Job 39:13 · Bible study
Job 39:13 Commentary: The Unfailing Power of God's Word
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Study Isaiah 55:11: God's word never returns void. Explore the Hebrew grammar of 'prosper,' its covenant context, and what it means for faith.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God's word never fails to accomplish its appointed purpose, just as rain never fails to water the earth.
- Key words: yatsa' (goes out), shuv (return), hitsliach (prosper/accomplish), dabar (word).
- Main debate: Whether 'prosper' implies tangible success or broader spiritual effectiveness.
- Theological theme: The efficacy of Scripture; God's sovereignty and faithfulness; the word as performative.
- Best use: Encourage trust in God's promises; homiletics on biblical authority; missionary motivation.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but cannot match the pinions and feathers of the stork.
WEB World English Bible 2000
“The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the feathers and plumage of love?
KJV King James Version 1769
Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?
ASV American Standard Version 1901
The wings of the ostrich wave proudly; But are they the pinions and plumage of love?
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
The wing of the rattling ones exulteth, Whether the pinion of the ostrich or hawk.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
The wing of the ostrich beats joyously — But is it the stork's pinion and plumage?
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of the hawk.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
¿ Atarás tú al unicornio con su coyunda para el surco? ¿ labrará los valles en pos de ti?
As asas da avestruz batem alegremente, mas são suas asas e penas como as da cegonha?
L’attaches-tu par une corde pour qu’il trace un sillon?
Der Fittich des Straußes hebt sich fröhlich. Dem frommen Storch gleicht er an Flügeln und Federn.
Zijn van u de verheugelijke vleugelen der pauwen? Of de vederen des ooievaars, en des struisvogels?
Lo struzzo batte allegramente l’ali; ma le penne e le piume di lui son esse pietose?
Izali możesz zaprządz w powróz swój jednorożca do orania? izali powleka będzie brózdy za tobą?
Ты ли дал красивые крылья павлину и перья и пух страусу?
鴕鳥的 翅膀 歡然搧展，豈是 顯慈愛的 翎毛 和羽毛嗎？
Is the wing of the ostrich feeble, or is it because she has no feathers,
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 39:13
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Isaiah 55:11 serves as the climactic assurance of the entire chapter. The verse makes a direct comparison between rain and snow that water the earth, and the word that God sends forth. The Hebrew verb yatsa' ('goes out') is in the imperfect tense, indicating ongoing, repeated action, God's word is continually being sent. The verb shuv ('return') is also imperfect, emphasizing that this is a settled pattern: God's word never returns to Him empty. The term 'prosper' (hitsliach) in the Hiphil stem means 'to cause to succeed, achieve' - not merely 'succeed' in a financial sense, but to accomplish its appointed purpose. Delitzsch notes the agricultural imagery anchors the promise in the certainty of natural processes: just as rain doesn't fail to bring forth vegetation, God's word does not fail to accomplish His will. The verse is widely understood as both a specific promise for Israel's restoration from exile and a general principle about the efficacy of Scripture and God's declared purposes.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The verse teaches that God's word, once sent out, always achieves its divinely intended purpose.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'word' (dabar) | Refers primarily to God's declared promises and commands, especially the prophecy of restoration and the covenant with David. | Some see it as only the prophetic word for Israel; others extend it to all Scripture and personal guidance. |
| Scope of 'prosper' | The Hebrew Hiphil indicates accomplishment of a specific purpose, not necessarily material wealth. | Reformed tradition emphasizes sovereign effect; charismatic traditions see a promise for blessing in all areas of life. |
| Temporal vs. eschatological fulfillment | The immediate context is the return from exile; the ultimate fulfillment is in Christ and the new creation. | Premillennialists focus on a future earthly kingdom; amillennialists see the church age as the primary arena. |
Historical & Cultural Context
This verse belongs to the so-called 'Book of Comfort' (Isaiah 40-55), addressed to Jews in Babylonian exile. They had been in captivity for nearly seventy years, and the prophetic promises of restoration seemed to them like empty words. In the immediate context, God has just summoned the exiles to return (55:1-3), offered a covenant of sure mercies with David (55:3-4), and called them to seek the Lord while He may be found (55:6-7).
The agricultural metaphor would have been deeply familiar. In the ancient Near East, rain was seen as both a gift from God and a mysterious force that could not be commanded by humans. Canaanite cultures personified rain as Baal's gift, but Isaiah strips away any such mythology: Yahweh Himself sends the rain, and it accomplishes what He intends, not what Baal intends. The exiles lived in a land (Babylon) where irrigation, not rainfall, sustained crops; yet God's sovereign word was still like reliable rain, not dependent on human systems.
The word 'word' (dabar) here is not merely a spoken utterance. In Hebrew thought, God's 'word' carries creative and performative power, it does things. Genesis 1 shows God speaking creation into existence. Here, the 'word' includes the specific promise of restoration and the covenant with David. The verse's placement at the end of a summons to repentance and covenant offer reinforces that obedience and trust are the proper responses to such a powerful, effective word.
Textual Notes
The Masoretic Text is stable across manuscripts for this verse. The Septuagint (LXX) translates hitsliach with euodōthēsetai ('will prosper, be led on a good way'). The Dead Sea Scrolls (1QIsaᵇ) show minor variations in orthography (e.g., ynṣlḥ for yatsliach) but no difference in meaning. No significant textual variants affect exegesis.
Reception History
The verse has been loved across traditions. Early church fathers like Augustine and Jerome saw it as a proof that Scripture contains everything necessary for salvation. Medieval cathedral art sometimes depicted the 'rain of God's word' in scenes of preaching. The Reformers, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, appealed to Isaiah 55:11 to argue that preaching does not depend on the skill of the preacher but on God's power. In modern missions, it has been quoted as a source of confidence in evangelism. Hymnody also echoes this verse: 'Forth in Thy Name, O Lord, I Go' and 'The Gospel Shows the Father's Grace' draw on the theme. The verse remains a foundation for the doctrine of the perspicuity (clarity) and efficacy of Scripture.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God's word is sent with intention. He doesn't speak randomly. Every promise, command, and prophecy has a specific purpose.
- God's word achieves its purpose. Like rain that actually waters the earth, God's word never returns empty. It always accomplishes what He designed it to do.
- God's word invites participation. The farmer doesn't make the rain fall, but he does plow, sow, and wait. We are called to receive God's word in faith and partnership.
Five-point outline
- The source: God is the one who sends His word. It proceeds from His mouth, not from human opinion or wisdom.
- The comparison: Rain and snow descend, drench the soil, generate life. God's word touches the hearer and produces spiritual fruit.
- The certainty: Just as rain cannot return to the sky without watering the earth, God's word cannot return void. The promise is anchored in natural law and divine faithfulness.
- The scope: The 'word' includes judgment and salvation, Law and Gospel, prophecy and personal guidance. All of it carries power to accomplish God's intent.
- The goal: The ultimate purpose is God's glory and the good of His people. The verse ends with 'all in which I delight,' pointing forward to the messianic kingdom and the new creation.
Illustration hooks
- Seeds in winter: A farmer sows seed in late fall, then snow covers the ground for months. Nothing seems to happen. But when spring comes, the seeds sprout. God's word sometimes lies dormant, then unexpectedly springs to life.
- A letter that changes everything: Think of a pivotal letter, an acceptance to a school, a pardon, a love letter. The paper itself is ordinary, but the words carry authority and power. God's word is like that, only infinitely more.
- Scripture read in a hospital room: A few short verses spoken to a person who is scared or grieving can bring comfort, strength, or conviction that years of argument could not produce. That is God's word at work.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why does it often feel like my prayers and Bible reading accomplish nothing?
- How can this promise be true when the gospel has been preached for centuries and many still reject it?
- Does 'prosper' mean I will always get what I want if I quote Scripture over my plans?
Leading a Discussion
Isaiah 55:11 is one of the most frequently quoted verses about the power of Scripture. This small group guide invites you to examine what this verse actually says and what it doesn't say, then consider how it shapes our confidence in God's promises.
Discussion questions
- Read Isaiah 55:6-13 aloud. Why do you think God compares His thoughts and ways to the heavens being higher than the earth, right before this verse?
- In verse 10, the rain and snow 'water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater.' What specific things does God's word 'give'? Does this verse promise material prosperity?
- The Hebrew verb for 'prosper' (hitsliach) means 'to accomplish, to succeed, to achieve the intended result.' How does this change the temptation to read 'prosperity' in a commercial sense?
- Why does God use the image of rain instead of a human action like building or conquering? What does that tell you about how God's word works?
- When have you experienced a Bible verse or a sermon 'accomplishing' something in your life that you didn't expect? When have you waited a long time for what seemed like no effect?
- Some Christians are afraid to share their faith because they fear saying the wrong thing. How does this verse give courage? Does it also warn against using clichés or misusing Scripture?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Leviticus 11:19 | the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. |
| I Kings 10:22 | For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the fleet of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. |
| II Chronicles 9:21 | For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with Huram’s servants. Once every three years, the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. |
| Job 30:29 | I am a brother to jackals, and a companion to ostriches. |
| Psalms 104:17 | where the birds make their nests. The stork makes its home in the cypress trees. |
| Jeremiah 8:7 | Yes, the stork in the sky knows her appointed times. The turtledove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people don’t know Yahweh’s law. |
| Zechariah 5:9 | Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, there were two women; and the wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah basket between earth and the sky. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that the different bird wings serve distinct purposes (flapping for the ostrich and flight for other birds). He believes this shows God created each creature with a special ability suited to its job.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes contends that the peacock is not intended here; the Hebrew word, from a root meaning a joyful cry, refers to the ostrich. The description of an exulting wing fits the ostrich's rapid, bounding flight, not the peacock's tail. He notes that peacocks were imported later, in Solomon's time, and were unknown in Job's era.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes that the word for ostrich means wailer and not pious. It also says the term kindling refers to stork rather than ostrich.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Geneva Bible Notes sees the unicorn as an animal so strong it could never pull a plow. It shows that even the mightiest creatures belong to God and are not beyond his control.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill argues that the bird here is the ostrich, not the peacock. Peacocks are known for their tails, not their wings, and were not found in Job's region. Ostriches, by contrast, were common in Arabia and have striking wings that match the description.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary notes that the ostrich is given a poetic name instead of its normal one in this verse. It also says the ostrich has wings that can work as both sail and oar.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch draw on the Hebrew wordplay where the stork's name means pious to contrast with the ostrich, whom God caused to forget wisdom. The ostrich carelessly abandons its eggs, yet when it rises and runs it derides the horse and rider with astonishing speed. This apparent folly is part of God's design.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange notes that the God who speaks in the storm is not appearing in a human form. He explains this silent presence happens through the natural forces of thunder and lightning that accompany the display of God’s power.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes the peacock and ostrich share beautiful feathers yet differ greatly in wisdom. The ostrich has fine plumage but lacks wisdom and shows no care for its young.