Job 39:16
14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand.
15 She forgets that a foot may crush them, or a wild animal may trample them.
She treats her young harshly, as if not her own, with no concern that her labor was in vain.
17 For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed her with understanding.
18 Yet when she proudly spreads her wings, she laughs at the horse and its rider.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- She treats her young harshly, as if not her own, with no concern that her labor was in vain.
- KJV
- She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear;
- WEB
- She deals harshly with her young ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she is without fear,
- ASV
- She dealeth hardly with her young ones, as if they were not hers: Though her labor be in vain, [she is] without fear;
- DARBY
- She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers; her labour is in vain, without her concern.
- BLB
- Her young she treats harshly as though not unto her; her labor [is] in vain, without dread;
- ÅB
- Den er hård mot sine unger, som om de ikke var dens egne; den er ikke redd for at dens strev skal være bortkastet.
- OTB
- Hun behandler sine unger hardt, som om de ikke var hennes;
Selv om hennes arbeid er forgjeves, er hun ubekymret, - B1930
- Den er hård mot sine unger, som om de ikke var dens egne; den er ikke redd for at dens møie skal være spilt.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Lamentations 4:3
Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like an ostrich in the wilderness.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 10:15
The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city.
Read in contextRomans 1:31
They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 28:56–57
The most gentle and refined woman among you, so gentle and refined she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge the husband she embraces and her son and daughter
Read in context2 Kings 6:28–29
Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’
Read in contextHabakkuk 2:13
Is it not indeed from the LORD of Hosts that the labor of the people only feeds the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?
Read in contextLamentations 2:20
Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
Read in context1 Kings 3:26–27
Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she yearned with compassion for her son. “Please, my lord,” she said, “give her the living baby. Do not kill him!” But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!”
Read in context