Will the buffalo be willing to serve thee, or will he lodge by thy crib?
God turns from the wild donkey of the desert to an animal even stronger, and asks Job whether he could ever put it to work. The question is not about farming. It asks whether Job can master even one beast that God made free.
Older English Bibles call this creature a "unicorn." That name came from an early Greek translation, not from the Hebrew text.
The Hebrew word is reem. The Septuagint translated it by two Greek words, hadros and monokeros, and from the second of these the Authorised Version took the word 'unicorn.' Nothing in Scripture suggests that the animal had only one horn. In fact Deuteronomy 33:17 speaks of 'the horns of a unicorn' (see margin). It must have been an animal the Israelites knew well. Its great strength and wildness are its main features: it cannot be put to use, like the tame ox, for farm work.
A single-horned beast can be ruled out on geography alone. The three creatures of this chapter also come in a rising order.
There is only one animal with a single horn, the Indian rhinoceros, and it is found only in southern Asia. Here the word should be the wild ox. We have the wild goat (v. 1), the wild donkey (v. 5), and now the wild ox (v. 9). They follow one after another. This is a more powerful animal than either of the others. There is a rising in the scale.
The wild ox has more than enough muscle for the plough. That is what makes the question sting. The power is there, and Job cannot get at it.
The wild ox is understood to be a large antelope that cannot be tamed. Can its will be broken by men as domesticated cattle are, so that it willingly serves the authority of man? (v. 9). Would it willingly lie down in a manger where cattle are quite content? Could Job make it plod along a furrow, pulling a plough as oxen were taught to do? (v. 10). The strength of the antelope was more than enough for this, but how could man make use of such strength? Could he trust such an animal to bring home grain from the field? (v. 12). Of course the answer to all these questions is no. But this teaches us that God's creation holds much variety that man cannot even understand. It also shows up man's limits against God's unlimited resources.
God gave man rule over the creatures, yet He kept some of them outside that rule. The wild ox is one of them, and God never handed it over to Job.
Job cannot pretend — and neither can anyone else, whatever they think or say — that he can bring the wild ox down to the ordinary work of man. No one can make him submit quietly to his control or care. His strength might be priceless. But God made all things, and He gave Adam dominion over fish and bird, cattle, every creeping thing, and all the earth. Even so, He did not tie the wild ox to the furrow with a cord, or make him harrow behind Job. Nor did He ask Job to leave the work of the field in his hands, at the beginning or at the end.
God is not giving a lesson in nature study. He is pressing a man who had been arguing with his Maker.
But what is the Lord's aim in putting these questions? To show that God is greater than man and to humble man, to bring Job to the true knowledge of himself that he needed, and to deliver him from the pride of his heart.
There is more here than rebuke. The One who rules what Job cannot touch also holds Job's own wild troubles.
God is still speaking about wild creatures. He asks if Job can control the great wild ox and make it serve him, or the wild antelope of the plains. Will it plough and carry the loads of farm work like the ox? That wild, untamed nature yields to One only. Can Job doubt that He will control all things, even the wild powers of evil, and make them the obedient servants of His will? So God will take the wild, wandering thoughts of His poor servant captive. He will bring a rich harvest of blessing out of his bitter experiences.
- Wild — "Reem" means a wild ox, not a one-horned creature. Its mark is strength no one can tame.
- Rising — Goat, donkey, wild ox: God climbs a scale, each animal further beyond Job's reach than the last.
- Useless — Its power is greater than any plough ox's. Yet no man can borrow it.
- Bounded — Adam's rule over the creatures was real, but limited. God kept some animals outside it, and never asked Job to manage them.
- Yielded — What refuses every human hand yields to One. That is the humbling, and it is also Job's comfort: the same hand tames the wild powers set against him.
Canst thou bind the buffalo with his cord in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
God answers Job out of the whirlwind with a long series of questions about the animals. Here He points to one beast that has never pulled a plough. The challenge is simple. Job cannot make this creature work a field for him. How then can he sit in judgment on the God who made it?
Older translations call this animal a "unicorn." One writer tests that older name against what Scripture actually says.
Nothing in Scripture suggests that the animal had only one horn. In fact Deuteronomy 33:17 speaks of "the horns of a unicorn" in the older wording, and it must have been an animal the Israelites knew well. Its great strength and untameable nature are the main features. Man cannot use it for farm work as he uses the tame ox.
Another writer names the creature and shows where it stands among the animals God lists.
There is only one animal with a single horn, the Indian rhinoceros, found only in Southern Asia, but here it should be the wild ox. We have the wild goat (v. 1), the wild donkey (v. 5), and now the wild ox (v. 9). They follow one another in order. This is a more powerful animal than either of the others. There is a rising in the scale.
The sting of the question is not that the animal is weak. Its strength is real, and useless to Job.
The wild ox is understood to be a large antelope that cannot be tamed. Could Job make it plod along a furrow, pulling a plough as oxen were taught to do? (v. 10). The strength of the antelope was more than enough for this, but how could man make use of such strength? Could he trust such an animal to bring home grain from the field? (v. 12). Of course the answer to all these questions is no. But this teaches us that God's creation holds much variety that man cannot even understand. It shows up man's limits against God's unlimited resources.
Some animals carry man's loads. Others never will. God, not man, settled which is which.
Whatever men think or say, neither Job nor anyone else can put the wild ox to man's ordinary work. No one can make it submit quietly to his control or care. Its strength might be priceless. But God made all things, and He gave Adam rule over fish and birds, cattle, every creeping thing, and all the earth. He did not tie the wild ox to the furrow with a rope. He did not make it harrow behind Job. He did not ask Job to hand the labours of the field over to it, at the beginning or at the end.
These are not riddles about farming or zoology. They ask who Job is next to the God who made these creatures.
In the material world God proves Job ignorant of the origin of any of His works. Now in Job 39 He requires Job to think about how unable he is to rule over the animal world. Whether it is the unicorn, the horse, or the eagle, each and all are stronger than Job. How much more should He who created them and gave them their qualities command Job's reverence and fear!
There is mercy inside the rebuke. The nature that yields to no man still yields to its Maker.
Will the wild ox plough and carry the burdens of daily labour like the tame ox? That wild, untamed nature yields to One only. Can Job doubt that He will control all things, even the wild powers of evil, and make them the obedient servants of His will? So God will bring the wild and wandering thoughts of His poor servant into captivity. He will bring a rich harvest of blessing out of his bitter experiences.
- Wild, not one-horned. Scripture never gives this creature a single horn. Its marks are great strength and a nature no man can tame.
- Strength without service. Its power is real and worth having, yet Job cannot rope it, cannot make it harrow, cannot trust it to carry a harvest home.
- A rising scale. Goat, then wild donkey, then wild ox — each step puts a stronger creature further out of Job's reach.
- The yoke is God's to give. He assigned some animals to serve man and left others free; Job never had the say in that, at the beginning or at the end.
- Humbled, then harvested. The questions leave Job in reverence before his Maker. The One who alone masters the untameable can master Job's wandering thoughts too, and bring blessing out of his bitterness.