*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Hast thou given the horse strength? - The incidental allusion to the horse in comparison with the ostrich in the previous verse, seems to have suggested this magnificent description of this noble animal - a description which has never been surpassed or equalled. The horse is an animal so well known, that a particular description of it is here unnecessary. The only thing which is required is an explanation of the phrases used here, and a confirmation of the particular qualities here attributed to the war-horse, for the description here is evidently that of the horse as he appears in war, or as about to plunge into the midst of a battle. The description which comes the nearest to this before us, is that furnished in the well known and exquisite passage of Virgil, Georg. iii. 84ff:
- Turn, si qua sonum procul arma dedere,
Stare loco nescitedmientauribns, et tremitartus,
Collectumq; premens volvit sub naribusignem.
Densa. iuba, et dextrojuctata recumbat in armo.
At duplex agitur, per lumbos spina; cavatque
Tellurem, et solidograviter sonat ungulacornu.
"But at the clash of arms, his ear afar
Drinks the deep sound, and vibrates to the war;
Flames from each nostril roll in gathered stream,
His quivering limbs with restless motion gleam;
O'er his right shoulder, floating full and fair,
Sweeps his thick mane, and spreads his pomp of hair;
Swift works his double spine; and earth around
Rings to his solid hoof that wears the ground."
Sotheby
Many of the circumstances here enumerated have a remarkable resemblance to the description in Job. Other descriptions and correspondences between this passage and the Classical writers may be seen at length in Bochart, "Hieroz." P. i. L. i. c. viii.; in Scheutzer, "Physica Sacra, in loc.;" and in the "Scriptorum variorum Sylloge (Vermischte Schriften," Goetting. l 82), of Godofr. Less. A full account of the habits of the horse is also furnished by Michaelis in his "Dissertation on the most ancient history of horses and horse-breeding," etc. Appendix to Art. clxvi. of the Commentary of the Laws of Moses, vol. ii. According to the results of the investigations of Michaelis, Arabia was not, as is commonly supposed, the native country of the horse, but its origin is rather to be sought in Egypt; and in the account which is given of the riches of Job, Job 1:3; Job 42:12, it is remarkable that the horse is not mentioned. It is, therefore, in a high degree probable that the horse was not known in his time as a domestic animal, and that, in his country at least, it was employed chiefly in war.
Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? - There seems to be something incongruous in the idea of making thunder the clothing of the neck of a horse, and there as been considerable diversity in the exposition of the passage. There is evidently some allusion to the mane, but exactly in what respect is not agreed. The Septuagint renders it, "Hast thou clothed his neck with terror" - φόβον phobon? Jerome refers it to the "neighing" of the horse - "aut circumdabis collo ejus hinnitum" Prof. Lee renders it, "Clothest thou his neck with scorn?" Herder, "And clothed its neckwith its flowing mane." Umbreit, "Hast thou clothed his neck with loftiness?" Noyes, "Hast thou clothed his neck with its quivering mane?" Schultens, "convestis cervicem ejus tremore alacri" - "with rapid quivering;" and Dr. Good, "with the thunder-flash." In this variety of interpretation, it is easy to perceive that the common impression has been that the mane is in some way referred to, and that the allusion is not so much to a sound as of thunder, as to some motion of the mane that attracted attention.
The mane adds much to the majesty and beauty of the horse, and perhaps it was in some way decorated by the ancients so as to set it off with increased beauty. The word which is used here, and which is rendered "thunder" (רעמה ra‛mâh), is from the verb רעם râ‛am, meaning to rage, to roar, as applied to the sea, Psalm 96:11; Psalm 98:7, and then to thunder. It has also the idea of trembling or quaking, Ezekiel 27:35, and also of provoking to anger, 1-Samuel 1:6. The verb and the noun are more commonly referred to thunder than anything else, Job 37:4-5; Job 40:9; 2-Samuel 22:14; 1-Samuel 2:10; 1-Samuel 7:10; Psalm 18:13; Psalm 29:3; Psalm 77:18; Psalm 104:7; Isaiah 29:6. A full investigation of the meaning of the passage may be seen in Bochart, "Hieroz." P. i. Lib. ii. c. viii. It seems to me to be very difficult to determine its meaning, and none of the explanations given are quite satisfactory. The word used requires us to understand the appearance of the neck of the horse as having some resemblance to thunder, but in what respect is not quite so apparent.
It may be this; the description of the war-horse is that of an animal fitted to inspire terror. He is caparisoned for battle; impatient of restraint; rushing forward into the thickest of the fight; tearing up the earth; breathing fire from his nostrils; and it was not unnatural, therefore, to compare him with the tempest. The majestic neck, with the erect and shaking mane, is likened to the thunder of the tempest that shakes everything, and that gives so much majesty and tearfulness to the gathering storm, and the description seems to be this - that his very neck is fitted to produce awe and alarm, like the thunder of the tempest. We are required, therefore, it seems to me, to adhere to the proper meaning of the word; and though in the coolness of criticism there may appear to be something incongruous in the application of thunder to the neck of the horse, yet it might not appear to be so if we saw such a war-horse - and if the thought, not an unnatural one, should strike us, that in majesty and fury he bore a strong resemblance to an approaching tempest.
Hast thou given the horse strength? - Before I proceed to any observations, I shall give Mr. Good's version of this, perhaps inimitable, description: -
Job 39:19 Hast thou bestowed on the horse mettle?Hast thou clothed his neck with the thunder flash?
Job 39:20 Hast thou given him to launch forth as an arrow?Terrible is the pomp of his nostrils.
Job 39:21 He paweth in the valley, and exulteth.Boldly he advanceth against the clashing host:
Job 39:22 He mocketh at fear, and trembleth not:Nor turneth he back from the sword.
Job 39:23 Against him rattleth the quiver,The glittering spear, and the shield:
Job 39:24 With rage and fury he devoureth the ground;And is impatient when the trumpet soundeth.
Job 39:25 He exclaimeth among the trumpets, Aha!And scenteth the battle afar off,The thunder of the chieftains, and the shouting.
In the year 1713, a letter was sent to the Guardian, which makes No. 86 of that work, containing a critique on this description, compared with similar descriptions of Homer and Virgil. I shall give the substance of it here: -
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: -
Ὡς δ' ὁτε τις στατος ἱππος, ακοστησας επι φατνη,
Δεσμον απορῥηξας θειει πεδιοιο κροαινων,
Ειωθως λουεσθαι εΰρῥειος ποταμοιο,
Κυδιοων· ὑψου δε καρη εχει, αμοι δε χαιται
Ωμοις αΐσσονται· ὁ δ' αγλαΐῃφι πεποιθως
Ῥιμφα ἑ γουνα φερει μετα τ' ηθεα και νομον ἱππων.
Hom. Il. lib. vi., ver. 506; and lib. xv., ver. 263.
Freed from his keepers, thus with broken reins
The wanton courser prances o'er the plains,
Or in the pride of youth o'erleaps the mound,
And snuffs the female in forbidden ground;
Or seeks his watering in the well-known flood,
To quench his thirst, and cool his fiery blood;
He swims luxuriant in the liquid plain,
And o'er his shoulders flows his waving mane;
He neighs, he snorts, he bears his head on high;
Before his ample chest the frothy waters fly.
Virgil's description is much fuller than the foregoing, which, as I said, is only a simile; whereas Virgil professes to treat of the nature of the horse: -
- Tum, si qua sonum procul arma dedere,
Stare loco nescit: micat auribus, et tremit artus
Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem:
Densa juba, et dextro jactata recumbit in armo.
At duplex agitur per lumbos spina, cavatque
Tellurem, et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu.
Virg. Georg. lib. iii., ver. 83.
Which is thus admirably translated: -
The fiery courser, when he hears from far
The sprightly trumpets, and the shouts of war,
Pricks up his ears; and, trembling with delight,
Shifts pace, and paws, and hopes the promised fight.
On his right shoulder his thick mane reclined,
Ruffles at speed, and dances in the wind.
His horny hoofs are jetty black and round;
His chin is double: starting with a bound,
He turns the turf, and shakes the solid ground.
Fire from his eyes, clouds from his nostrils flow;
He bears his rider headlong on the foe.
Now follows that in the Book of Job, which, under all the disadvantages of having been written in a language little understood, of being expressed in phrases peculiar to a part of the world whose manner of thinking and speaking seems to us very uncouth; and, above all, of appearing in a prose translation; is nevertheless so transcendently above the heathen descriptions, that hereby we may perceive how faint and languid the images are which are formed by human authors, when compared with those which are figured, as it were, just as they appear in the eye of the Creator. God, speaking to Job, asks him: - [To do our translators as much justice as possible, and to help the critic, I shall throw it in the hemistich form, in which it appears in the Hebrew, and in which all Hebrew poetry is written.]
Job 39:19 Hast thou given to the Horse strength?Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Job 39:20 Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper?The glory of his nostrils is terrible!
Job 39:21 He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in strength:He goeth on to meet the armed men.
Job 39:22 He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted:Neither turneth he back from the sword.
Job 39:23 Against him rattleth the quiver,The glittering spear and the shield.
Job 39:24 He swalloweth the ground with rage and fierceness:Nor doth he believe that it is the sound of the trumpet.
Job 39:25 He saith among the trumpets, Heach!And from afar he scenteth the battle,The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
Here are all the great and sprightly images that thought can form of this generous beast, expressed in such force and vigor of style as would have given the great wits of antiquity new laws for the sublime, had they been acquainted with these writings. I cannot but particularly observe that whereas the classical poets chiefly endeavor 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: -
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.
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: -
Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem.
And in his nostrils rolls collected fire.
Geor. iii., ver. 85.
Job 39:21 He rejoiceth in his strength.
Job 39:22 He mocketh at fear.
Job 39:24 Neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
Job 39:25 He saith among the trumpets, Ha! ha!
These are signs of courage, as I said before, flowing from an inward principle. There is a peculiar beauty in his not believing it is the sound of the trumpet: that is, he cannot believe it for joy; but when he is sure of it, and is among the trumpets, he saith, Ha! ha! He neighs, he rejoices. His docility is elegantly painted in his being unmoved at the rattling quiver, the glittering spear, and the shield, Job 39:23, and is well imitated by Oppian, - who undoubtedly read Job, as Virgil did, - in his Poem on Hunting: -
Πως μεν γαρ τε μαχαισιν αρηΐος εκλυεν ἱππος
Ηχον εγερσιμοθον δολιχων πολεμηΐον αυλων;
Η πως αντα δεδορκεν ασκαρδαμυκτοισιν οπωπαις
Αιζηοισι λοχον πεπυκασμενον ὁπλιτησι;
Και χαλκον σελαγευντα, και αστραπτοντα σιδηρον;
Και μαθεν ευτε μενειν χρειω, ποτε δ' αυτις αρουειν.
Oppian Cyneget, lib. i., ver. 206.
Now firm the managed war-horse keeps his ground,
Nor breaks his order though the trumpet sound!
With fearless eye the glittering host surveys,
And glares directly at the helmet's blaze.
The master's word, the laws of war, he knows;
And when to stop, and when to charge the foes.
He swalloweth the ground, Job 39:24, is an expression for prodigious swiftness in use among the Arabians, Job's countrymen, to the present day. The Latins have something like it: -
Latumque fuga consumere campum.
Nemesian.
In flight the extended champaign to consume.
Carpere prata fuga.
Virg. Georg. III., Ver. 142.
In flight to crop the meads.
- Campumque volatu
Cum rapuere, pedum vestigia quaeras.
When, in their fight, the champaign they have snatch'd,
No track is left behind.
It is indeed the boldest and noblest of images for swiftness; nor have I met with any thing that comes so near it as Mr. Pope's, in Windsor Forest: -
Th' impatient courser pants in every vein,=
And pawing, seems to beat the distant plain;
Hills, vales, and floods, appear already cross'd;
And ere he starts, a thousand steps are lost.
He smelleth the battle afar off, and what follows about the shouting, is a circumstance expressed with great spirit by Lucan: -
So when the ring with joyful shouts resounds,
With rage and pride th' imprison'd courser bounds;
He frets, he foams, he rends his idle rein,
Springs o'er the fence, and headlong seeks the plain.
This judicious and excellent critique has left me little to say on this sublime description of the horse: I shall add some cursory notes only. In Job 39:19 we have the singular image, clothed his neck with thunder. How thunder and the horse's neck can be well assimilated to each other, I confess I cannot see. The author of the preceding critique seems to think that the principal part of the allusion belongs to the shaking of this remarkable beauty (the mane) in a horse; and the flakes of hair, which naturally suggest the idea of lightning. I am satisfied that the floating mane is here meant. The original is רעמה ramah, which Bochart and other learned men translate as above. How much the mane of a horse shaking and waving in the wind adds to his beauty and stateliness, every one is sensible; and the Greek and Latin poets, in their description of the horse, take notice of it. Thus Homer: -
- Αμφι δε χαιται
Ωμοις αΐσσονται.
Iliad vi., ver. 509.
"His mane dishevell'd o'er his shoulders flies."
And Virgil: -
Luduntque per colla, per armos.
Aen. xi., ver. 497.
The verb רעם raam signifies to toss, to agitate; and may very properly be applied to the mane, for reasons obvious to all. Virgil has seized this characteristic in his fine line, Georg. iii. ver. 86: -
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, etc., 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.
Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with (m) thunder?
(m) That is, given him courage? which is meant by neighing and shaking his neck.
Hast thou given the horse strength?.... Not only to bear burdens and draw carriages, but for war; for it is the war horse that is here spoken of, as what follows shows, and his strength denotes; not strength of body only, but fortitude and courage; for which, as well as the other, the horse is eminent, and both are the gift of God, and not of men;
hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? or with strength, as the Targum; the horse having particularly great strength in its neck, as well as in other parts; or with strength of voice, as Ben Gersom explains it; and it has been generally understood of the neighing of horses, which comes through and out of their neck, and makes a vehement sound: some render it, "with a mane" (p); and could it be made to appear that the word is so used in any other place, or in any other writings, or in any of the dialects, it would afford a very good sense, since a fine large mane to a horse is a great ornament and recommendation: the Septuagint render it by "fear", and Jarchi interprets it of "terror"; and refers to the sense of, he word in Ezekiel 27:35; and it may signify such a tremor as thunder makes, from whence that has its name; and it may be observed that between the neck and shoulder bone of an horse there is a tremulous and quavering motion; and which is more vehement in battle, not from any fearfulness of it, but rather through eagerness to engage in it; and therefore Schultens translates the words, "hast thou clothed his neck with a cheerful tremor?"
(p) Bochart, Bootius, &c.
The allusion to "the horse" (Job 39:18), suggests the description of him. Arab poets delight in praising the horse; yet it is not mentioned in the possessions of Job (Job 1:3; Job 42:12). It seems to have been at the time chiefly used for war, rather than "domestic purposes."
thunder--poetically for, "he with arched neck inspires fear as thunder does." Translate, "majesty" [UMBREIT]. Rather "the trembling, quivering mane," answering to the "vibrating wing" of the ostrich (see on Job 39:13) [MAURER]. "Mane" in Greek also is from a root meaning "fear." English Version is more sublime.
19 Dost thou give to the horse strength?
Dost thou clothe his neck with flowing hair?
20 Dost thou cause him to leap about like the grasshopper?
The noise of his snorting is a terror!
21 He paweth the ground in the plain, and boundeth about with strength.
He advanceth to meet an armed host.
22 He laugheth at fear, and is not affrighted,
And turneth not back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattleth over him,
The glittering lance and spear.
24 With fierceness and rage he swalloweth the ground,
And standeth not still, when the trumpet soundeth.
25 He saith at every blast of the trumpet: Ha, ha!
And from afar he scenteth the battle,
The thundering of the captains and the shout of war.
After the ostrich, which, as the Arabs say, is composed of the nature of a bird and a camel, comes the horse in its heroic beauty, and impetuous lust for the battle, which is likewise an evidence of the wisdom of the Ruler of the world - a wisdom which demands the admiration of men. This passage of the book of Job, says K. Lffler, in his Gesch. des Pferdes (1863), is the oldest and most beautiful description of the horse. It may be compared to the praise of the horse in Hammer-Purgstall's Duftkrner; it deserves more than this latter the praise of majestic simplicity, which is the first feature of classic superiority. Jeremiah. falsely renders Job 39:19: aut circumdabis collo ejus hinnitum; as Schlottm., who also wishes to be so understood: Dost thou adorn his neck with the voice of thunder? The neck (צוּאר, prop. the twister, as Persic gerdân, gerdan, from צוּר, Arab. ṣâr, to twist by pressure, to turn, bend, as Pers. from gerdı̂den, to turn one's self, twist) has nothing to do with the voice of neighing. But רעמה also does not signify dignity (Ew. 113, d), but the mane, and is not from רעם = ראם = רם, the hair of the mane, as being above, like λοφιά, but from רעם, tremere, the mane as quivering, trembling (Eliz. Smith: the shaking mane); like φόβη, according to Kuhn, cogn. with σόβη, the tail, from φοβεῖν (σοβεῖν), to wag, shake, scare, comp. άΐ́σσεσθαι of the mane, Il. vi. 510.
Thunder - A strong metaphor, to denote force and terror.
*More commentary available at chapter level.