---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Verse Job 39:1. Knowest thou the time — To know time, c., only, was easy, and has nothing extraordinary in it but the meaning of these questions is, to kn"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/job/39"
---

Verse [Job 39:1](../../../kjv/job/39/1). ***Knowest thou the time*** — To know *time*, c., only, was easy, and has nothing extraordinary in it but the meaning of these questions is, to know the *circumstances*, which have something peculiarly expressive of God's providence, and make the questions proper in this place. *Pliny* observes, that the *hind* with young is by instinct directed to a certain herb, named *seselis*, which facilitates the birth. *Thunder*, also, which looks like the more immediate hand of Providence, has the same effect. [Psalms 29:9](../../../kjv/psalms/29/9): "The VOICE of the Lord maketh the HINDS to CALVE." See Dr. YOUNG. What is called the *wild goat*, יעל yael, from עלה *alah, to* *ascend, go* or *mount up*, is generally understood to be the *ibex* or *mountain goat*, called *yael*, from the wonderful manner in which it *mounts* to the *tops* of the *highest* rocks. It is certain, says *Johnston*, there is no crag of the mountains so *high, prominent* or *steep*, but this animal will *mount* it in a number of *leaps*, provided only it be rough, and have protuberances large enough to receive its hoofs in leaping. This animal is indigenous to Arabia, is of amazing strength and agility, and considerably larger than the common goat. Its *horns* are very long, and often bend back over the whole body of the animal; and it is said to throw itself from the tops of rocks or towers, and light upon its horns, without receiving any damage. It goes five months with young.
***When the hinds do calve?*** — The *hind* is the *female* of the *stag,* or *cervus elaphus*, and goes *eight months* with young. They live to *thirty-five* or *forty* years. Incredible *longevity* has been attributed to some stags. One was taken by Charles VI., in the forest of Senlis, about whose neck was a collar with this inscription, *Caesar hoc mihi donavit*, which led some to believe that this animal had lived from the days of some one of the *twelve* *Caesars*, emperors of Rome.
I have seen the following form of this inscription: -

Tempore quo Caesar Roma dominatus in alta
Aureolo jussit collum signare monili;
Ne depascentem quisquis me gramina laedat.
Caesaris heu! caussa periturae parcere vitae!

Which has been long public in the old English ballad strain, thus: -
"When Julius Caesar reigned king,
About my neck he put this ring;
That whosoever should me take
Would save my life for Caesar's sake."

*Aristotle* mentions the longevity of the stag, but thinks it *fabulous*.

Verse [Job 39:3](../../../kjv/job/39/3). ***They bow themselves*** — In order to bring forth their young ones.
***They cast out their sorrows.*** — חבליהם *chebleyhem*; the *placenta,* *afterbirth*, or umbilical cord. So this word has been understood.

Verse [Job 39:4](../../../kjv/job/39/4). ***In good liking*** — After the fawns have sucked for some time, the dam leads them to the pastures, where they feed on different kinds of herbage; but not *on corn*, for they are not born before harvest-time in Arabia and Palestine, and the stag does not feed on corn, but on grass, moss, and the shoots of the *fir,* *beech*, and other trees: therefore the word *bar*, here translated *corn*, should be translated the *open field* or *country*. See *Parkhurst*. *Their nurslings bound away*. - Mr. *Good*. In a short time they become independent of the mother, leave her, *and return* *no more*. The spirit of the *questions* in these verses appears to be the following: - Understandest thou the cause of breeding of the mountain goats, &c.? Art thou acquainted with the course and progress of the parturition, and the manner in which the bones grow, and acquire solidity in the womb? See Mr. *Good's* observations.
*Houbigant's* version appears very correct: (Knowest thou) "how their young ones grow up, increase in the fields, and once departing, return to them no more?"

Verse [Job 39:5](../../../kjv/job/39/5). ***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 colour; 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](../../../kjv/job/6/5).
***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 colour, 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.

Verse [Job 39:6](../../../kjv/job/39/6). ***Whose house*** — Habitation, or place of resort.
***The barren land*** — מלחה *melechah*, the *salt land*, or *salt* *places*, as in the margin. See above.

Verse [Job 39:7](../../../kjv/job/39/7). ***He scorneth the multitude*** — He is so swift that he cannot be run or hunted down. See the description in [Job 39:5](../../../kjv/job/39/5).

Verse [Job 39:8](../../../kjv/job/39/8). ***The range of the mountains*** — The mountains and desert places are his peculiar places of pasture; and he lives on any thing that is *green*, or any kind of *vegetable* production.

Verse [Job 39:9](../../../kjv/job/39/9). ***Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee?*** — The "fine elegant animal like a horse, with one long rich curled horn growing out of his forehead," commonly called the *unicorn*, must be given up as fabulous. The *heralds* must claim him as their own; place him in their armorial bearings as they please, to indicate the unreal actions, fictitious virtues, and unfought martial exploits of mispraised men. It is not to the honour of the royal arms of Great Britain that this fabulous animal should be one of their supporters.
The animal in question, called רים *reim*, is undoubtedly the *rhinoceros*, who has the latter name from the *horn* that grows on his *nose*. The rhinoceros is known by the name of *reim* in Arabia to the present day. He is allowed to be a savage animal, showing nothing of the intellect of the elephant. His *horn* enables him to combat the latter with great success; for, by putting his nose under the elephant's belly, he can rip him up. His *skin* is like armour, and so very hard as to resist sabres, javelins, lances, and even musket-balls; the only penetrable parts being the belly, the eyes, and about the ears.
***Or abide by thy crib?*** — These and several of the following expressions are intended to point out his savage, *untameable* nature.

Verse [Job 39:10](../../../kjv/job/39/10). ***Canst thou bind the unicorn - in the furrow?*** — He will not plough, nor draw in the yoke *with another*? nor canst thou use him *singly*, to harrow the ground.

Verse [Job 39:12](../../../kjv/job/39/12). ***That he will bring home thy seed*** — Thou canst make no domestic nor agricultural use of him.

Verse [Job 39:13](../../../kjv/job/39/13). ***The goodly wings unto the peacocks?*** — I believe *peacocks* are not intended here; and the Hebrew word רננים *renanim* should be translated *ostriches*; and the term חסידה *chasidah*, which we translate *ostrich*, should be, as it is elsewhere translated, *stork*; and perhaps the word נצה *notsah*, rendered here *feathers*, should be translated *hawk*, or *pelican*.
The *Vulgate* has, *Penna struthionis similis est pennis herodii et* *accipitris*; "the feather of the ostrich is like to that of the stork and the hawk." The *Chaldee* has, "The wing of the wild cock, who crows and claps his wings, is like to the wing of the stork and the hawk." The *Septuagint*, not knowing what to make of these different terms, have left them all untranslated, so as to make a sentence without sense. Mr. *Good* has come nearest both to the *original* and to the meaning, by translating thus: -
As to נצה *notsah*, here translated *falcon*, Mr. *Good* observes, that the term [Arabian] *naz* is used generally by the Arabian writers to signify both *falcon* and *hawk*; and there can be little doubt that such is the real meaning of the Hebrew word; and that it imports various species of the falcon family, as *jer-falcon, gos-hawk*, and *sparrow-hawk*.
"The argument drawn from natural history advances from *quadrupeds* to *birds*; and of birds, those only are selected for description which are most common to the country in which the scene lies, and at the same time are most singular in their properties. Thus the *ostrich* is admirably contrasted with the *stork* and the *eagle*, as affording us an instance of a winged animal totally incapable of flight, but endued with an unrivalled rapidity of running, compared with birds whose flight is proverbially fleet, powerful, and persevering. Let man, in the pride of his wisdom, explain or arraign this difference of construction.
"Again, the *ostrich* is peculiarly opposed to the *stork* and to some species of the *eagle* in another sense, and a sense adverted to in the verses immediately ensuing; for the *ostrich* is well known to take *little* or *no care* of its *eggs*, or of its *young,* while the *stork* ever has been, and ever deserves to be, held in proverbial repute for its *parental tenderness*. The Hebrew word חסידה *chasidah*, imports kindness or affection; and our own term *stork*, if derived from the Greek στοργη, *storge*, as some pretend, has the same original meaning." - GOOD'S JOB.

Verse [Job 39:14](../../../kjv/job/39/14). ***Which leaveth her eggs in the earth*** — This want of parental affection in the *ostrich* is almost universally acknowledged. Mr. *Jackson*, in his *Account of Morocco*, observes: "The ostrich, having laid her eggs, goes away, *forgetting* or *forsaking* them: and if some other ostrich discover them, she hatches them as if they were her own, *forgetting* probably whether they are or are not; so deficient is the recollection of this bird." This illustrates [Job 39:15](../../../kjv/job/39/15): "And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them." The poet seems well acquainted with every part of the subject on which he writes; and facts incontestable confirm all he says. For farther illustration, see the account from Dr. *Shaw* at the end of the chapter. [Job 39:30](../../../kjv/job/39/30).

Verse [Job 39:16](../../../kjv/job/39/16). ***She is hardened against her young*** — See before, and the extracts from Dr. *Shaw* at the end of the chapter. [Job 39:30](../../../kjv/job/39/30). She neglects her little ones, which are often found half starved, straggling, and moaning about, like so many deserted orphans, for their mother.

Verse [Job 39:17](../../../kjv/job/39/17). ***God hath deprived her of wisdom*** — Of this foolishness we have an account from the ancients; and here follow two instances:
"1. It covers its head in the reeds, and thinks itself all out of sight because itself cannot see. So *Claudian*: -
____________ 'Stat lumine clauso
Ridendum revoluta caput: creditque latere
Quad non ipsa videt.'

"2. They who hunt them draw the skin of an ostrich's neck on one hand, which proves a sufficient lure to take them with the other. They have so little brain that Heliogabalus had *six hundred* heads for his supper. Here we may observe, that our judicious as well as sublime author just touches the great points of distinction in each creature, and then hastens to another. A description is exact when you cannot add but what is common to another thing; nor withdraw, but something peculiarly belonging to the thing described. A likeness is lost in too much description, as a meaning is often in too much illustration." - Dr. YOUNG.

Verse [Job 39:18](../../../kjv/job/39/18). ***She lifteth up herself*** — *When she raiseth up herself to* *run away*. Proofs of the fleetness of this bird have already been given. It neither flies nor runs distinctly, but has a motion composed of both; and, using its wings as sails, makes great speed. So *Claudian*: -
Vasta velut Libyae venantum vocibus ales
Cum premitur, calidas cursu transmittit arenas,
Inque modum veli sinuatis flamine pennis
Pulverulenta volat.

"*Xenophon* says, *Cyrus* had horses that could overtake the goat and the wild ass; but none that could reach this creature. A thousand golden ducats, or a *hundred* camels, was the stated price of a horse that could equal their speed." - Dr. YOUNG.

Verse [Job 39:19](../../../kjv/job/39/19). ***Hast thou given the horse strength?*** — Before I proceed to any observations, I shall give Mr. *Good's* version of this, perhaps inimitable, description: -
The great Creator, who accommodated himself to those to whom he vouchsafed to speak, hath put into the mouths of his prophets such sublime sentiments and exalted language as must abash the pride and wisdom of man. In the book of Job, the most ancient poem in the world, we have such paintings and descriptions as I have spoken of in great variety. I shall at present make some remarks on the celebrated description of the *horse*, in that holy book; and compare it with those drawn by *Homer* and *Virgil*.
*Homer* hath the following similitude of a *horse* twice over in the *Iliad*, which *Virgil* hath copied from him; at least he hath deviated less from *Homer* than Mr. *Dryden* hath from him: -
I cannot but particularly observe that whereas the classical poets chiefly endeavour to paint the *outward figure, lineaments,* *and motions*, the *sacred poet* makes all the beauties to flow from an *inward principle* in the creature he describes; and thereby gives great spirit and vivacity to his description. The following phrases and circumstances are singularly remarkable: -
Ver. [Job 39:19](../../../kjv/job/39/19). *Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?*
*Homer* and *Virgil* mention nothing about the neck of the horse but his mane. The sacred author, by the bold figure of *thunder*, not only expresses the *shaking* of that remarkable beauty in the horse, and the *flakes of hair*, which naturally suggest the idea of *lightning*; but likewise the *violent agitation* and force of the neck, which in the oriental tongues had been flatly expressed by a metaphor less bold than this.
Ver. [Job 39:20](../../../kjv/job/39/20). *Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper*?
There is a twofold beauty in this expression, which not only marks the courage of this beast, by asking if he can be *scared*; but likewise raises a noble image of his *swiftness*, by insinuating that, if he could be frightened, he would *bound away* with the *nimbleness* of a *grasshopper*.
***The glory of his nostrils*** is *terrible.*] This is more strong and concise than that of Virgil, which yet is the noblest line that was ever written without inspiration: -
His docility is elegantly painted in his being *unmoved at the* *rattling quiver, the glittering spear, and the shield*, [Job 39:23](../../../kjv/job/39/23), and is well imitated by *Oppian*, - who undoubtedly read Job, as Virgil did, - in his Poem on Hunting: -
Densa juba, et dextro jactata recumbit in armo.
"His *toss'd* thick mane on his right shoulder falls."
Naturally, the horse is one of the most *timid* of animals; and this may be at once accounted for from his *small quantity of* *brain*. Perhaps there is no animal of his size that has *so* *little*. He acquires *courage* only from *discipline*; for naturally he starts with terror and affright at any sudden noise. It requires much discipline to bring him to hear the *noise of drums* and *trumpets*, and especially to bear a pair of kettle drums placed on each side his neck, and beaten there, with the most alarming variety of sounds. Query, Does the sacred text allude to *any thing* *of this kind*? I have been led to form this thought from the following circumstance. In some ancient MSS. of the *Shah Nameh*, a most eminent heroic poem, by the poet *Ferdoosy*, the Homer of India, in my own collection, adorned with paintings, representing regal interviews, animals, battles, c., there appear in some places representations of *elephants, horses*, and *camels*, with a pair of drums, something like our kettle drums, hanging on each side of the animal's neck, and beaten, by a person on the saddle, with two plectrums or drumsticks the *neck* itself being literally *clothed* with the *drums* and the *housings* on which they are fixed. Who is it then that has *framed* the *disposition* of such a timid animal, that by proper *discipline* it can bear those *thundering* sounds, which at first would have scared it to the uttermost of distraction? The *capacity* to receive *discipline* and *instruction* is as great a *display* of the *wisdom* of God as the *formation* of the *bodies* of the largest, smallest, or most complex animals is of his *power*. I leave this observation without laying any stress upon it. On such difficult subjects *conjecture* has a lawful range.

Verse [Job 39:21](../../../kjv/job/39/21). ***He paweth in the valley*** — רעם *yachperu*, "*they dig* in the valley," i.e., in his violent galloping, in every pitch of his body, he scoops up sods out of the earth. *Virgil* has seized this idea also, in his *cavat tellurem*; "he scoops out the ground." See before.

Verse [Job 39:25](../../../kjv/job/39/25). ***He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha*** — The original is peculiarly emphatical: האח *Heach*! a strong, partly *nasal*, partly *guttural* sound, exactly resembling the first note which the horse emits in *neighing*. The strong, guttural sounds in this hemistich are exceedingly expressive: האח ומרחוק יריח מלחמה *Heach! umerachok* *yariach milchamah*; "Heach, for from afar he scenteth the battle."
The reader will perceive that Mr. *Good* has given a very different meaning to [Job 39:20](../../../kjv/job/39/20) from that in the present text, *Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper*? by translating the Hebrew thus: -
"Hast thou given him to launch forth as an arrow?"
The word ארבה *arbeh*, which we translate *locust* or *grasshopper,* and which he derives from רבה *rabah*, the א *aleph* being merely formative, he says, "may as well mean an *arrow* as it does in [Job 16:13](../../../kjv/job/16/13), רביו rabbaiv, 'His arrows fly around me.'" The verb רעש *raash* in the word התועישנו *hatharishennu*, "Canst thou make him afraid?' he contends, "signifies to *tremble, quiver, rush, launch, dart forth*; and, taken in this sense, it seems to unite the two ideas of *rapidity* and *coruscation*." This is the *principal* alteration which this learned man has made in the text.
I shall conclude on this subject by giving *Coverdale's* translation: *Hast thou geven the horse his strength, or lerned him* *how to bow down his neck with feare; that he letteth himself be* *dryven forth like a greshopper, where as the stout neyenge that he* *maketh is fearfull? He breaketh the grounde with the hoffes of his* *fete chearfully in his strength, and runneth to mete the harnest* *men. He layeth aside all feare, his stomach is not abated, neither* *starteth he aback for eny swerde. Though the qyvers rattle upon* *him, though the speare and shilde glistre: yet russheth he in* *fearsley, and beateth upon the grounde. He feareth not the noise* *of the trompettes, but as soone as he heareth the shawmes blowe,* *Tush (sayeth he) for he smelleth the batell afarre of, the noyse,* *the captaynes, and the shoutinge*. This is wonderfully nervous, and at the same time accurate.

Verse [Job 39:26](../../../kjv/job/39/26). ***Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom*** — The *hawk* is called נץ *nets*, from its swiftness in darting down upon its prey; hence its *Latin* name, *nisus*, which is almost the same as the *Hebrew*. It may very probably mean the *falcon*, observes Dr. *Shaw*. The flight of a strong falcon is wonderfully swift. A falcon belonging to the Duke of Cleves flew out of Westphalia into Prussia in one day; and in the county of Norfolk, a hawk has made a flight at a woodcock of near *thirty miles* in an *hour*. *Thuanus* says, "A hawk flew from London to Paris in one night." It was owing to its *swiftness* that the Egyptians in their hieroglyphics made it the emblem of the *wind*.
***Stretch her wings toward the south?*** — Most of the *falcon* tribe pass their spring and summer in cold climates; and wing their way toward warmer regions on the approach of winter. This is what is here meant by *stretching her wings toward the south*. Is it through thy teaching that *this* or any other *bird of passage* knows the precise time for taking flight, and the direction in which she is to go in order to come to a warmer climate? There is much of the *wisdom* and *providence* of God to be seen in the migration of *birds of passage*. This has been remarked before. There is a beautiful passage in *Jeremiah*, [Jeremiah 8:7](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/7), on the same subject: "The stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of their coming: but my people know not the judgment of the Lord."

Verse [Job 39:27](../../../kjv/job/39/27). ***Doth the eagle mount up*** — The eagle is said to be of so acute a sight, that when she is so high in the air that men cannot see her, she can discern a small fish in the water! See on [Job 39:29](../../../kjv/job/39/29).

Verse [Job 39:28](../../../kjv/job/39/28). ***Upon the crag of the rock*** — שן סלע *shen sela*, the *tooth of the rock*, i.e., some *projecting* part, whither *adventurous* man himself dares not follow her.
***And the strong place.*** — ומצודה *umetsudah*. Mr. *Good* translates this word *ravine*, and joins it to [Job 39:29](../../../kjv/job/39/29), thus: "And thence espieth the ravine: her eyes trace the prey afar off."

Verse [Job 39:29](../../../kjv/job/39/29). ***Her eyes behold afar off.*** — The *eagle* was proverbial for her strong and clear sight. So *Horace*, lib. i., sat. iii., ver. 25: -
Cum tua pervideas oculis mala lippus inunctis,
Cur in amicorum vitas tam cernis acutum,
Quam aut aquila, aut serpens Epidaurius?

"For wherefore while you carelessly pass by
Your own worst vices with unheeding eye,
Why so sharp-sighted in another's fame,
Strong as an *eagle's ken*, or dragon's beam?"
FRANCIS.

So *AElian*, lib. i., cap. 42. And *Homer*, Iliad xvii., calls the eagle οξυτατον ὑπουρανιων πετεηνων, "The most quick-sighted of all fowls under heaven."

Verse [Job 39:30](../../../kjv/job/39/30). ***Her young ones also suck up blood*** — The eagle does not feed her young with *carrion*, but with prey *newly* slain, so that they may *suck up blood*.
***Where the slain*****are,*****there*****is*****she.*** — These words are quoted by our Lord. "Wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together," [Matthew 24:28](../../../kjv/matthew/24/28). It is likely, however, that this was a proverbial mode of expression; and our Lord adapts it to the circumstances of the Jewish people, who were about to fall a prey to the Romans. See the notes there.
IN the preceding notes I have referred to Dr. *Shaw's* account of the *ostrich* as the most accurate and authentic yet published. With the following description I am sure every intelligent reader will be pleased.
"In commenting therefore upon these texts it may be observed, that when the *ostrich* is full grown, the neck, particularly of the male, which before was almost naked, is now very beautifully covered with red feathers. The plumage likewise upon the shoulders, the back, and some parts of the wings, from being hitherto of a dark grayish colour, becomes now as black as jet, whilst the rest of the feathers retain an exquisite whiteness. They are, as described [Job 39:13](../../../kjv/job/39/13), *the very feathers and plumage of the stork*, i.e., they consist of such black and white feathers as the *stork*, called from thence *chasidah*, is known to have. But the belly, the thighs, and the breast, do not partake of this covering, being usually naked, and when touched are of the same warmth as the flesh of *quadrupeds*.
"Under the joint of the great pinion, and sometimes under the less, there is a strong pointed excrescence like a cock's spur, with which it is said to prick and stimulate itself, and thereby acquire fresh strength and vigour whenever it is pursued. But nature seems rather to have intended that, in order to prevent the suffocating effects of too great a *plethora*, a loss of blood should be consequent thereupon, especially as the *ostrich* appears to be of a hot constitution, with lungs always confined, and consequently liable to be preter-naturally inflamed upon these occasions.
"When these birds are surprised by coming suddenly upon them whilst they are feeding in some valley, or behind some rocky or sandy eminence in the deserts, they will not stay to be curiously viewed and examined. Neither are the Arabs ever dexterous enough to overtake them, even when they are mounted upon their *jinse*, or horses, as they are called, of family. *They, when they raise* *themselves up for flight*, ([Job 39:18](../../../kjv/job/39/18),) *laugh at the horse and his rider*. They afford him an opportunity only of admiring at a distance the extraordinary agility and the stateliness of their motions, the richness of their plumage, and the great propriety there was of ascribing to them ([Job 30:13](../../../kjv/job/30/13)) *an expanded quivering wing*. Nothing, certainly, can be more beautiful and entertaining than such a sight! The wings, by their repeated though unwearied vibrations, equally serving them for sails and oars; whilst their feet, no less assisting in conveying them out of sight, are in no degree sensible of fatigue.
"By the repeated accounts which I often had from my conductors, as well as from *Arabs* of different places, I have been informed that the ostrich lays from thirty to fifty eggs. *AElian* mentions more than eighty, but I never heard of so large a number. The first egg is deposited in the centre; the rest are placed as conveniently as possible round about it. In this manner it is said to *lay*-deposit or thrust ([Job 39:14](../../../kjv/job/39/14)) - *her eggs in THE EARTH*, and *to warm them in the sand, and* *forgetteth*, as they are not placed, like those of some other birds, upon trees or in the clefts of rocks, c., *that the foot* of the traveller *may crush them, or that the wild beasts may break* *them*.
"Yet notwithstanding the ample provision which is hereby made for a numerous offspring, scarce one quarter of these eggs are ever supposed to be hatched and of those that are, no small share of the young ones may perish with hunger, from being left too early by their dams to shift for themselves. For in these the most barren and desolate recesses of the *Sahara*, where the *ostrich* chooses to make her nest, it would not be enough to lay eggs and hatch them, unless some proper food was near at hand, and already prepared for their nourishment. And accordingly we are not to consider this large collection of eggs as if they were all intended for a brood; they are, the greatest part of them, reserved for food, which the dam breaks and disposes of according to the number and the cravings of her young ones.
"But yet, for all this, a very little share of that στοργη, or natural affection, which so strongly exerts itself in most other creatures, is observable in the *ostrich*. For, upon the least distant noise or trivial occasion, she forsakes her eggs, or her young ones, to which perhaps she never returns, or if she do, it may be too late either to restore life to the one, or to preserve the lives of the other. Agreeably to this account, the *Arabs* meet sometimes with whole nests of these eggs undisturbed; some of which are sweet and good, others are addle and corrupted, others again have their young ones of different growths, according to the time it may be presumed they have been forsaken by the dam. They oftener meet a few of the little ones, no bigger than well-grown pullets, half starved, straggling, and moaning about, like so many distressed orphans, for their mother. And in this manner the *ostrich* may be said ([Job 39:16](../../../kjv/job/39/16)) *to be hardened against her young ones, as though they were not* *hers; her labour* in hatching and attending them so far *being vain* *without fear*, or the least concern of what becomes of them afterwards. This want of affection is also recorded, [Lamentations 4:3](../../../kjv/lamentations/4/3): *The daughter of my people*, says the prophet, *is cruel, like the* *ostriches in the wilderness*.
"Neither is this the only reproach that may be due to the *ostrich*; she is likewise inconsiderate and foolish in her private capacity; particularly in the choice of food, which is frequently highly detrimental and pernicious to her; for she swallows every thing greedily and indiscriminately, whether it be pieces of rags, leather, wood, stone, or iron. When I was at *Oram*, I saw one off these birds swallow, without any seeming uneasiness or inconvenience, several leaden bullets, as they were thrown upon the floor, scorching hot from the mould, the inner coats of the *aesophapus* and *stomach* being probably better stocked with glands and juices than in other animals with shorter necks. They are particularly fond of their own excrement, which they greedily eat up as soon as it is voided. No less fond are they of the dung of hens and other poultry. It seems as if their *optic* as well as *olfactory* nerves were less adequate and conducive to their safety and preservation than in other creatures. The *Divine* *providence in this*, no less than in other respects, ([Job 39:17](../../../kjv/job/39/17),) *having deprived them of wisdom, neither hath it imparted to them* *understanding*.
"Those parts of the *Sahara* which these birds chiefly frequent are destitute of all manner of food and herbage, except it be some few tufts of coarse grass, or else a few other solitary plants of the *laureola, apocynum*, and some other kinds; each of which is equally destitute of nourishment; and, in the *psalmist's* phrase, ([Psalms 129:6](../../../kjv/psalms/129/6),) *even withereth afore it groweth up*. Yet these herbs, notwithstanding their dryness, and want of moisture in their temperature, will sometimes have both their leaves and their stalks studded all over with a great variety of *land snails*, which may afford them some little refreshment. It is very probable, likewise, that they may sometimes seize upon *lizards, serpents*, together with *insects* and *reptiles* of various kinds. Yet still, considering the great voracity and size of this *camel-bird*, it is wonderful, not only how the little ones, after they are weaned from the provisions I have mentioned, should be brought up and nourished, but even how those of fuller growth and much better qualified to look out for themselves, are able to subsist.
"Their organs of digestion, and particularly the gizzards, which, by their strong friction, will wear away iron itself, show them indeed to be *granivorous*; but yet they have scarce ever an opportunity to exercise them in this way, unless when they chance to stray, which is very seldom, towards those parts of the country which are sown and cultivated, For these, as they are much frequented by the *Arabs* at the several seasons of grazing, ploughing, and gathering in the harvest; so they are little visited by as indeed they would be an improper abode for this shy, timorous bird; φιλερημος, *a lover of the deserts*. This last circumstance in the behaviour of the *ostrich* is frequently alluded to in the Holy Scriptures; particularly [Isaiah 13:21](../../../kjv/isaiah/13/21); [Isaiah 34:13](../../../kjv/isaiah/34/13); [Isaiah 43:20](../../../kjv/isaiah/43/20); [Jeremiah 50:39](../../../kjv/jeremiah/50/39); where the word, יענה *yaanah*, instead of being rendered the *ostrich*, as it is rightly put in the margin, is called the *owl*; a word used likewise instead of *yaanah* or the *ostrich*, [Leviticus 11:16](../../../kjv/leviticus/11/16), and [Deuteronomy 14:15](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/14/15).
"Whilst I was abroad, I had several opportunities of amusing myself with the actions and behaviour of the *ostrich*. It was very diverting to observe with what dexterity and *equipoise* of body it would play and frisk about on all occasions. In the heat of the day, particularly it would strut along the sunny side of the house with great majesty. It would be perpetually fanning and priding itself with its *quivering expanded wings*; and seem at every turn to admire and be in love with its shadow. Even at other times whether walking about or resting itself upon the ground, the wings would continue these fanning vibrating motions, as if they were designed to mitigate and assuage that extraordinary heat wherewith their bodies seem to be naturally affected.
"Notwithstanding these *birds* appear tame and tractable to such persons of the family as were more known and familiar to them, yet they were often very rude and fierce to strangers, especially the poorer sort, whom they would not only endeavour to push down by running furiously upon them; but would not cease to peck at them violently with their bills, and to strike them with their feet; whereby they were frequently very mischievous. For the inward claw, or hoof rather as we may call it, of this *avis bisulca*, being exceedingly strong pointed and angular, I once saw an unfortunate person who had his belly ripped open by one of these strokes. Whilst they are engaged in these combats and assaults, they sometimes make a fierce, angry, and hissing noise with their throats inflated, and their mouths open; at other times, when less resistance is made they have a chuckling or cackling voice, as in the poultry kind; and thereby seem to rejoice and laugh as it were at the timorousness of their adversary. But during the lonesome part of the night, as if their organs of voice had then attained a quite different tone, they often made a very doleful and hideous noise; which would be sometimes like the roaring of a *lion*; at other times it would bear a near resemblance to the hoarser voices of other *quadrupeds*, particularly of the *bull* and the *ox*. I have often heard them groan, as if they were in the greatest agonies; an action beautifully alluded to by the Prophet *Micah*, [Micah 1:8](../../../kjv/micah/1/8), where it is said, *I will make a mourning like the yaanah* or *ostrich*. *Yaanah*, therefore, and רננים *renanim*, the names by which the *ostrich* is known in the Holy Scriptures, may very properly be deduced from ענה *anah*, and רנן *ranan*, words which the *lexicographi* explain by *exclamare* or *clamare fortiter*; for the noise made by the *ostrich* being loud and sonorous, *exclamare* or *clamare fortiter* may, with propriety enough, be attributed to it, especially as those words do not seem to denote any certain or determined mode of voice or sound peculiar to any one particular *species* of animals, but such as may be applicable to them all, to *birds* as well as to *quadrupeds* and other creatures."
*Shaw's* Travels, p. 541, edit. 4to. 1757.
The subjects in this chapter have been so various and important, that I have been obliged to extend the notes and observations to an unusual length; and yet much is left unnoticed which I wished to have inserted. I have made the best selection I could, and must request those readers who wish for more information to consult zoological writers.

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