Job 39:26

“Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, etc.] With so much swiftness, steadiness, and constancy, until she has seized her prey. The Vulgate Latin version and some others read, “does she become feathered”, or “begin to have feathers?” and so Bochart: either when first fledged; or when, as it is said f1421 she casts her old feathers and gets new ones, and this every year. Now neither her flight nor her feathers, whether at one time or the other, are owing to men, but to the Lord, who gives both; [and] stretch her wings towards the south? Being a bird of passage, she moves from colder climates towards the winter, and steers her course to the south towards warmer ones f1422; which she does by an…”

“The instinct by which some birds migrate to warmer climes before winter. Rapid flying peculiarly characterizes the whole hawk genus.”

“Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom - The appeal here is to the hawk, because it is among the most rapid of the birds in its flight. The particuIar thing specified is its flying, and it is supposed that there was something special in that which distinguished it from other birds. Whether it was in regard to its speed, to its manner of flying, or to its habits of flying at periodical seasons, may indeed be made a matter of inquiry, but it is clear that the particular thing in this bird which was adapted to draw the attention, and which evinced especially the wisdom of God, was connected with its flight. The word here rendered “hawk,” (נץ nêts) is probably generic, and includes the various species…”

“Fly - So strongly, constantly, unweariedly, and swiftly. South - At the approach of winter, when wild hawks fly into warmer countries, as being impatient of cold. The birds of the air are proofs of the wonderful providence of God, as well as the beasts of the earth. God instances in two stately ones. Job 39:27”

“the hawk: Netz, Arabic naz, Latin nisus, the hawk, so called from natzah, to shoot away, fly, because of the rapidity of its flight. It probably comprehends various species of the falcon family, as the ger-falcon, goshawk, and sparrowhawk. Lev 16:11; Deu 14:15 stretch: Is it through thy teaching that the falcon, or any other bird of passage, knows the precise time for taking flight, and the direction in which she is to go to arrive at a warmer climate? Sol 2:12; Jer 8:7 Job 39:27”

“26 Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, Doth it spread its wings towards the south? 27 Or is it at thy command that the eagle soareth aloft, And buildeth its nest on high? 28 It inhabiteth the rock, and buildeth its nest Upon the crag of the rock and fastness. 29 From thence it seeketh food, Its eyes see afar off. 30 And its young ones suck up blood; And where the slain are, there is it. The ancient versions are unanimous in testifying that, according to the signification of the root, נץ signifies the hawk (which is significant in the Hieroglyphics): the soaring one, the high-flyer (comp. Arab. nṣṣ, to rise, struggle forwards, and Arab. nḍḍ, to raise the wings for flight). The Hiph. יאבר-…”