The Meaning of Job 39:20 Explained

Job 39:20

KJV: Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.

YLT: Dost thou cause him to rush as a locust? The majesty of his snorting is terrible.

Darby: Dost thou make him to leap as a locust? His majestic snorting is terrible.

ASV: Hast thou made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is terrible.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Canst thou make him afraid  as a grasshopper?  the glory  of his nostrils  [is] terrible. 

What does Job 39:20 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 39:1-30 - "knowest Thou?" "canst Thou?"
The series of questions is continued, and God asks more especially with respect to animated and organic nature. The wild goats, Job 39:1-4; the wild ass, Job 39:5-8; the wild ox, Job 39:9-12; the peacocks and ostriches, Job 39:13-18; the war horse, Job 39:19-25; the hawk, Job 39:26-30. In each case some special point is asked, hidden from the observation of ordinary men. If Job were unable to know more than they on such matters as these, how could he expect to know more than they of the reasons that dictate God's dealings with His people?
There is mystery in every part of the universe of God. He hides Himself, so that we cannot discover Him. His thoughts are deeper, His ways profounder, than our mind can fathom. There is not a single pathway leading out of the garden of life along which a man, traversing it, will not come to a point when the track dies away in the grass and there is no further progress. In nature and in Scripture alike we have to deal with the inscrutability of God's ways. Nor can we wonder, if the God of the Bible and of nature be the God of providence, to find mystery also there. This is the argument of The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, by Bishop Butler. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 39

1  Of the wild goats and hinds
5  Of the wild donkey
9  The unicorn
13  The peacock, stork, and ostrich
19  The horse
26  The hawk
27  The eagle

What do the individual words in Job 39:20 mean?

can you frighten him like a locust majestic His snorting [strikes] terror
הְֽ֭תַרְעִישֶׁנּוּ ؟ כָּאַרְבֶּ֑ה ה֖וֹד נַחְר֣וֹ אֵימָֽה

הְֽ֭תַרְעִישֶׁנּוּ  can  you  frighten  him 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, second person masculine singular, third person masculine singular
Root: רָעַשׁ 
Sense: to quake, shake.
؟ כָּאַרְבֶּ֑ה  like  a  locust 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אַרְבֶּה  
Sense: a kind of locust, locust swarm (coll).
ה֖וֹד  majestic 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: הֹוד  
Sense: splendour, majesty, vigour.
נַחְר֣וֹ  His  snorting 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: נַחַר 
Sense: snorting.
אֵימָֽה  [strikes]  terror 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֵימָה 
Sense: terror, dread.

What are the major concepts related to Job 39:20?

Loading Information...