The Pulpit Commentary — Job — Section 616

Ver, 4.-Their young onea al'o In good lli8 'f)aatati. By "mounts.ins" we must illdng'; le. healthy ond etrong (domp. Dan. here underete.nd_roo~ ranges l_ike tbe SinjaT i. 10), They grow up with Clorn; re.thet, And the motmte.111!! of Belooch1etan, or age.in they grow up out of doors, OT in the O'f)B'B air those of the Sinaitio peninsula. Wild !I.IIB811 (see Professor Lee, ad loo.; nncl Buxtorf, do not frequent the regions which we oom- • Lex. Hebr. et Oho.Id.,' p. 87). They go monly ca.11 mount11inous. And he aeuoheth forth, and retum not unto them. They a.fter every green thing ; i.e. he seeks ont quit their do.ms eo.rly, o.nd "go forth" to the email patches of pa.stare which are to provide for themselves-on indico.tion of be fou od in such rocky region e. hen.Ith o.nd strength. Vor. 9.-Will the unicorn be willing to Ver. 6.-Who hath sent out the wild a11 aerve thee, or a.bide by thy crib t This is free 1 or who ha.th loosed the ba.nds of the e.n uofortune.te translation, since there is no wild nsa 1 Two kinds of onager, or wild a.ss, word etymologically corresponclent to "uni- seem to be intended-the one ca.lled pere' corn" in the original. The word used is (M;,D,), and the other 'tir6d (,i.,~)- These rem or reym; and the rem is distinctly said oorrespond proba.bly to the .A.Rinus hemippm in Deut. xxxiii. I7 to have "horns." All and the .A.sinus onauer of modern naturalists, the.t is said of the rem in Scripture points the former of which is still found in the to some species of wild cattle, and recent deserts of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Northern critics a.re almost universally agreed thus Arnbio., while the latter inhabits West.em -fe.r e.t any rate. Assyrian investigation Asia. from 48° N. lat. southward to Persia, ce.rries us a step further. It is found the.t Beloochistan, and Western India. Sir H. the wild bull so often represented on the A. Laynrcl describes the former, which he monumeute as hunted by the Ninevite BBW, as 11 "be.autif~l animal, in fieetness monarchs was known to the Assyriaos by equalling the gazelle, very wild, and of a the name of rimu. or rim. Careful exami- rich· fawn colour, almost pink" (' Nineveh nation of the sculptures has resulted in the and its Remains,' vol. i. p. 324). The latter identification of this animal with Bos primi- (.A.sinus onager) wee seen by Sir R. K. Port~r genius. an extinct species, probably identice.l in Persia. (' Travels,' vol. i. p. 460), and is with the uTUB of the Romans, which Cesar described in very· similar terms. The two, saw in Gaul, a.ad of which he he.s left a however, appear to be distinct species (see description. "These uri," be says, "a.re Dr. Smit)l's 'Diet. of the Bible,' vol. iii. scarcely lees than elephants in size, but in pp, xix., xx., Appendix). Both animals are their nature, colour, and form are bulls. remarkable for extraine wildness; and 1111 Great is their strength, and great their attempts to domesticl!,te the young of either speed ; nor do they spare man nor beast, have hitherto failed. when once they have caught sight of him. Ver. ji.-Wlios·e -houie I have made the ... Even when they are young, they cannot wilderness, The Meuopote.mian regions in- be he.bitue.tecl to man and made tractable. habited by the ABinus hemippus are those The size e.nd shape of their horns are very vast stretches of rolling plain, treeless, pro- different from those of our own oxen" (' De ducing e. few aroma.tic shrubs a.ad much Bell. Ge.11.,' vi. 28). wormwood, which, intervene between the Ver. 10.--(:anst thou bind the unioom Binjo.r mounte.inarange e.nd the Dabylonie.n with his band in the furrow 1 That is, " 11B nlluvium, Her.e the wild e.ss we.s seen by thou bindest the ox?" Canst thou make Xenophon BDd the Ten Thousand, in com- him plough for thee? Or will he barrow pany with ostriches, gazelles, e.nd bustards the valleys a.fter thee l Another common (Xeu., ' Ane.b.,' i. 5); and here Sir Austin employment of oxen. Le.yard also ma.de its acquaintance(' Nioe1·eh Ver. 11.-Wilt thou trust him, bece.nse end Babylon,' p. 270). The Asitius onager his strength is great l If II man could bind frequents the deserts of Khora.ssa.n a.nu the urus to his plough or to his harrow, Beloochiste.n, which a.re even more bnrren still he could not "trust" him. The hngo than the Mesopotamian. And the ba.rren brute would be sure to prove unmanageable, land his dwellings; rather, the salt land (see and would only oo.use damage to his owner. the Revised Version). The great desert of Or wilt thou leave thy labour to him l A■ Khorussan is largely impregnated with suit, thou le,west many labours to thy oxen, and in places encrusted with it. The wild contitling in their docility. IIJ!S licks so.It with avidity. Ver. 12.-Wilt thou believe him-rather, Ver. 7.-He soorneth the lllultitude of the Wilt thou confide in hini (see the Revistld city. Avoids, thut is, the haunts of men, Version)-the.t he will bring home thy seed, e.nd is never seen near tboin. Neither re- and gathe1· it into thy barn l i.e. convey ge.rdeth he the orying of the driver. Nothing the h,1rve8t from the field to thtl home- will induce the wilt! e.ss to submit to do1nes- steau, that it may be safely louged in thy tication. barn. The "strength" of the urus (ver. Ver. 8.-The range of the mo11.D.tains is 11) would make all such le.hours light to 632 THE BOOK OF JOB. [oit. :r.tux. 1-80.