Job 39:17 Meaning: Why Does God Take Away Wisdom?
because God has deprived her of wisdom, neither has he imparted to her understanding.
Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, Neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
For God hath caused her to forget wisdom, And He hath not given a portion To her in understanding:
For God hath deprived her of wisdom, and hath not furnished her with understanding.
Meaning in one sentence
Why would God deny wisdom to an animal? Job 39:17 shows God's sovereign design even in apparent foolishness, teaching us to trust His hidden purposes.
Context
Job is in the middle of the storm. After chapters of his friends’ arguments and his own protests, God finally speaks. He does not answer Job’s questions; instead, He shows Job the world He made. One by one, God describes wild animals, the mountain goat, the wild donkey, the ox, the ostrich, the horse, the hawk. Each creature does things that make no sense to human reasoning, yet each thrives. The ostrich is a puzzle: she leaves her eggs on the ground, seemingly careless. God points to this strange bird to remind Job that the Maker of all things has purposes beyond what we can track. This verse sits inside a longer passage where God is not giving explanations but displaying Himself.
Key Words
The verse uses three words that together form a quiet shock. The first is the Hebrew verb behind “deprived” (nashah). It really means “caused to forget” or “made her forget.” This is stronger than simply not giving something. God actively caused the ostrich to lack the instinct other birds have. The second word, “wisdom” (chokhmah), is the same word used for the skill of craftsmen, the shrewdness of kings, and the reverence of the faithful. It is a rich word, the sort of thing Job has been longing for. And yet God withholds it from this bird. The third word, “understanding” (binah), is the capacity to see how things fit together, to discern and plan. The ostrich does not have that either. Together, these words say something important: what looks like a flaw in creation is not an accident. God designed the lack just as surely as He designed the wing. He knows what each creature needs, even if we cannot see why.
How Christians Read This Verse
Christian readers across traditions have found the same truth in this verse. Protestant commentators like Barnes and Matthew Henry emphasize that the ostrich’s apparent foolishness is no accident, it is part of God’s wise ordering of the world. The Cambridge Bible (Anglican) notes an Arab proverb that calls the ostrich “more stupid than an ostrich,” showing how ancient people recognized the bird’s oddness. Methodist writer Adam Clarke collects ancient accounts of the ostrich hiding its head in reeds. Reformed theologian John Gill points out that God “caused her to forget.” Across these traditions, the point holds: what seems like a weakness in the creature is actually part of a design too large for us to grasp.
A common misunderstanding
Some readers take this verse to mean God is being arbitrary or cruel, as if He enjoys making creatures foolish. In fact, the verse belongs to a longer passage where God’s goal is not to belittle the ostrich but to display His sovereignty. The same God who withholds wisdom from the ostrich also gives it the speed to outrun a horse (Job 39:18). The lack is not a mistake; it is a trade-off woven into the creature’s life. The point is not that God is unkind but that His choices are deeper than our judgments.
Living This Out
You may have an area of life where you feel foolish, a skill you never developed, a natural instinct that seems missing, a repeated failure that makes you wonder why God didn’t give you what others have. This verse invites you to consider that the lack itself may be part of a design you cannot see from where you stand. The ostrich cannot brood her eggs, but she can run. This week, when you feel ashamed of what you lack, pause and ask: “Could this gap be part of a larger picture God is painting?” Trust that the One who made the ostrich knows what He is doing in you.
Main takeaway: God’s wisdom appears as much in what He withholds as in what He gives; every lack has a hidden purpose.
For Families
For ages 5, 8
God made the ostrich forget where she put her eggs. That seems strange, but God made her that way on purpose. He also made her very fast. God knows what every animal needs.
For ages 9, 12
The ostrich seems silly because she leaves her eggs in the dust and forgets about them. But God designed her exactly like that. Even though she lacks wisdom about eggs, she can run faster than a horse. This teaches us that God has a plan for every weakness. When you feel like you are missing something important, remember that God may be using that very thing to make you strong in another way.
Questions People Ask
Why does God take away wisdom from the ostrich in Job 39:17?
God is not being cruel. He is showing Job (and us) that every creature has a design that fits its place in creation. The ostrich lacks the instinct to care for her eggs, but she has other strengths. The point is that God knows what He is doing, even when His reasons are hidden from us.
Is the ostrich really that stupid?
Ancient writers often called the ostrich foolish, and the Bible uses that observation. But the verse is not a biology lesson; it is a theological point. The ostrich’s apparent stupidity is part of God’s deliberate ordering of the world. Modern naturalists have also noted that ostriches have survival strategies that do not look like other birds’ strategies.
Does this verse mean God withholds wisdom from people too?
The verse is directly about the ostrich, but the pattern appears elsewhere in Scripture. When God withholds understanding from a person, it is always for a larger purpose (for example, Pharaoh’s hardened heart). For believers, the Bible promises that God gives wisdom generously to those who ask (James 1:5). The verse is not a threat but an invitation to trust God’s hidden wisdom.
How does Job 39:17 fit into the book of Job?
This verse is part of God’s final speech to Job. Job has been asking why he suffers. Instead of an answer, God shows Job the wild parts of creation, including the odd behavior of an ostrich. The message is that God’s ways are far beyond human understanding, and we are called to trust Him even when we do not see the pattern.
For pastors & researchers
Hebrew interlinear, 8 commentaries & word study