“Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
God has been questioning Job out of the whirlwind, from the foundations of the earth down to the wild animals. Now He points to the creature a man knows best — the horse — and asks who put that strength there and who dressed that neck.
A question, not a lesson
God's speech is a chain of questions Job cannot answer. This one aims at his pride, not at his knowledge of animals.
William KellyWhat have you to do with it? … It is a splendid description indeed, but it is all meant to overwhelm Job with the folly of pretending to talk about God.
Another writer states the aim of the entire series of questions:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinTo show that God is greater than man and to humble man, to bring Job to the needed true knowledge of himself and to deliver him from the pride of his heart.
Strength clothed in beauty
Older translations read "clothed his neck with thunder." The ESV has "clothe his neck with a mane." Commentators picture the same thing: a mane that quivers as the horse moves. Power and beauty arrive together.
Samuel RidoutJob is asked if he has given strength to the horse, and combined it with the grace and beauty expressed by his flowing mane. His prancing is as agile as the grasshopper. His neighing and shrill snorting strike terror to the heart… Here is a beast that is not exactly wild, yet it has all the strength and swiftness of the wildest. What part has Job had in devising and creating so remarkable a creature?
Why the horse, of all creatures
The animals before this one are creatures a man watches from a distance. The horse is the one he owns and prizes, and that is why the question stings.
William KellyHere He comes down to where we might be disposed to think ourselves at home. Other animals may be strange and distant. Man, and the Arab above all, might imagine he has some right to speak about what he most loves to use for work or ease, for pride or love. But what had he to do with giving the horse its might or fluttering mane? its locust-like bound? the glory of its snorting, a terror to others?
The wrong thing to trust
The horse's strength is God's gift, so it can never take God's place. God's people needed that warning.
Samuel RidoutGod warned His people not to put their trust in this mighty agent of war: "The war horse is a false hope for salvation." … It is He who "has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea" (Exodus 15:1). Jehovah is infinitely exalted above all His creatures. Let Job remember how small he too is, and humble himself before Him who is God over all. His deliverance must come, not from horses, but from the Lord on high.
Israel's law made the same point.
The Bible TreasuryHorses were forbidden to Israel (Deuteronomy 17:16), and they were brought from Egypt. In Scripture the horse stands for strength (Job 39:19; Psalm 147:10), swiftness (Jeremiah 4:13; Habakkuk 1:8), fearlessness (Job 39:18; Jeremiah 8:6), majesty (Esther 6:8), and strength in the battle.
Where real power comes from
The horse stands for power. One writer uses that picture to ask why Christians show so little of it.
A J PollockThe horse is a symbol of power… Now the Holy Spirit is given that the believer may have power. Our Lord told the disciples to wait for the promise of the Father — "until you are clothed with power from on high." Why are Christians so little marked by power? We fear Christians do not judge the flesh on the one side, or walk in the Spirit on the other. Do both, and there will be power.
Summary
- Given — God handed the horse its strength. The horse never earned it, and Job never supplied it.
- Clothed — God dressed that neck with a quivering mane. He joins beauty to force, so His strength is never brute force alone.
- Near — God picks the animal man prizes and handles most. The question lands where Job felt sure of himself.
- Trusted — the strength is God's gift, so leaning on it is folly. Deliverance comes from the Lord, not from horses.
- Received — no one can manufacture this strength. It must be received, and so Christ told His disciples to wait for power from on high.