Job 39:20

Old Testament Wisdom/Poetry ASV (1901)

What does Job 39:20 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Hast thou made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is terrible.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Hast thou made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is terrible.
Job 39:20 — American Standard Version

Context — Job 39

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
20Hast thou made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is terrible.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? etc.] Which is frightened at every noise, and at any approach of men; but not so the horse; or canst thou move him, or cause him to skip and jump, or rather leap like a grasshopper? that is, hast thou given, or canst thou give him the faculty of leaping over hedges and ditches, for which the horse is famous? so Neptune’s war horses are said f1405 to be euskarymoi, good leapers; the glory of his nostrils [is] terrible: which may be understood of his sneezing, snorting, pawing, and neighing, when his nostrils are broad, spread, and enlarged; and especially when enraged and in battle, when he foams and fumes, and his breath comes out of his nostrils…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“make . . . afraid--rather, "canst thou (as I do) make him spring as the locust?" So in Joe 2:4, the comparison is between locusts and war-horses. The heads of the two are so similar that the Italians call the locusts cavaletta, "little horse." nostrils--snorting furiously.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? - Or, rather, “as a locust” - כארבה kā'arbeh. This is the word which is commonly applied to the locust considered as gregarious, or as appearing in great numbers (from רבה râbâh, “to be multiplied”). On the variety of the species of locusts, see Bochart “Hieroz.” P. ii. Lib. iv. c. 1ff The Hebrew word here rendered “make afraid” (רעשׁ râ‛ash) means properly “to be moved, to be shaken,” and hence, to tremble, to be afraid. In the Hiphil, the form used here, it means to cause to tremble, to shake; and then “to cause to leap,” as a horse; and the idea here is, Canst thou cause the horse, an animal so large and powerful, to leap with the agility…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“the glory: Job 41:20, Job 41:21; Jer 8:16 terrible: Heb. terrors Job 39:21”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification