 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¿Contaste tú los meses de su preñez, y sabes el tiempo cuando han de parir?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Qui a lâché l’âne sauvage? qui a délié les liens de l’onagre,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wer hat den Wildesel frei entsandt, und wer gelöst die Bande des Wildlings,
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quis dimisit onagrum liberum, et vincula ejus quis solvit?